Updated: 03/15/54
CHAPTER 24
THE CHURCH
*Please read this note - First!
*(This
was written in 1988-1989. I left it as it was written (enclosing in brackets the
new entries and the dates for clarity). The truth of it stands out like a sore
thumb. When I wrote it, I sincerely hoped I was somewhat wrong. I now see that
I even underestimated the power and determination of the fundamentalists to do
what they are now doing. They are trying to introduce a Religious Dictatorship.
Let’s get busy! Get this book before the eyes of those who Must read it!)
We
have used Clear Thinking to look at the church for short periods in other
chapters. But there are several areas we have not yet explored and it is time
to see what their philosophy and the claims of the Christian church does to us.
When
you read about the church you are naturally thinking about churches you have
attended. In order to get a better perspective of The Church, we must back up
several steps and look at the church in general, like backing up from the trees
so we can see the forest. In other words, we are looking at all the churches
and their philosophies as though there were only one Christian church. Everything
said here may not apply to each individual church, but these observations apply
to the church as a whole. If some statement does not apply to your church,
please disregard it from your standpoint. Also, many cults and very small
organizations that call themselves, The Church, may not fall into the general
category of The Church.
I
said I am not against any good the church does and the church does do a lot of
good. I am for all the good the church does. Now we are going to look at some
of the bad and I am against the bad. As one who is guided by honest doubt and
logical thinking, I must ask some questions. First, I must ask the question,
"How does the church affect me as a citizen of the United States and of
the state of Georgia?"
The
answer is a staggering one. Even though I seldom set foot in a church of any
kind, except for funerals and weddings, the church costs me hundreds and
hundreds of dollars each year. The church pays no property tax, so my property
tax is raised to take care of the very large amount of tax the church does not
pay, but from which it receives all the benefits. They not only own the
property around their churches, they own houses, farms, apartments, business
property, shopping centers, forests, resorts, hospitals, factories, schools,
publishing firms, tenements and slums. It has been variously estimated that the
churches own about 15 - 20 percent of all the available public land in this
country. The federal government owns about 24 percent. The states own 4-5
percent and corporations own about 5 - 8 percent. Land and buildings are willed
to the churches. The churches buy land and lease land but they hardly ever sell
their interest in the land.
Certainly,
this is not as bad as it was in France before their revolution when the church
owned over sixty percent of the land - and income. No wonder France was so hard
pressed for finances. As a result, taxes were so high, almost everyone was in
favor of kicking the King off his throne and kicking the church out of the
country. What followed was a tragedy for the country of France and they are not
fully over it, even today. Let us not allow such a situation to arise in the
USA. Let us think about restricting the church so this never happens to us (as
it is starting to happen today).
Due
to the tax-free holdings of the church, my property tax is no less than fifteen
percent higher than it would be if the church paid its property taxes. That is
just the tip of the iceberg.
The
church pays no income tax. No one worries much about the money the church
collects in the collection plates, baskets and envelopes. That figure is
estimated variously from a very low, unrealistic estimate of about fifty-two
billion, up to over two hundred and fifty billion dollars a year (estimated by
the IRS as claimed deductions) and still - UP. Let's take the unarguably lower
figure. That is a billion dollars a Week. In figures, that is $1,000,000,000.00
per Week.
There
are over one and a half million churches in the United States. Which, by the
way, are more churches than there are homeless people in the USA. Think about
that. The average for one billion dollars a week is a bit less than seven
hundred dollars a week per church. That is not actually a realistic figure
since it divides out to only thirty-six-thousand dollars a year income for each
church to run their programs, hire ministers, keep up their buildings and do
those things that most churches do. But we will continue with this
exceptionally low figure of one billion dollars a week. We have hardly gotten below
the water line on church income. These figures do not include the radio and
television evangelists, the large and the small, nor does it include the
immense Profits from the investments, product sales, businesses and property
ownerships by the church.
What
does the church do with all of this money? First, they operate and they buy
more new buildings and land. That takes 30-40 percent of their income. About
8-10 percent goes into what the churches like to call missions. Giving the
benefit of the doubt to them, the church still has well over half a billion
dollars a week left over. What do they do with all that money? Why, they invest
it in land, businesses, stocks and banks. Very conservative denominations and
even literalist and fundamentalist denominations own much stock and many
businesses. They own slums in big cities. They own liquor distilleries,
wineries, gambling halls, book publishers including some that turn out the very
types of books and magazines that they preach against. Often this money and ownership
is hidden by their practice of investing in mutual funds, banks and other
holding companies. But many of the ownerships are outright, or through
corporate shares directly owned by the church.
