“Religion is the opium of the people.” or “Die Religion … ist das Opium des Volkes” – translated by some as – “religion is the opium of the masses”. “The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.” [Karl Marx (May, 1818 – March 1883)]
Kark Marx believed that all religion is used to control the masses or the people. The concept that Christianity was created to control the people (or masses) is an offspring of the ideas of those wishing to destroy all religion and belief in God or gods of any type. Self seeking Bible thumpers have made their job easier. History is full of conquers claiming a right to control the lives of other as being God given and scripturally sound. Those abuses do not negate the validity of God or Christianity. Proving abuse does not constitute a sentence of guilty on believers. In a lot of cases, believers were the victims or targeted victims. While those claiming that religion in general is bad may have the interests of mankind at heart, their idea is more controlling than the systems they want to change or stop all together. The idea that it is okay to kill believers (or their ideas) to stop the spread of a faith is very controlling.
The first error made by those who argue against Christianity using the argument that religion is bad, is that Christianity is not a religion; not true Christianity. People have made a religion out of doctrines that imitate Christianity and use jargon that sound like Christian talk. That doesn’t make them Christian. In that case religion is a bad thing – it keeps people from seeking the true faith. If you are waiting for a lot of quotes from people that other people think are something to impress you with my knowledge, you can stop reading. This is a testimony, a witness, and not a five page essay with five five sentence paragraphs on each page with two quotes supporting and one arguing against my premise statement. That would look too much like religion – a repetitive process. Christianity is not a religion.
If Christianity is not a religion, what is it? It is a lifestyle; a lifestyle that has a right to exist. Christianity is not every Sunday morning in the same place doing the same thing. That just might be an imitation. For those that are Sabbath observers, Christianity is not every Saturday meeting in the same place and doing the same thing. Christianity is a process, just like life itself. Just as a human is born, ages, and dies – a Christian is born (a belief in Christ, conceived the Holy Spirit) – a Christian ages (hopefully matures) – a Christian dies (dies to the flesh and lives for Christ in Spirit). The idea that all Christians do is believe and then sit week after week and do what ever they are told by self appointed leadership is a doctrine of man. There is nothing further form the truth. Meetings are necessary for sharing testimonies and witnessing to new believers. They are not mandatory commandments to avoid being an eternal barbeque in hell.
Another concept of the anti-religious attacks on Christianity is that the Bible can be used to prove or disprove Christianity. The Bible is a book with no proofs of itself inherently contained within its pages. The only way to get anything out of the pages of the Bible (Old or New Testament) is to have faith. Basically, belief in the text is to believe with no reason to believe other than that you do. I am that I am. I believe because I believe. To argue against such belief is to tell someone else what they believe. That is controlling. Then there is the argument that believers are brainwashed and they don’t really believe. So the non-believer is their hero, rescuing them from a brainwashing. To do so the believer will have to have their brain reprogrammed with the non-believer’s idea of truth. Basically, what they believe with no other reason to believe other than that they do. In reality the non-believer is someone with a belief in something else.
Without faith it is impossible. The Bible is an introduction to God, with no real proof that God exists. The only proof the believer has in their belief are the actions that God takes in their life because of their faith. Those actions become their testimony (witness) to others. Without faith it is impossible even for the anti-Christian believer. Either belief takes believing. There is no real proof of either argument. My proof that God exists is my testimony based on my belief that there is a God that exist and is working in my life. If I chose to believe Karl Marx instead, then I would believe because I wanted to and then could share with others how that belief is working in my life. It is my choice to believe in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. To take that choice away from me is an attempt to control my core being. It is attempt to change what I am at my core, my foundational belief.
© 2007, Tim D. Coulter Sr.