Religious Cloaks

Religion has been the foundation of societies around the world, both pre-modern and what we call modern society today. This in itself is not a weak bedrock for a community foundation. However, as we’ve advanced into recent times, the litmus tests that were previously administered to members of any religious sect are no longer equipped with any real teeth to malign hypocrites that are pervasive in virtually every religion today. While this is blatantly true in the southern United States where I live, it goes on in various corners of the globe. People cloak themselves in righteousness, and if their iniquity is found out, the religious leaders prevaricate to cover up the sins of those that they consider upper-crust. They point to a passage in the bible for example and explain away the trespass as a mental aberration brought about by the devil’s temptation, simultaneously crucifying those that they deem less critical to their financial well-being. 

In small towns, those considered significant control the churches, and they are used as a means of conducting business by meeting with other leaders of the community.  Jesus threw out the money lenders, but it’s not convenient for our hypocritical religious leaders to remember that particular action within the sacrosanct pages of our bible. Religious leaders are some of the most wealthy members of society, and they don’t become such from passing around a collection plate. They become wealthy by overlooking the sins of their wealthy parishioners and receiving monetary rewards for placing man above God. They hide behind their position as ambassadors of the word, and sell validations to the godless men in power, and thereby betray not only God but true believers in the word.

One of the reasons religious organizations are tax-exempt is because their endorsements of both local and national leaders still carry a lot of weight. This also enables them to amass a lot of wealth and large donations from those seeking favoritism which is entirely tax-free. The con is that they need be tax-free to run charitable organizations for the less fortunate among us. Some still do good work in that regard, but I can say unequivocally that most do it to establish credentials in the religious world so that their backing of political figures means a huge payday. It is primarily like the old system of feudalism, where those in power remain such and those at the bottom fight over whatever scraps might be left over.

Politicians attend church to establish themselves as religious, just as Machiavelli taught them.  The goal is to appear righteous and beyond reproach, so allegations made rarely stick when such devoted men of God vouch for them. It is an old game, and they play it very well. This is why the rich get richer and poor either stagnate or become more destitute. It is not about what you can do, or what you know, but who you know and how well you can bribe or blackmail them. This makes it hard for those seeking to live a righteous life to come out on top and trust me we rarely do in such a corrupted world. You might ask why such men would use religion in such a way? It is quite simple, they see religion as nothing more than a means of controlling the low-born, and they don’t believe in an afterlife or God. They only wish to appear as if they do so they can manipulate the opinions of an ill-informed populace.

Accountability must be restored in not only the Christian religion but all others seeking to abide by virtuous tenets of that religion. Since religion has been corrupted by the powerful to use as a tool to control the poor, then we must begin to demand real accountability from our religious leaders. If we see them backing corrupt and soulless men, then we must stop attending their churches for without parishioners they have no power to influence anyone, and therefore their well will dry up. This will cause them to reevaluate their function as a leader and change how they interact with corrupt and soulless men of the world. If we don’t attend these wayward leaders hypocritical teachings, then they quickly realize that these men will no longer seek their endorsement and these preachers will be made penniless in the eyes of man as they already most assuredly were in the eyes of our God. It is time we stop allowing powerful men to hijack our religions and use them as political footballs to advance an agenda that is counter to every righteous religious tenet that we believe. I do think this is important to restoring the importance of honor and virtue in our societies, and an essential first step in getting accountability from these deceitful hypocrites that control our countries.

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