A
great amount of the money leaves the country, which causes a portion of our
balance of payment deficit. The businesses and stocks that the church owns do
not get taxed as it would if you or I owned them. They are
"nonprofit" organizations. Various studies have been done in this
area. The lowest estimate I found says, if the church paid its fair share of
taxes, the average personal income tax could be reduced by as much as “20
percent.” (Think about that.) If the churches were forbidden the privilege of
sending money out of the country, our individual incomes would gain about 5
percent more in buying power. That is, the deficit and balance of payments
could be rolled back and items would be cheaper for us to buy.
In
addition to this, the church owns hospitals, insurance companies, old folk's
homes, schools, trade schools, colleges and universities. They receive millions
of dollars (each month) in grants, loans and subsidies from the state and
federal government in thousands of different forms. I imagine that before long
the government will directly aid the church schools by giving grants or student
aid, or loans. The government wishes to do this to keep the churches Out of the
public school system. If this were stopped, our taxes could be reduced another
4-5 percent.
Then
we must count those billions of dollars given to the churches that are
subsequently deducted from the income taxes of persons and companies who gave
that money to the churches in the first place. In other words, if you give
money to the church you don't have to give so much money to the general welfare
of the United States. These are just some or the ways that the federal
government subsidizes religion in this country. We are talking about more
billions here.
All
of these studies have placed these church figures from higher to much higher
than I have done here. I make "no bones" about it. The church at a
minimum cost me thousands of dollars in extra taxes and higher prices. They
cost you the same depending on your tax bracket. The church is a cancer on the
economy of this nation.
The
politicians that make our laws are part of this effort to subsidize religion in
this country. After all, these politicians come from churches themselves and
they cannot help looking out for their own interest. They continue to support
laws that take money from my pocket and yours and they donate it to the already
full pockets of the churches. The church is the biggest business in the United
States. Count the new and used car dealerships in your town then count the
churches in your yellow pages. Count any business then count the churches and
multiply that by the whole of the United States. I repeat, the church is one of
the biggest businesses in this country in both economics and geographic
locations.
The
federal government cannot fight the church. The church is not only too strong;
it also makes a strong ally of the government, both locally and nationally. The
government supports the church and in return, the church votes for their
well-selected pawns and then tells the government what it wants, and usually
gets it. We do Not have separation of church and state. We have instead, a
strong bond between the two.
Am
I mistaken? Is it not against the law for nonprofit outfits to contribute money
to political parties then receive favored laws and treatment from the same people
who received the money? Both the church and the government go to great lengths
to get you to believe the two are separate and not scratching one another’s
back and padding one another's pockets. But they are!
We
are not just talking taxes here. We are talking about "Robin Hoodery"
by the federal government and by the church. We are talking about collusion, a
conspiracy between church and state. We are talking about personal freedom,
mine and yours, even if you are a member of the religious establishment. We are
talking "Pork Barrel" politics! Before long, the law makers will be
taking money directly out of your pocket and giving it away so some may send
their children to church schools to be brain washed. Much of that money will go
to kids Already in church schools. Can this be happening in America? Is this
separation? Or, collusion?
The
church also spends billions of dollars to promote its doctrines and beliefs and
to get those beliefs and doctrines placed into law. Thus, we have a multitude
of Blue laws and Perversion laws. The church buys (finances) politicians that
have been, or can be, brain washed into being the spokesmen for the churches.
Nothing
today is more destructive of our freedoms, happiness and welfare than the
church backed War on Drugs. They tried before with alcohol and we had
Prohibition. That terrible mistake is what we are still suffering from today.
That failed Prohibition produced vast criminal wealth that now finances the
trouble we have with crime and drugs - right now. The religious backed “War on
Drugs” is destroying our Constitution, our freedoms and our future. The War on
Drugs is the Worst mistake this country has Ever made. (Now, The Patriot Act
has superseded and passed beyond the terrors of the Drug War). ( Don’t miss Chapter
42 on Crime and Drugs.)
It
will soon become evident when You or members of your family or friends are
accused, their property seized, their person placed in prisons with hardened criminals
for extended periods of time, even if they are innocent. The church is
promoting search and seizure of your property, home and person without recourse
to warrants, charges, evidence or activity on your part. This is called, The
War on Drugs. It should be called by its correct name, “Tyranny” (for our own
good.) (Now we have the Patriot Act written and planned years before 9/11/01.
