Kingdom Principles

Kingdom Principles

THE SOURCE OF RELIGION All of this is compounded by our establishment of sophisticated religions into which we retreat to escape the social chaos we have created. Religion is the most powerful force on earth. Despite the claims of many to the contrary, everyone on earth is religious. Religion is defined as the adherence to a set of beliefs that regulate the moral, social, and ritualistic behavior of the individual. This def inition would include the so-called atheist, secularist, communist, socialist, humanist or agnostic, for they all adhere to a belief system of some kind, even if it is the belief that there is no providential com ponent in creation or life as we know it, or a belief in the power of the human as the supreme measure of truth and right. Virtually every major problem in history and in our contempo rary world can be traced to some religious foundation. Religion has motivated the massacre of millions over the years in such horrific events as the Crusades, the Inquisition, and wars related to the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counterreformation. Slavery, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, segregation, racial discrimina tion, and other oppressive practices all have been justified by some religious code or system. Even this new millennium commenced with definitive acts of religious terrorism. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 sent shock waves through the global nervous system of mankind and continues today to fuel the fires of conflict, hatred, fear, and murder throughout the world. How ironic it is that religion, the very thing that by its nature is supposed to provide the solution to mankind’s problems and provide hope and faith for life, has itself created more problems throughout history than it has solved. Perhaps this is one reason so many millions have turned away from all forms of institutionalized religions and opted to embrace such philosophies as humanism, communism, and agnosticism. Some have simply given up and lost all hope in humanity. I myself have struggled long to come to grips with this dichotomy of human

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