I Believe in God, But I Hate Religion Part 2

“Religion is the opium of the people. It is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of our soulless conditions.” — Karl Marx.

Well, some time has passed since I wrote the first part of this series. I do hope you will forgive me for not addressing this sooner. I had hoped to follow up in a far shorter time. But I happen to think some things happen for a reason, and recent events have provided some additional insight to add to my statement on believing in God but hating religion.

Hate is a strong word. I understand if some would be put off by my using it to express my feelings about religion. After all, how does one hate religion? For many, it’s an anchoring force in their lives. It is a binding force between husband and wife, parents and their children, a tether for those who have suffered a tragic loss, and many say their faith and belief in their religion helped them through a crisis they have suffered or are currently undergoing.

As I said, I understand that ‘religion’ for many is a significant factor in their lives, and they are, as Yoda would say, ‘strong with their religion they are.’ I have always accepted that many people live by their religion and, therefore, what they consider their religious beliefs. From my perspective, this means they will follow and abide by what their religious leaders tell them to do and how they behave, among other things. After all, it’s natural. It’s what humanity has done since FRED came on the scene as the perpetrator of religious dogma.

I know I’ve stepped in with that last sentence, but if you read my first post, you will understand where I’m coming from regarding religion overall. Karl Max wrote the following:

“Religion is the opium of the people. It is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of our soulless conditions.”

Many have taken Marx’s words as an indictment against religion, which is just the opposite. He was pointing out how overtly religious people could and have used religion exploitatively, which, by the way, has been done throughout history. The Wars of Reformation focused on which religion was the right way to worship God. Many are still fighting over that ridiculous concept.

One would think we have resolved our desire to have the ‘one right’ religion that all humanity would adhere to. In my opinion, such a goal is not possible, nor do I believe it was God’s objective. Unfortunately, the human push to have the one right way to worship God has been a perpetual goal of those I call followers of False Religious Egregious Dogma, better known as FRED. At this point, you’re likely saying, ‘What the fuck, Tim.’

You might think I’ve lost it, but maybe not. Have you ever taken the time to ask what religion is really about? Why is my religion better than those of my friends who happen to be Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic, or Protestant?

Or, why did the God I pray to allow people of my religious belief to enslave people and treat them as if they were subhuman when my faith taught me that God created humankind in his image?

I speak only for myself and understand many will see this as controversial, contentious, and perhaps irreverent. I know. Trust me, I do. Religion, as Marx said, is seen as something that makes people feel good about themselves based on the tenets many claim to believe in and supposedly adhere to when, in reality, they do just the opposite.

I stress the word supposedly for the following reasons. First, when it comes to following biblical principles, those who loudly proclaim they are Christians are usually the ones who are found guilty of the most unchristian things, such as adultery, lying, stealing, and a host of others. They are also the ones first to point their fingers at those they have deemed who have not followed their warped interpretation the view of the biblical teachings. Individuals such as Bleach Blond, Badly Built Butch Body Marjorie Taylor Green, and Grabby Lauren Boebert constantly claim they are Christians, and this is a Christian Country and demand that we consider ourselves a Christian Nation, whatever the Hell that is supposed to be in 2024. Both of these women are the type of individuals that the Apostle James warned in James 1:26

“If any man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the father is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

I know James said If any man among you, but you have to consider the times, and I believe one gets the overall gist of what James was saying, those who claim they are religious and calling for this to be a Christian Nation. The Bible spoke of false prophets being among the people, and from that, the people would sway to their false words and do things that would not be in their best interests, like obeying in advance, which Timothy Snyder cautioned people not to do in his book, On Tyranny,

“Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like this, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.” — On Tyranny Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder, pg. 17

My saying that I hate religion but believe in God may annoy and anger you and, as I said in the beginning, be a contradiction or even blasphemous. I’m okay with that. It doesn’t take away how I feel and what I believe. Because I think tyranny and religion are the kissing cousins of humanity. For unexplainable reasons, it is a challenge to understand and wrap one’s brain around people’s willingness to go toward what is wrong rather than right. Some believe that man’s nature is more inclined toward evil than good. That may be, I cannot say, but I will proffer that this aspect of religion is a significant factor in most Christian faiths.

It is part of the religious dogma used to keep those deeply enmeshed in their religious beliefs in line or under control. The thought of not being able to enter into the kingdom of heaven as Christ promised one of the criminals crucified with him is one of the tools used by religions to keep their followers in line, essentially avoiding what Dante wrote in Divine Comedy, Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate, ‘abandon all hope who enter here.’

The thought of eternal suffering is a significant motivator for those who are strong in their religious beliefs. It is also conducive to those who push various religious doctrines on their congregants to keep them in line. So, the concept of FRED is in full force for those who have bonded themselves to their religious beliefs, regardless of how far-fetched they may be.