The War on Drugs has been expanded to include those invisible terrorists who
have been financed by our own CIA, banks, politicians, businesses and others.)
How
does the church affect me in other ways besides in my pocketbook? The church
wants my children. It wants them to Believe instead of Think. My children were
badgered in school by teachers and believing friends. They were told in school
that they were going to hell if they didn't accept Jesus in some prescribed
denominational way. They were instructed it was good manners to pray at the
table before they ate. They were supposed to give God credit for the food they
ate instead of the farmer who worked so hard to raise it, or the trucker who
brought it to market, or the grocer who risked his capital to have it for us,
or the father who worked hard to afford it, or the mother who prepared it with
loving and dedicated hands. Why can't we teach our children to give thanks
where thanks are due?
Then
there are Christmas and Easter and the other religious holidays in which my
children were taught fables, myths and old wives’ tales that taxpayer funded
educational systems pass on to the pupils as though these things were the
truth. I don't approve of my children being told lies by public servants in
public places. I don't approve of the religions being given time and
opportunity to tell their myths and lies free of charge, while the Truth is
banned from discussion or publication.
The
church affects me in other ways. I notice in our papers, the religious
falsehoods get told free of charge while the truth must not only pay to be seen
in print, but often the truth must go to court before a newspaper will publish
the truth - for pay. Sometimes the Truth loses out in court when enough
ministers and Christians appear in court in order to plead with the court, that
the Truth is not in the best interest of the Christians in the community.
Certainly, it is not! But, it IS in the best interest of the community as a
whole. You can forget television and radio. No amount of court cases can get
the Clear Thought philosophy on the air waves, Yet.
How
else does the church affect me? If one has intercourse with his wife in any way
except the missionary position, he is breaking the law in many states, even if
he is in his own home, in his own bed, with his own wife. The church has forced
upon the citizens of this nation what they call perversion laws and blue laws.
The church believes it has a Revelation from Almighty God to regulate your
entire life from the womb to the tomb. Christians have self-appointed
themselves to be judge, jury and executioner of our activity and even of our
Thoughts. I don't like that. Do you? That is stealing my American freedoms
guaranteed to you and me by the Deists founders of this nation and written into
our Constitution.
How
else does the church affect me? It is very difficult to get any of my
philosophical writings published. The churches have too much pressure, and own
too much stock, and own too many businesses that do business with the
publishers. So, I must, in one way or another, seek to circumvent the
censorship of the church. Sometimes it means I must publish my own writings.
Clear Thinkers can't even pay to get many magazines and newspapers to carry
Advertisements for their writings. I do believe that is called censorship. Are
we losing All of our freedoms if we do not believe correctly and belong to the
established churches? Is freedom of speech only for those who have been
brainwashed and have the church's approved point of view? Is freedom only for
the crooks, politicians, gullible and weak-minded believers? Is freedom only
for the fundamentalists of religion, politics and business? Who runs this
country anyway?
How
else does the church affect me? I can't buy a bottle of wine to go with my meal
on Sunday in many places of this, so-called, free land. In some places, I can’t
get it at all.
How
else does the church affect me? My insurance company has been bought out by a
religious denomination.
The
church affects you and me all the time. I have people stopping me on the
street, or knocking on my door at various times, day or night. They want me to
attend their church, sign their petition to do away with abortion, or do away
with the sale of beer and wine, give money to this and that, buy their candy,
fight some local option they are against and a multitude of other request.
I
have been publicly talked about from church pulpits.
Church
people come into my store and hide or misplace books they think are not fit for
others to read, just because of a picture on the cover, or because of a title
they think is too sexy, or too irreligious. They do the same thing in the
public library.
I
go to the library to check out books only to find the books have been stolen or
checked out by ministers, Sunday school teachers or other religious folks and
never returned. Books like Thomas Paine's "Age of Reason.” Go see
for yourself.
There
are many other irritations, big and small, where the church affects me daily.
But I can stand all of that because I know how to defend myself. What really
hurts is what the church does to its own people.
The
church never takes its eye off the pocketbook of its members. Nor does it ever
cease to demand the time of its members. But the heart of the hurt is, the
church wants the children. It wants to teach them lies and tell them the lies
are the truth. The church wants your children to stop Thinking and to start
Believing. It wants to warp their minds and egos. The church wants to fill the
little children with self-importance and superiority. It wants to fill them
with fears, guilts, hates and prejudices against other religions and other
races. The church wants to teach the children all about how to sin and fill the
children with fear and guilt because these give the church control over the
minds of our children. Children, not money, are the life's blood of the church.
