Spiritual Speculation: Christianity (Part 1)

I have decided to do a five part series on religion. I will do a post on the four largest religions/beliefs in the world: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Atheism – and wrap it up with a conclusion. Admittedly, atheism is not so much a religion but simply disbelief in deities. However, atheism has grown heavily over the years, most likely because there is no concrete evidence for the existence of a supernatural entity of sorts.

Most likely, I will get flack for these posts – but I will reach some sort of conclusion with each religion and point out areas where I find the need to improve, as well as pointing out some good parts of each religion. Again, I am not promoting nor attacking any neither religion nor belief, simply engaging in a discussion.

Christianity is probably the best religion for me to start with. I was born and raised in Canada, and grew up protestant attending different sects of Protestantism through my life, as well as attending a Catholic School.  Globally, around 2.2 billion people would check off the Christian box if surveyed for what religion they adhere to. Almost 40% of Christians live in the Americas, while 26% live in Europe, 22% in Africa and the rest live in Asia, Oceania or the Middle East.

There are three main divisions in Christianity: Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants.  Each division has their own sects and different interpretation of the Bible, which is believed to be inspired by God by all Christians. However, there are certain basic beliefs that all Christians adhere to, or should at least by definition. These are defined in creeds which in Latin means “I believe”.  Although some sects of Christianity have rejected creeds such as Baptists as being too encompassing documents to define the Christian faith, most sects agree with their content. The Apostles creed is the most popular and defines the most basic beliefs that define a Christian. This would be belief in God the Father, Jesus the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit; the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and belief that he ascended into heaven; the communion of Saints; and lastly the belief that Jesus Christ will return to Earth.

While the West uses the Apostles Creed, the East uses the Nicene Creed which frankly is a similar document that states the same beliefs in different words. One of the most important beliefs in Christianity is that of the Trinity, which declares God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all the same entity. This belief is one of the essential elements that differentiate Christianity from Judaism and partially Islam – two other Abrahamic religions.

It is impossible for me to go through all the different beliefs, differences in opinion that Christians have, but I will run through a few main points. First, Catholics believe in a place called purgatory which is basically a state of limbo between hell and heaven, while Protestants do not believe in this.  Some believers take the Bible literally while others metaphorically, which has spawned the creationist vs. evolutionist debate that can be exhibited by court cases such as these.  Based on Jesus’ last supper before he was crucified, communion is a celebration of this event. Protestants believe in praying directly to God, while Catholics pray to the Virgin Mary – the mother of God (Christians believe Jesus was a virgin birth – hence the mother of Jesus named the “Virgin Mary"). Additionally Christians believe in Baptism, which is immersing a person in water which can mean anything from admission into the Church to simply affirmation of belief.

Historically, Christianity grew from a small group of followers of Jesus Christ into the main religion of the Roman Empire. Expanding into Europe, the Catholic Church became a powerful political entity headed by a Pope, which is currently seated in Vatican City. The Crusades, Salem Witch Trials, Spanish Inquisition, Pedophiliac Priests and other events have reinforced the concept of the need for forgiveness. The Reformation marked by Martin Luther began in 1517, which spurred the rejection of Roman Catholicism and the beginning of Protestantism. King Henry VIII simply was angry that Rome would not allow him to divorce his current wife, so he created the Church of England instead.  With scientific thought and the Age of Enlightenment, the Church was questioned by figures such as Marx and Nietzsche and interestingly led to the events such as the dechristianisation of France. 

I could write a book, no twenty books on the history of Christianity, but I believe that paragraph gives the best short description I can muster. Christianity today is a large influence of Western society, especially in the United States of America, and some would argue a problematic influence.

I would tend to agree in some cases.

Christianity in the Western Hemisphere is rife with emotional preachers who are part of the evangelical movement. Preachers such as Benny Hinn are some of the biggest con artists on the planet, yet are not prosecuted. Demanding donations from old grandmother’s who believe the money they donate will do good, these poisonous padres collect the innocent’s money to fund their own lavish lifestyle. For example, I am sure God told Benny Hinn to go buy a mansion. And Mr. Hinn is not alone, Jimmy Bakker ran a million dollar Christian retreat and television station, and was then caught with a prostitute and money laundering. He then wrote a best seller entitled “I was Wrong” which funded his new television venture selling products to the Christian masses. These are merely examples of multiple charlatans, as people such as Kenneth & Gloria Copeland are similar. Oral Roberts, an esteemed televangelist, once said that unless he raised $8 million within a few days, God would kill him – or as he gracefully said “call him home”. He raised $9.1 million.

There are many examples of these con artists in operation, and they should not just be recognized for sinning against the Church, but arrested for fraud and I’m sure money laundering charges could also be laid. Even Pat Robertson, a well-known televangelist and founder of the 700 Club, is guilty of misdemeanors. One of his mission trips was entitled Operation Blessing, in which he asked for donations to buy planes. He then used these planes to fly to Liberia as he had a partnership with Charles Taylor for development of diamond mines (which some have said that enslaved children worked in). Yes, this is the same Charles Taylor who has been convicted for Crimes against Humanity in Liberia, and enslaved many in diamond mines to fund his war.

