A number of people who have styled themselves as the keeper of morals for the American nation (and possibly for the world) have been outed as members of the Ashley Madison – find someone to have adultery with – site. This time the hacker was definitely on the side of the angels.
The thing is, if you’re a faker, a cheat, a hypocrite and a liar, you will eventually be found out. There are a number of clichés that suit the occasion: You reap what you sow; what goes around comes around; the truth will out…
Some people think that these gentlemen have, by their actions, disproved any claims to legitimacy by the Christian church. And, the problem is that the church is littered with ratbags, paedophiles, drunkards, adulterers etc. When you have a religion that preaches forgiveness and a fresh start, you’re going to get people with problems. You’re also going to get people who like to appear respectable and normal and, to fit in, they can learn the right lingo and ‘acceptable’ behaviour, even though in their hearts they don’t believe any of it.
Similar things happen in other religions. Take the iniquitous IS (ISIS, ISIL…) cult. They claim to be good Muslims waging a holy war for Allah. They quite happily kill whoever disagrees with them, including other Muslims, and wage war on old people, women and children. In their ‘holiness’ – even tho’ their religion forbids the use of the drug, alcohol – they give their soldiers drugs to take before they behead people, so that their conscience is deadened. (Why would you need to do that if what you are doing is just?) They disrespect women by sexually abusing them and selling them into sexual slavery, even tho’ the Koran teaches the Muslim man to respect women. They’re an embarrassment to the rest of the Muslim world, just as the paedophile priests, the loud-mouth red-necks and the hypocritical fakes are for the Christian world.
Does this mean that all religion is false and a waste of time? (I can hear some of you shouting: Yes!) Religion can appeal to the best in mankind’s nature, presenting a high standard of behaviour as an ideal to aim for, and encouraging love and respect for every living thing.
Religion can also be an excuse for the very worst of human behaviour; excusing violence, injustice and bigotry.
And, people can do and be all those things without any religion. The early communists in Russian history did some horrendously awful things.
The real problem is the heart of the person. We can choose to live in a loving, gracious, honest and kind way. Or, we can choose to give ourselves up to the darkness within. Or, we can live in that twilight world of wanting to be one thing but, secretly, being the other.
Personally, I swing between the first and last, trying to limit the pendulum swing to the first. I won’t ask where you’re at but, the more of us that choose the first option, the better this world will be. At the moment, in many parts of the world, too many are choosing option two.
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