The
church has Sunday schools, mission schools, Bible schools, nursery schools,
preschools, grammar schools, middle schools, high schools, trade schools,
colleges, universities, law schools and seminaries. These schools are usually
well equipped, but through it all comes the teachings of guilt, the illusion of
reverence for the church, the obedience to the church, the hatreds, hostilities
and prejudices, the mind washing and all the rest. And they are in part,
financed by you and me. This is bad! I am against it.
There
should be an organization whose aim is to expose and correct what the teachings
of the church do to our children. We could call it, "Save Our Christian
Kids," or SOCK for short.
Then
there are the older people. The church takes advantage of them too; promising
them eternal bliss in heaven and helping them "will" their money,
land and wealth to the church. Some areas of the church cannot even wait until
the old folks die. They open up homes for the aged and if the old folks have
enough money, they will take them under their wing, provided the old folks sign
all their worldly goods, social security and pension checks over to the Lord.
After they have done that, they are given a tiny bedroom and a few bad to fair
meals. Then the federal government steps in and increases the wealth of the
church by granting huge sums of money because the church is taking care of a
few "newly poor" elderly folks. Now, I am not against taking care of
the old folks. In fact, I am almost one myself. I am against bilking the old
folks and the government under the guise of helping them. I am against making
God seem like a money grabbing old miser.
How
about all those people in the middle of life? How does the church affect them?
First and foremost, there is the money. You know about that. Different parts of
the church, that is, different denominations, deal differently with their
people. The Catholic Church wants you to tell it everything. It wants to know
what you have done wrong according to their own inhumane code of ethics. It
wants to know how much money you make. It wants to know what you do in your
bedroom, even under the covers. It wants to know what you Think, what you read
and how you voted. It wants the wives and girl friends to tell all.
Then
the Catholic Church wants to tell you a few things like whom you should or
should not marry, what to do, or not to do when you have sex. It wants to tell
you what to do with your children, how to vote, what to do with your money.
Until recently in the USA, they told what to eat, or what not to eat, and when
to eat it, or not eat it. They will advise you now on what to read or what not
to read. They still keep a record (Index) of those books that are a Sin to you,
if you read them. (The Honest Man's Philosophy has not yet made the list
but I am expecting it.) They will urge you to do business with other Catholics.
They will urge you to have large numbers of children. They will tell you where
your children should or should not go to school. They will call upon you for
money to support their schools, their ministries and their missions. They will
tell you how often you simply must drink their wine and eat their bread. They
not only put four fingers and a thumb around your neck, they also wrap their
doctrines around your mind.
Other
cults, sects and denominations do the same things to greater or lesser degrees.
If you grew up in a church like the Catholic Church, you will have a tremendous
job breaking your mind free. If you grew up in a more liberal Protestant
church, be thankful. You will not have as great an emotional break if you leave
that church as you would if you left the Catholic Church. But you will have a
more difficult time mentally because the Protestant churches are more subtle.
They have manufactured a few reasons for doing what they do. Some will argue
they know the Bible is not perfect, but they know God is perfect. Don't ask
them how they know because they will tell you the (imperfect) Bible tells them
so, their hearts tell them so and they Know they are right. You see, they
Believe!
In
addition to asking the question, "How does the church affect me?"
there is another question to ask about the church. The second question has to
do with truth. Is It A Sin Or Wrong To Tell A Dangerous Lie? To yell fire in a
crowded public place is a crime if there is no fire. Is it not also wrong to
yell Hell Fire when there is no hell fire? I have met many people who told me
about nightmares that they had when they were children (and even as adults).
These horrors came as a result of listening to the preaching of some evangelist
or minister who described the myths of hell in vivid and lucid terms, as though
they were giving a guided tour. Those nightmares consisted of dying and going
to hell, of being chased by demons, of flames leaping up out of the earth to burn
them. They suffered terrible fears of sinning and Not Even Knowing It!
Children
are caused great hurt, guilt and fear by these sin and hell fire stories. Even
if there were a hell, anything that has such a negative psychological effect on
young minds should be considered as Pornography. Don't forget, Hell is a
four-letter word. Anyone who tells such stories to children and insists they
are true should be held accountable at law for exposing little children to such
pornography. Many church services should be rated XXX.
Then
there is the lie of heaven. Now I am not against heaven, if there were such a
place. What I am against is trying to make an exclusive club of it. One
denomination goes so far as to make it available for only one hundred and
forty-four thousand of their members. Imagine their problem when their
denomination reached three and four times that number of believers. They then
had to make up a second heaven, not quite as good as the first one to take care
of their increased membership.