Yes, this is taking specific examples of Christianity gone wrong, but this exemplifies how religion can easily be used to extort from the masses by keen manipulators. Catholicism has seen its fair share of problems from priests charged with pedophilia to now a massive money laundering scandal at the Vatican in Rome. The worst part? The church (in most cases) refuses to punish its own members. Instead of pushing for harsher punishments than secular courts, the Vatican has continued to support the sins of their own priests.

Sure, these problems are not representative of Christianity, but it certainly provides a bad brand name. Large organized religious experiences led by charming pastors often are rife with illegality and deception, mostly involving extorting financial support in the name of God.

Small churches have their problems as well. There are two major problems with many churches that I have attended have had. First, decisions based on emotionalism and simple belief in God without any logical thinking considered is rife. Secondly, the amount of activities churches persuade their members to attend tends to take away time for any other activity and in essence brainwashes their members.

Let’s explain the first point. Today, in many Bible studies or prayer groups I have attended, members are encouraged to pray to God to solve their problems. Sure, that’s great and everything, but most of the time the only person who is going to solve your problem is yourself, through logical decision making processes. Often, members will make illogical decisions such as deciding that God has “called” them to Africa, or London to preach the gospel. Or maybe God has called them to quit their job and work for the Church (forgetting that the Church relies on donations and their salary will put additional strain on the Church). And again as often, these members will not have the financial support, so they will beg, yes beg, for money from people who work hard to just put food on the table. Yet, they receive the money from these people because they believe their money is going to God.

In reality, it’s going to fund the travels and experiences of someone else who is sub-consciously acting on a desire, but believes whole heartedly they’re doing God’s work. As it’s said, the key to a good lie is to believe in it. The whole concept of funding missionary trips to young adults who are not trained, nor equipped, nor have the life experience to really assist in nations far away is not even Biblical. Paul, the most famous missionary of the Bible, was a tentmaker. Sure, people helped him, but he did fund his own way. Today, even non-Christians help each other travel – google couch surfing. Additionally, the whole concept of having to travel to help others or evangelize is preposterous. There are people you can help in your own neighborhood and plenty of organizations to involve yourself in. You don’t need to go to Africa to help a child.

The old puritanical work ethic has been replaced with long winded prayers hoping that God will magically rain his blessings down while one sits down on their couch. However, with the amount of activities the Church plans through their excessive bureaucracy, it is difficult to have outside influences. For example, a church I went to has a small group Bible study on Monday, a sport with fellow Church members Tuesday, Wednesday is prayer group, maybe you get Thursday off, then Friday you might have the Alpha course and Sunday you’re back in Church for worship. Surrounding oneself with the same people, all the time, with similar messages being preached, will eventually cause a person to have a one track mind that cannot make decisions through evaluation of all options. This is the reason why many times I have met Church members who know very little about what is going on in the world in terms of finance (Euro Debt Crisis), War (Syria or the Arab Spring), National Politics (Will Mulclair challenge Harper?) or any other issue. This is a serious problem, as it causes many Church members the inability to reason, or think outside the box, or even relate and properly evangelize with people in their community who are not Christian.

It has affected American politics for years. Even now, Chick-Fil-A remains in the news as a huge political item because their stance against homosexuality. Whether you are for or against, why is this occupying mainstream media? American leaders should not be chosen on whether or not they decide to eat a piece of chicken made from a person against homosexual marriage, but by their understanding and experience in dealing with issues such as the national debt, the economy, public policy like America’s crumbling infrastructure, or their plan on dealing with the potential destruction of the European Union.

Instead, we’re talking about fried chicken.

So what can the Church do to improve itself? First, publicly punish those who use Christianity for financial fraud. It is shameful to the good that Christianity can do, and embarrasses the entire religion. Second, cut out the entire idea that all decisions should be based on what you feel God tells you to do. In the end, most likely God is not telling one anything, a person is using God as the rationale to enact the easiest and more fun path. To do this, leaders should be lowering the amount of activities planned during the week and simplify their church with less bureaucracy. More pastors and staff in church enable a greater financial burden on their members. Cutting activities will cut costs, as well as free up time for many church members and most likely enable more volunteering, which will cover any former salaried tasks. Additionally, this should lead to more church members interacting with the outside world, allowing Church members to not only expand their outlook but also fulfilling the Great Commission. Church youth should be encouraged to pursue some sort of education, and find a job and not to worry about being a missionary until they can fund themselves.

Christianity has a great history filled with great stories and role models, but has been tainted by manipulators of the faith. Cutting back on bureaucracy and letting members simply follow the Bible instead of constant emotional indoctrination will allow the faith to grow stronger, and develop a better image.