kcl0341

Religions today:

Some observers believe that the main function of religions today is to provide their followers with a feeling of security.

John Shelby Spong, retired bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA has written:

"Religion is primarily a search for security and not a search for truth. Religion is what we so often use to bank the fires of our anxiety. That is why religion tends toward becoming excessive, neurotic, controlling and even evil. That is why a religious government is always a cruel government. People need to understand that questioning and doubting are healthy, human activities to be encouraged not to be feared. Certainly is a vice not a virtue. Insecurity is something to be grasped and treasured. A true and healthy religious system will encourage each of these activities. A sick and fearful religious system will seek to remove them."

David C. James, rector of St. John's Episcopal Church & Diocesan Mission Center in Olympia, WA, wrote:

Many times when we think we are worshipping God, we are actually comforting our very fragile egos. I’m not so naïve as to assume that we build temple and erect altars to ourselves…directly. But our core need to been safe, secure and sound mandates that we construct reality systems that will support us.

Let me quote Bertrand Russell statement: “Religion is based, I think primarily and mainly upon fear – fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand.”

Fear is one of several very basic emotions and it is an instinct. It is a survival mechanism, and usually occurs in response to a specific negative stimulus. With this instinct our anciently man could survive in the world ruled by jungle laws. If someone was struck by lighting, then they would think this was the act of God. Fear has overcome them by natural disasters such as flood, bush-fire, landslide, earthquakes and many others. Religions were created to give people a feeling of security in an insecure world, and a feeling of control over the environment where there was little control.

A plague, called The Black Death (1347 – 1350 AD) swept over Europe, causing widespread hysteria and death. One third of the population of Europe died. The primary culprits in transmitting this disease were oriental rat fleas carried on the back of the black rats. The Christian church said it was God’s will, but the reason for this awful punishment was unknown. “God have mercy upon us all!” said the bishop. As a matter of fact, there was nothing to do with God. God had nothing to forgive the people. The lack of medical knowledge had caused the plague. Ignorance had created fear that had overcome all the people in Europe. The virus H5N1 and SARS could have killed one fourth of the world population if our present medical knowledge could not cope with the spread of the virus.

Churches and temples in fact are organizations. Like political parties, they have their own goals and the party members have faith in their parties and their leaders. The way to run a church or a temple is similar as running a political party. Power struggle among the leaders of the church exists just like that in a political party. Churches of different religions claim their God is the only true God. In the history of mankind different kinds of wars have been started by different kinds of religions when their conflicts of interests could not be compromised.

Human beings were supposed to be created by God but according to Christian belief we are born sinners because our first parents Adam and Eve had committed the Original Sin. Our first mother Eve, disobeyed God and she ate the fruits from the Tree of the Kowledge of Evil and Good. After having eaten the fruits both Adam and Eve felt shameful for they found that they were naked. God does not want mankind to have any knowledge at all. Do we want our children to have more knowledge than ourselves? Shall we be jealous at our own children if they are more intelligent than us? On what ground that we should be born sinners ?

King Lee(kcl0341)