Another
denomination excludes infants. Another denomination says you had to be selected
by God before the world was formed in order to go to heaven when you die. It
makes no difference what you do, believe or think. The only important question
is, did God select or elect you before the foundation of the world was laid -
whatever that is supposed to mean.
Most
of the Christian denominations either officially or unofficially, teach that
the other denominations are not likely to have very many members in heaven (theirs).
And of course, according to some, no Jews or Chinese or Arabs will make it. The
only blacks that will make it will be those few who belong to that particular
denomination.
All
of the denominations exclude the Clear Thinker, the honest doubter, the good
men and women who cannot believe the unbelievable claims made by the church.
They exclude the person who is more interested in his responsibility to his
family, his society and his future on earth than he is in a foggy place named
Heaven. And of course, all Clear Thinkers must kiss heaven good-bye. My comment
on that is, "Thank you, God!" I would not wish to spend eternity with
a group of people who were too fearful and gullible to think for themselves and
too cowardly to accept responsibility for their own actions.
I
also want to ask a question about the lie of Christian justice. Could there
ever be a more warped sense of justice than to say the guilty can go free while
the innocent must pay for the wrong doing of the guilty? I doubt it. If our
court system was based on this Christian system of justice, can you imagine the
horror of a court placing an innocent wife in prison for the crimes of her
husband, a mother for her son, or a son for his father's crime?
Justice
is doing what is right and best for all of the parties concerned. Punishment of
one sort or another may or may not be what is best. Some pagan religions insist
that the criminal must pay in goods and service to the Victims an amount that
compensates the person or persons whom he has wronged. Sounds like some of the
ignorant pagans can out think our modern day theologians and politicians. In
our system, the guilty must pay a third uninvolved party (the state). Most of
the time the victim must pay his own court cost and get by the best way he or
she can.
To
let the guilty go free is not justice. It is not mercy. It is not forgiveness.
Rather, it is a Criminal action within itself. God never perpetrated,
sanctioned, nor inspired this criminal act of punishing the innocent (his own son)
while forgiving and setting the guilty free. Those who insist God did such a
terrible thing are belittling God and smudging his reputation. I'll say it
again. No good God ever thirsted for sheep's blood, man's blood or the blood of
his own kin. I am defending God's good name and character here!
Which
brings up our next question. How could anyone, who has an ounce of brains and
uses them, understand much less accept the promised salvations, even if there
were such a thing? If he were an honest, sincere man (or woman) he would be
obliged to examine All of the plans for salvation that churches and religions
have to offer. He would find there are almost as many plans for salvation as
there are denominations, sects and cults. He would further find many of these
plans for salvation were mutually exclusive. That is, to follow one plan would
automatically exclude him from salvation under some of the other plans.
There
are Protestant denominations that call the Catholic Church, "The Great
Whore" mentioned in the Bible. This "whore" religion is shown in
the Bible to be a religion that men Believe is the true religion of God, but
which is actually of the Devil. This "whore" religion is responsible
for horrid amounts of bloodshed and evil, all done in the name of God and in
the name of Good. According to these Protestant denominations, all Catholics
are lost and going to hell. Yet, the Catholic Church presents it's plan of
salvation as the Only one that will get you to heaven.
The
Catholic Church teaches that the Protestant churches are the result of the
influence of the Devil. The Protestant churches broke away from God's church
and therefore, from God. The Protestants are lost and going to hell. The
"whore" religion to the Catholic Church is the Protestant church. The
Catholic Church teaches that unless a person is in the Roman Catholic Church
and there by receives the baptism of "Apostolic Succession,” then that
person will go to hell. (Of course, for a price, in South America, they will
pray you out of hell.) Maybe the "whore" religion is All of the
Christian religions or yet, All of the religions.
There
are many denominations that teach that unless one accepts their favorite
"plan of salvation" and belongs to their favorite church and believes
in their favorite body of doctrine and is baptized with their magic formula,
then that person is going to hell. Some churches, however, have developed
lesser positions in heaven for good believers who belong to other denominations
but believe wrongly, according to their doctrines. However, No religion or
denomination has a place in his heaven for the Honest Doubter, the Honest Clear
Thinker, the honest men and women who cannot believe the unbelievable claims
and immoralities of the churches.