Please do not think I’m making fun of these individuals; their beliefs are their own and should be honored. It was what their parents taught them, and it is no one’s place to fault them for holding steadfast to their religious upbringing. I have pointed out that some of these beliefs often determine how people perceive others who do not have the same view of God and religion. One prime example is the call for this to be a “Christian nation or country.” For those whom I consider religious zealots, it reminds me of the staunch religious persecution of those who moved away from Catholicism to Protestantism. 

When studying about this in school, I never understood why it mattered that all of Europe was under one religion, especially when they were often at war with each other. But, hey, what was I supposed to know and understand about former kingdoms and religion in the 10th grade? I was only supposed to know the correct answer for the history test, which may explain why the teacher gave me a strange look when I asked for another blue book to finish my answer.

When I questioned the concepts of religion, it was from the recognition that we are supposed to think. To ask questions, to be willing not to settle for half-baked answers, I say this because I believe it comes from the view that we have free will and a brain to exercise it, which is why Descartes wrote, Cogito, ergo sum, “I think, therefore, I am.” However, it is the opposite of what religious leaders and politicians want. For a simple reason, people who think do so because they seek knowledge by asking questions and demanding answers. Those who do not will follow blindly and obediently, essentially obeying in advance.

A prime example of this is their willingness to give their money to the Church, unquestionably believing they are doing the will of God in support of the Church and government, when in reality, they are just making the Church richer and richer and supporting governmental suppression policies while they continue to suffer in poverty and ignorance, believing they are doing the will of God because their pastor, priest, or reverend have shamed them into it. Religious leaders, or those who claim the title, strongly support this. The question I have is why?

I do not understand how people in the United States can or do believe that this should be a “Christian country,” a concept that is in direct conflict with the First Amendment’s establishment clause, which is very clear regarding religion: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” It was clear the founders desired to see this country not be embroiled in the tyranny of religion, a situation many of them suffered in their homeland.

When MAGA loudmouths such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Bobert, Matt Gaetz, Steven Bannon, and a host others spread their lies about this being a Christian country and advocating for the return to days where “men were men and women knew their place,” and the world they know and want, will once again be ruled and controlled by those who profess and to ware their so-called Christian beliefs on their sleeves believing they have the right to demand this country be a Christian nation.

These individuals may believe they are in the right, but they would be wrong. The founders wanted something other than what I call centralized or state religion. They felt the country’s people had the right to worship however they wanted. But that wasn’t entirely the case when it came to those who owned enslaved individuals. Those who enslaved people eventually took on the task of converting them to their religious beliefs, even allowing them to attend Church. Yet, not all were that pleased to see their human chattel take to the Bible, as Fredrick Douglass points out in this passage from his biography:

“The slaveholders of St. Michael’s, like slaveholders elsewhere, would always prefer to see the slaves engaged in degrading sports, rather than to see them acting like moral and accountable beings.” — My Bondage and My Freedom, pg. 299 Fredrick Douglas

As we are about to move into a new year with Trump back in the White House, I fear the country is marching toward the road of Perdition, along with a strong possibility we might see a concerted effort to force the citizens of this country to acquiesce to MAGA fever desire to have the Orange Blob, sign a proclamation claiming the United States is a Christian Nation and giving religious zealots card blanche to whatever is necessary to make that happen. It wouldn’t surprise me if Trump secretly searched for a modern version of Tomás de Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor.

Intolerance, ignorance, ineptitude, and religious insanity have brought the country to the very precipice where we might lose this democracy because of the foolish views people in this country, the radical right, have about religion, thinking the United States is solely a Christian nation. Those who believe the balderdash of the so-called Christian right is peddling along these lines are ridiculous. Those who claim they are Christian and voted to put Trump back in office are the highest form of hypocrites walking on God’s green earth.

The so-called religious right is the modern-day equivalent of Phrasies and Sadducees. If Jesus Christ were to reappear here in the United States, they would crucify him again, claiming his message of peace and love was left-wing propaganda, he is an enemy of the state, and like Pharisees and Sadducees of his time in Jerusalem, clamor for his death.

Trump, like Pontus Pilate, would approve it because, in his fevered brain, he is the chosen one. He is, as he said, “the only one who can fix it.”

It is what the Religious Right has told their congrats every Sunday they went to Church that Trump was the savior of the nation, that he would bring the country back to the path of Christianity, and the country would be a “Christian Nation.” It is because of this level of bullshit that is why I find religion unpalatable, manipulative, and, most of all, totally distortive.

As I said, I believe in God, But I hate religion.