Truth and Fear

There is a certain genius to Christianity. And, no, I am not talking about the Bible supposedly being the holy word of God. The genius is in its followers and the myriad of religious systems established to protect each system and to keep its followers trapped within. Each denomination, each branch and, in some cases, each church has its own form of truth. And, in many cases, each of them would be willing to die for that supposed truth ... or at least condemn all the others to an eternal hell for not quite getting it right. I suppose we could say the genius, the thing that tends to trap most believers, comes in two forms: what they know and what they fear.

Each Christian sect just happens to know the absolute truth about things that the rest of mankind still wrestles with. They know that there is an afterlife. They know what it will be like. They even know how to get there. Most of the rest of mankind sits back and wonders, "Will there be life after death?" The Christian, on the other hand, simply knows. There is a wonderful comfort (for some) in knowing. And there is a certain, dare I say it, pride in knowing things that other people only guess at. One man may be at his wit's end because he is contemplating life after death, but the Christian is secure in his or her belief that they know what awaits them.

The afterlife is not the only thing the Christian supposes he knows absolutely. He also claims to know that God exists for a fact. There is no doubt and they even know for certain which god, out of the myriad of gods that have supposedly existed, is the true God. They know it so strongly that many would be willing to lay down their lives for this fact. And many have done just that, all the while forgetting that there are others as equally convinced as they are about their own gods. In fact, the Muslim may have, in recent years, cornered the market on laying down one's life for their God.

But god and the afterlife aren't all the Christian believes he knows as an absolute fact. He also believes that he knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, how to convince this God to allow him to inherit this afterlife. Books are written on the subject. Tracts are handed out in large quantities attempting to explain the process to those who may not have this precious knowledge. Classes are held in church auditoriums to instruct the masses on how to best get the message across and how to deal with this or that objection. Web sites are populating the Internet both to push the message of salvation as well as to equip the saints with the tools to go forth into all the world.

But the problem is that each of these groups, each armed with absolute truth, differs greatly from each other in what they believe. In other words, one group's truth contradicts another's in such a way that both cannot be right. In fact, often one such group will call the other heretical and warn that their doctrine is straight from the pit of hell! But being armed with the truth is not the only thing that keeps Christians within the walls of their chosen denominations. No, there is that other element: fear.

Part of the genius of the Christian system is that the believer has much to fear and, as we all know, fear is a good motivator to keep people in line. The Bible tells people that they are to fear God. In fact, it is this fear of God that the Bible calls the beginning of wisdom. To not fear God is to be a fool, thus demonstrating one's lack of wisdom. Many Christian denominations recognize that the word fear is something that people don't like and so they try to tone it down a bit. They try to alter the word's meaning, interpreting it to me reverence. However, fear becomes a prime motivator within the sect.

Many Christians, whether they want to admit it or not, feel fear for a variety of reasons. They may become fearful that they have let their God down if they have not been faithfully witnessing to the lost about Christ. Depending on which denomination the Christian is from, they may fear losing their own salvation, their mode of entrance into heaven and their ability to please God, if they have sinned in some small way. There are so many ways to become fearful in Christianity and these factors can lay heavily on the mind of the faithful.

But it is not just the fear of God that may motivate people within these denominations. Often the Christian leaders themselves will capitalize on this. In some churches, people have to dress a certain way. If their skirt or dress is too far above the ankle, then they are led to believe they are displeasing God. If they are not tithing or giving to missions, then they are led to feel inadequate before the Almighty. If you weren't baptized according to a specific method or if the three names of God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) were not invoked, then perhaps their baptism was not good enough! Don't attend church often enough? Do you miss a few meetings during the week? Then you might be apostate!

And then there is another element added into the mix. There is this super being that is absolute evil called the devil, Lucifer or Satan. He is said to be going about seeking whom he may devour and, as luck would have it, he is after you! He is not only invisible, but he can even plant thoughts into your mind, trying to twist you and turn you toward his evil ways! So who knows where that thought you just had came from? Was it ... the devil?!?

But the fear doesn't stop there. Not only is the believer to fear god, not only do church leaders often use fear as a means of achieving their own ends, not only does Christianity claim to have some invisible, demonic being that is hell-bent on your destruction, but the believer cannot even trust their own thoughts and intuition! The very heart of a man is said, by the Bible, to be deceitful above all things and is desperately wicked! He is told that he is no good because none are good, no not one! The end result is that a man has to even fear his own self!

So this strange dichotomy is achieved in Christianity. On the one hand, the believer feels good believing that they have all the important answers. On the other hand, they are, in many cases, kept from questioning the supposed answers because of fear. Fear keeps them in line. Fear keeps them from questioning. After all, who wants to be wrong and end up in hell for all eternity?

But when someone examines the many, many Christian beliefs out there, each saying that they are the way to life, then one has to wonder which one, if any, is true? Is baptism essential to salvation? Depends on which denomination you belong to and which verses of the Bible you use to support you system of belief. Does it matter which church I attend? Some churches teach that salvation is only achieved through their organization. Do I need to speak in tongues? Again, it depends. Are other sign gifts essential to proving my salvation? Is God a trinity, a tri-unity, a unity or not? Should I be dipped, sprinkled or have the water poured on me when baptized? What if I was led to the Lord by a translation other than the good ol' King James Version of the Bible? And even if I was, does it matter if it is the Oxford or Cambridge editions? And which year? If my church worships on a day other than Sunday or if they don't have a Sunday evening service, does that mean we are apostate? What if we sing to contemporary music or worship songs? What if we don't? What if we use a particular hymnal over another (after all, some of these hymnals have music in them that is questionable!)? What if some of the women wear pants? What if the pastor or priest is a woman? What if ... what if ... what if ...

I am sure that many Christians will dispute the things that I am saying here. No one readily likes to admit that they are fearful. However, I have counseled a lot of people while I was a Christian and I have talked to quite a few that have left the faith. There was one common thread ... fear. Frankly, some people are afraid to question their own faith because they fear the answers they might find. If it turns out that the Christian God is not real, then what does that mean about heaven? Wouldn't that mean that those absolute answers may not be true? Fear.

And then there is fear about what others will think or do if you question the faith. They might look at you as apostate! They might see you as demonically deceived! It is easier to keep on keeping on within the faith then to question it. So questions about the faith are often thrown into the back of the mind and forgotten ... or so you think. These questions have a way of coming out again. But fear is a good tool to suppress them. At least for a while.

Why am I writing about this? It's simple. I was thinking about it. These are my thoughts. It is interesting, despite all the things that I am going though, that I am not afraid. I have stepped out from under that shadow and it is good. And, no, I don't have the answers to things like life after death or whether or not there is a divine being. But that's OK as well. For whatever reason, I am quite satisfied with not knowing. Instead of looking for a sweet life in the hereafter, I am invigorated by each new day ... living in the here and now! Life is exciting, not because of a promise of a life to come, but because I am alive at this moment!