So,
what is an Honest thinking person to do? It is doubtful if any single person
could possibly fulfill one tenth of the "plans of salvation" in one
lifetime. Certainly, he could never belong to each church denomination that
exists. Many churches would refuse him membership or baptism when they found he
had already belonged to so many other churches. Besides, he could only die in
one denomination. I ask this question. Could any God Possibly be in charge, or
even allow all of this confusion over such a vital factor as the ultimate destiny
of mankind? I will answer my own question. Certainly not!
There
are over sixty different "plans of salvation" in the New Testament
alone when churches take two or three of these "plans" and put them
together. The confusion over salvation is enough to drive a sincere person into
a mental institution and many people are institutionalized today for that very
reason. The "plan of salvation" is a Sin and Lie forced upon mankind
by barbarian priests and ministers in order to rule over a gullible, barbarian
people. They do it for the prestige, power, pleasure and profit of the lie. The
word "Barbarian" refers to how a people "think" (or do not
think), not how, where or when they lived.
Our
mental institutions are full of people who are there because of the guilt,
stress and fear placed within them by this or that church denomination. Their
minds could not keep up with the strain. They have never been taught to Think
and thus, do not know How to separate fairy tales from true facts. The church
does not build enough mental institutions, nor does the federal government, to
take care of those who Should be there as a result of the teachings of the
church.
Many
of these people can never be helped. But can't we do something about the
children who are being exposed to this nonsense and are even now being robbed
of their thinking and reasoning ability by the church? Shall we continue to
allow our children to be Stripped of their humanity, their honest thinking
ability and their future?
There
is one hopeful sign the Clear Thinker sees. That is, most members of the church
do not actually believe in all of the doctrines of their favorite church. Some
nod their heads but not their minds. Another hopeful sign is many ministers no
longer preach all, or most, of the doctrines of their particular denominations.
The Presbyterians still have in their creeds and doctrines that only the chosen
are saved and only babies who are baptized with their magic formula go to
heaven. But they don't preach those doctrines like they used to do.
There
are also some ominous signs that concern the Clear Thinker. The television and
radio preachers are once again starting to preach the "old time gospel,”
hell fire and brimstone, the guilt of sin and the power of prayer. They are
even telling lies about miracles happening today and about people being healed
from all sorts of diseases and infirmities by simply placing their hands on the
radio or TV. What has happened to the minds of the American people? Where has
honest thinking gone?
I
would like you to think about two last areas of the church with me. That is,
the areas of politics and education.
The
Clear Thinker looks upon the inroads the church is making in politics with fear
and trembling. The first reason is because the church has so much money to
throw into politics. Groups like the "moral majority” by their Own
bragging statements are not seeking more freedoms for the American people. They
are instead, seeking Less freedoms for us. They claim America has become Too
free and Too liberal. They claim this freedom must be taken away because an
American should Not have the freedom to act and speak against the best interest
of God and God's church and teachings. In other words, they are claiming
America should be a Theocracy under the direction of God and his church, not
under the direction of the citizens. And who is qualified to say what God
wants? Who is able to read the mind of God? You guessed it. Them! The moral
majority (or Coalition or whatever they seek to call themselves) is trying to
determine America's political future and steal our freedoms.
They
wish to tell America and the world what it can and cannot watch on television
and hear on the radio and read in the newspaper. They want to do away with
programming that is "not wholesome.” For "wholesome" read,
"fundamental and conservative Protestant Christianity.” Now I admit that
television has sunk to the depths of insipidness. I admit that TV is pitched to
the mind of a sixteen-year-old (or less). I admit that there are almost No
adult programs on their schedule. I admit that even the news consists mostly of
gossip and opinion. I admit that the main purpose of TV is to sell cars,
cosmetics, medicines, beer, movies, religion, sports and music. I admit that I
seldom watch it. But, I also admit that if Just the church people had their
cable or dish taken out, TV would change! And you know that is a fact! We don't
need legislation. We need common sense.
The
church wants to stop the Women's Rights movement. They want to stop abortion
for any reason. They want to stop beer, wine and alcohol of all types. They
want to stop the little progress we have made in integration and race
relations. They want to stop the "desecration" of the Lord's Day.
That is, they want to stop most business on Sunday so the churches will not
have any competition for people's time and money on Sunday. They want to stop
liberalism in the federal government. For liberalism read, "attempts at
justice and concern for all people.” They want to stop the civil rights
movements for the Afro-American, Hispanics, women, gays, Native Americans and
others. They want to stop most of the Social Security programs. After all, if
one depends on God's Divine Security, works hard, cheats and schemes to make
plenty of money, there is no need for Social Security.
