Religion-Consumerism?
If you pay close attention to religious circles, you will notice a distinct pattern in people’s conversion. You will see that some people begin being religious from the day they are born, in which their parents baptize the child and raise them on a religious doctrine. In other cases, the individual experiences what is advertised to be a ‘miracle’, such as a near-death experience, rapid recovery from an illness (although most times a miraculous recovery can be mistaken for a misdiagnosis; eg. Someone may be told they have lung cancer and have three weeks to live, then the placebo effect sets in. When they are told that they don’t have cancer, they are miraculously ‘cured’ of all symptoms and can mistake the situation for a miracle.) or what they claim to be ‘a message from god’.
Exploiting the Minds of Children
Ok, so let’s rule out the situation of being raised religious. This situation disturbs me the most, as it is seen in most religions (except for Buddhism, Satanism, Wicca, Neo-Paganism etc.) and can have dire results. Children are sometimes disowned by their parents because they chose not to follow their religion. Some are sent to religious schools, where they are told stories which appeal to them, making them more enthusiastic about religion. It is even mentioned in the Bible that one should only be allowed into the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ should they convert as a child: "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."[Mathew 18:3]
Now, I don’t need to point out what’s wrong with that. Any decent person should know that it is so wrong to abuse the minds of children. Children are naive, they believe anything they are told. If a child is never told that Santa Claus isn’t real, they will live their whole lives believing in him. It is not fault of theirs; simply brainwashing.
False Advertising
Next, let us discuss ‘miracles’. I have met a multitude of people who have seen, heard, experienced or imagined things which they classify as ‘miracles’. One particular man told me, and I quote “There was this guy with cataracts in his eyes…everyone got together and prayed for him and literally saw the cataracts fade from his eyes, and he was able to see again!” To which I replied, “really? Were you there?” To which HE replied, “No, but my friend was.” Sigh. The person telling the story was never there, it’s always their friend. Or their ‘miracle’ happened to their friend. Wikipedia defines miracle as "A miracle, derived from the old Latin word miraculum meaning "something wonderful", is a striking interposition of divine intervention by a supernatural being in the universe by which the ordinary course and operation of Nature is overruled, suspended, or modified. "
Sometimes, often in the cases of misdiagnosis, people experience something amazing and classify it as a miracle. Being misdiagnosed is not a miracle. They often argue that they really were sick, because they had the symptoms. This is really impossible; your body cannot just remove cancer in the blink of an eye, it simply does not happen. The logical explanation for this is that the patient was misdiagnosed, told they have, say, lung cancer. A sort of placebo/hypochondriac effect sets in, where the brain creates the symptoms to fit with the illness. Then, when the patient is ’miraculously cured’ of their ailment, they pass it off as a miracle because of all the advertising to which the Church has had them in submission . They advertise these ’miracles’ and use them to convince the people that they are divine intervention.
Come to the Church, We Have Beer!
This method of advertising is used everywhere; you see it in every business. It is so easy to sell a product if you give the buyer some form of incentive. Buy one, Get one Free! Tell you Friends! If you bring your friend to our church and have them give us money, then you get to spend eternity in heaven!
Really, religion is not blind faith. It is consumerism. What happened to good old fashioned FAITH?
Oh no wait, there was never such thing.[I]And then, the giant glowing taco appeared upon the hill and he spake upon us; ‘cometh forth to taco bell, buy two burritos and saveth 10%’. Sound familiar? Blind faith is all the rage these days, and is synonymous with consumerism. Perhaps, if someone can convince me that they genuinely believe, I shall believe also. But until then, I have faith only in my own reasoning.
