Religiosity

There are people in the world spending their time and energy trying to do harm to minorities. This has always been so, but it is more deplorable when they use God as a weapon, making the assumption that the One Deity is on their side.

Some use religion to place themselves above others and claim moral superiority by virtue of their religious affiliation. They claim to belong to the right church and to worship the right God. They look down upon others with contempt and dismiss the liberal religions as heresy. It is important to remember that all of the denominations began as heresies. No religion began with a plurality.

Religiosity is distinguished from true religion in this manner: religiosity is a performance made for the public to observe. It has a mind toward rewards in this world and in particular, power over others. It is arrogant.

True religion is humble. We are but feeble creatures. There is much that we do not know. There are many things about which we should keep an open mind. I hold two exceptions. One, do no harm to others. Two, try to help others.

Those who misuse religion play the cunning lawyer, taking the words of Scripture out of context and using them as a basis for cruelty. Seldom do they reflect upon the consequences of their actions. They are less interested with reflection than in using ideas as weapons to smite their perceived enemies. They spend a great amount of time looking for enemies. Would it not be better to look for friends?