I
would like to make a comment about the moral majority. They are neither moral,
nor are they a majority. My hope is, enough people will think about what the
fundamentalists and conservative Christians are doing and reject them and their
politics at each and every opportunity. They can change their names but they
cannot change their spots. Let's call them the "Immoral Minority.” I am in
favor of many of the moral programs they seek to get Congress to pass. But I am
against them riding moral waves in an attempt to snatch political power for
themselves and their religions. We would not be in the mess we are in now if it
had not been for their pressure on the federal government in the past. Remember
the destruction of our morals caused by the Christian establishment of
Prohibition? You need to read my article "Drugs and Crime" at the end
of this book.
A
second reason Clear Thinkers fear the new attempt of the church to openly enter
politics is the fact, the church can and will tell its members, (using lies and
propaganda) how to vote or who to vote against. The vast majority of the
members will do like their minister or denomination tells them to do. The
reason is because, they do not Think. The members Believe they are being told
the truth by their leaders, when in fact, they are only being told what is best
for the on going of the church itself and the business of the church. When the
Bible calls the believers "sheep," it could not have selected a
better description of the people, or of their actions. Believers Are sheep;
going where the denomination wishes them to go and doing what the leaders tell
them to do. They follow their shepherd where he leads them - right into the
destruction of their own freedoms and free civilization.
The
1984 presidential elections are over and the truth has revealed itself. The
ACTIC (called Attack) was a coalition of fundamental and conservative Christian
political activist groups. They recently (1987) revealed their strategies for
the elections of 1984. They revealed how they turned their millions of dollars
into lies and propaganda to defeat a great many senators and representatives
who did not agree with their pietistic and fundamental views on morals and
legislation. The ACTIC admitted and Bragged that they lied. They bragged that
they misrepresented both the candidates they wished to elect and the candidates
that they wished to defeat. Their reasoning was, it was for the good of the
country. (Read - for the good of the Fundamental Protestant Churches.)
Their
millions of dollars and hundreds of lies caused numerous wise and understanding
state and national statesmen to be defeated by their religiously backed
opportunistic candidates. In a few years, the religious fundamental groups will
control the Republican Party, the politics and the legislation of this country
- if we are not careful! Do we think they wiill be any different in the 1992
elections? They are still gloating over their victories in the 1984 elections.
Will they capture the Republican Party as they are planning to do? Will You
believe their propaganda? They are spending millions of dollars and hundreds of
lies presently (1989) to do just that.
They
smear and lie about their opposition and balloon trivial things into character
assassinations. They dig and dig seeking anything to discredit those who oppose
them. If they cannot find something, they have no shame in making something up.
They call their opposition Ungodly. Will they be strong enough, tell enough
lies and slander enough people to fool the American people again? My guess is,
yes. Then what? It might be a good thing, because then the American people will
see what Dictators they are. We will have our eyes opened and see how they will
try to cut off help to the Blacks, the Hispanics, the poor, the old and any
others who do not follow their Christian philosophy. They will even export
their immoralities overseas.
They
are also very materialistic and wish to privatize utilities, transportation,
banking and even war and such. They wish to strip the controls of government
off of their greed and power. Their arrogance is such that they will find ways
to spread their deception to the rest of the world even if it takes war. They
are God’s Chosen people!
Honest
Clear Thinkers will have to become contortionists. They will need to practice
kissing their behinds good bye.
One
thing is sure. In the next decade or two, religion will be one of the main
forces in this country. I hope they will also become one of the main political
issues and the American people will speak up and let others know what the
religions are up to. The information and position of the Clear Thinkers Must be
Heard! Only the Truth can save this country from a religious, military
dictatorship. We need to make the HONEST MAN’S PHILOSOPHY available for
all.
America
Must Be Warned! Even if the religious cannot be stopped, America must
know what is happening. Even liberal religions should join in and demand that
our side be heard. If we are not heard, then this great nation may die as a
Republic and as a nation of liberty and justice for All. Liberty and justice
will soon be only for those who have the Right Religious and Political Belief!
Your freedoms and those of your children will be gone. Judaism and Catholicism
could be put in a political and economic straight jacket. Blacks and Hispanics
may be pushed back and returned to the ghetto. Liberal Baptists, Methodists and
other Protestants may find themselves reduced to second-class citizens if they
don't agree with the fundamental Christians who will rule over us like Nazis
(for our own good and the good of our children).
