Too Much Religion
I am convinced that a problem, may be even “the” problem, is that there is too much religion in America, and people do not recognize this problem because they have a too narrow definition of religion. Religion is anything, usually a group of people or an institution, to which one identifies themselves with and is loyal to because they derive meaning from that group. For example, complete this sentence, “I am….”.
If you are like me you will find yourself making many “I am …” statements that not only include faith-based groups like “I am Christian” or “I am Muslim” but also, “I am a father,” and “I am a woman”, and also “I am a Green Bay Packer fan,” and “I am a NASCAR fan”. For too many today, their answers are also “I am a Republican” or “I am a liberal” or “I am a conservative.”
So many groups to which we bind our selves to and that which demand our loyalty. I think all of these religions, yes even the faith-based ones, tend to be practices of idolatry. My understanding of religion explains how Donald Trump has managed to change what it means to be an evangelical Christian to a person who supports Donald Trump rather than a person who believes in the divinity of Christ.
Jesus is not the founder of the religion known by 90% of the world as Christianity, that religion was founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine. Jesus founded a movement, a way from religion that demands our loyalty toward our true selves as kin of of the divine, the divine that simply is “I am”.