Even
here there is some hope. These fundamental churches cannot work together for
long. Not only are they themselves corrupt, but also they fear each other too
much. Yes, and even hate each other. The more liberal are hated by the
conservatives and the liberals despise the fundamentalists. The Catholics and
the Protestants can find little ground for cooperation. Organized Christianity
looks down on the cults and sects. In turn, many radical war like cults look
down on organized Fundamental Christianity as being Too Liberal. Just how far
to the right can one go? Even the fundamentalists cannot agree with each other
except in very broad terms.
People
who are believers are easy prey for dictatorships. In the confusion of the
years to come with its wars, its lies, its economic panics, crime and general
turmoil, my guess is a dictator will Try to come to power in about fifteen or
twenty years. He will be backed by the Fundamental Christians and non-thinking
believers of this country. Freedom is rapidly slipping through our fingers and
the reason is, we have been taught to Believe instead of being taught to Think.
People who love freedom must snatch our Freedoms from the jaws of fundamental
religion.
IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP! IT IS TIME TO THINK!
Next,
we need to look at the church as it pushes itself into the field of education.
The schools and educational facilities of the churches are growing by leaps and
bounds. The civil rights movement that moved the whites and blacks together in
the public schools caused the churches to separate the white and black children
to a greater degree than ever. The fundamental and indeed the conservative
Christian approach to the issue of equal rights for the blacks and whites, has
been, and is, that the two are in no way equal. The whites of their
denominational faith are God's chosen people. As such, those
"Christians" are supposed to "Come out from among the sinners
and be ye separate." The whole basis of the teachings of the Bible and
Christianity is that the Christian is not to mingle with the "others"
- those who do not believe their favorite myyths and doctrines.
The
philosophy of Christianity says the Christian is better than anyone who is not
a Christian (of their kind). Education has nothing to do with it. Position has
nothing to do with it. One has only to Believe certain delusions and at once
God makes that person Superior to all others who do Not Believe those certain
things.
As
a result, the Christians set up their own schools and institutions. There the
students are taught they are better than anyone else. Isn't this exactly what
Hitler did? Is it any wonder these fundamental Christian people are able to
control elections? They figure they are better than anyone else and therefore,
they are above the laws and morals of mere man. They follow the laws of God.
They are God's chosen people, his front line troops. They are Divinely Destined
to rule over the "others" (for our own good, of course) even if they
must cheat at the ballot box. These Christians are following the teachings of
the Bible. They are doing what God tells them.
THEY ARE BEING GOOD CHRISTIANS!
I
would never allow my children to attend these types of schools. It is true that
the religious schools do demand obedience from the students and the students
tend to learn more general knowledge than children in most public schools. What
this shows is that we need to do a lot of rethinking about our public education
system, its goals and methods of teaching, grading and controlling.
Another
plan of the believers and the churches is to take control of the public schools
by taking over the PTAs and the school boards in each community. They wish to
infuse religion and prayer into the curriculum. They wish to censor science and
its conclusions about life. I feel such a bold attack on the public school
system will not go unnoticed nor unchallenged. Such a brazen attempt should
draw the wrath of both the citizens of this country as well as the attention of
our judicial system. They will try because they Believe - and they have no
shame!
It
is true; our educational system is terrible and getting worse. The quality of
education will not improve until we quit thinking that big is better and
believing is better than thinking. It will not improve so long as knowledge is
portrayed as boring and unnecessary. The student must be taught the Joy of
knowledge. The student must be Allowed to learn. He must be Taught to Think,
not taught to believe. We must let the student Discover knowledge, not
force-feed it to them. The student must learn to adapt to knowledge because
knowledge will not adapt to the student.
The
best teacher in the world is Yourself. Each normal person is capable of
learning all the subjects taught in school. All they need is motivation. If our
children learn to Think instead of believing in authorities, they will find
learning is wonderful. Learning is digging out the treasures of life, the
secrets and the methods. With knowledge comes more of the motivation. Knowledge
IS motivation. The more ignorant a person the less motivation and incentive he
has to learn what he does not know. When a person learns a new truth, he wants
to know more. Thus, our educational system should be teaching Truth to our
children.
To
sum up, the Clear Thinking philosophy views the philosophy of the church as a
threat and menace to the freedom and well being of this country. Clear Thinkers
also view the church as a threat to the personal freedoms of all of the
citizens of this nation. And especially are the churches a threat to the
freedom of all
HONEST CLEAR THINKERS.
LET'S DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! - NOW!
NOW IS
THE TIME!
(OR
WAS YESTERDAY THE TIME?)
