I grew up in a very strict religious family. As a small kid, I never questioned my parents’ beliefs. But, beliefs often affect behavior and it wasn’t long before their beliefs were affecting my behavior. I saw other kids doing what I couldn’t do.

Conflict and confusion are often the by-products of religion. I was in conflict with my parents when I wanted to do things they would not let me do. There was additional conflict when they disciplined me unfairly or too harshly.

Confusion erupted when I discovered that the whole world did not walk in unison or wear only one uniform. Some kids could get by with murder and it didn’t seem like their parents cared at all. The school and my trusted teachers scheduled school functions which I could not attend.

As I grew older I overheard religious conversations which emphasized the conflict and confusion within religious circles. Doctrinal debates swirled around me. Some people were ‘far-out’ in their beliefs – obvious heretics! Others were so dogmatic and unyielding that even their ‘right beliefs’ seemed offensive because of their attitudes. A third group ‘seemed’ all right, except that their walk never lined up with their talk. They couldn’t seem to practice what they preached.

Is it any wonder then that we tend to become disillusioned with religion and disenchanted with those who push it so hard?

Can anyone deny that many good medicines have some terrible side effects? Doesn’t religion produce it’s own array of dizziness, headaches, nausea, and allergic reactions?

Someone once came up with the saying, "Religion is the opiate of the people". Opium is a drug that sedates the senses. Religion in its truest form is worship. Religion in its baser form is a drug. It is a natural response of the heart mixed with manmade thoughts, ideas and opinions. It is a God-given requirement for the soul which has been mixed with the artificial additives of human nature.

Which statement is true?

a) Penicillin is a terrific lifesaver.

b) Penicillin is a tool of death.

Both statements are a fact of life. The doctor who will not use Penicillin because it can sometimes kill, is just as foolish as the doctor who will not admit the truth about its possible dangers.

Religion is in conflict with itself. Society is in conflict with itself. We, as individuals, are often in conflict with ourselves. Who among us has never been able to say at one time or another in their lives, "I am my own worst enemy"?

But, I can’t kill myself just because there are things about me that I don’t like. We can’t destroy the whole world because of ‘one Hitler’ or even because of a million violent criminals. As long as the world stands, there will always be conflict – and - religion will always be right ‘smack-dab’ in the middle of it all.

So, should we do away with ‘all religion’ because of 75 million hypocrites and because of the 32 billion barrels of confusion which it produces?

Not hardly, because…

Religion is also the dike that holds back destruction. If there was not ‘one religious person’ in the world, our society would have already destroyed itself completely. In spite of all its flaws and foolishness, basic religious principles are the stabilizing force in any community.

Who can honestly say:

hate is better than love,

lies are better than truth,

faith and optimism?

A man who hates cops does not want everyone in his neighborhood to be free to ‘burglarize and steal’ whenever they want to. A prisoner may hate prison guards, but he sure wants them around when another inmate is trying to kill him.

A man who hates the fact that religion threatens to take away his right to view pornography, does not want his daughter and grand kids to be used and abused by the porno people.

If you hate the presence of hypocrites on your block, would you rather have pimps, prostitutes, panhandlers, and perverts for neighbors? Would you like to rent the other side of your duplex out to ex-cons who have raped, robbed and murdered? Would you want all businesses to be run by forgers, con artists, embezzlers and cheat thieves?

Even if you drink and take drugs, would you really want to live in a town that was full of drug addicts and alcoholics? Can you imagine how safe you would feel in traffic if no one ever got arrested for drunken driving? Would you love to have our courts filled with judges who take bribes and pervert justice?

Most of the people you see on a daily basis go to church somewhere. Whether their particular strain of religion is totally right or not, it gives them an inclination to hang onto a sense of right and wrong. That in itself is ‘a saving influence’ for our communities. The guy next door may be a hypocrite, but at least he’s not a hatchet murderer!

Now for the balance!

In this series of articles, I’m going to be ‘walking the tightrope’ between religious folks and the non-religious community. This is the most delicate bit of writing I will ever have to do.

to fulfill in the earth.

1. I want to reach some of the people who have been turned off by religion and hurt by hypocrites. I want to do my part to help right some of the wrongs that have been done in the name of God and religion.

Therefore, I’m asking the religious people to be patient and tolerant with me if I tend to be too open and too honest about the faults and failures of the church.

Once in a while, I may come down hard on some perceived flaw among religious people. I may be a bit extreme on some of the things I say and downright wrong about others. I know that’s possible and even probable. But, I have to do what I can with what I’ve got, in hopes that it may help some.

2. At the same time, I want to influence individuals in any church to hang onto their faith in spite of the many obstacles that face them. I want to encourage them to reach for improvement even if they can’t be perfect. I want to help strengthen marriages and create harmony and peace wherever I can. I want to persuade thousands of people to forgive those who have wronged them and thus tap into the flow of forgiveness that will never stop.

What is to Come!

Too often in life, we get carried away with incidentals and overlook essentials. We magnify our differences and ignore the multitude of things that we can agree on. Those differences become the stumbling blocks which keep us from fulfilling our greatest potential and becoming all we can become. Our purpose in these writings is to ‘back-track to the basics’. We need to discover a common denominator that we can all relate to. After that, we can keep adding the building blocks of understanding which will spiral us ever upward and ever forward in this journey of life. Therefore, our next article will be about the existence of God.

You would be surprised how many non-atheists there are who don’t go to church. These people may have no plans to ‘play church’ or seriously serve God, yet they have no doubts about His existence. You would also be surprised how many ‘millions of Christians’ seriously doubt the existence of God.

We are going to establish the fact that there is a God whether we know or understand everything about Him or not. We need to admit He exists whether we like Him or hate Him.

Be A Creator!

We will go on from there to discover the many aspects of God’s nature, such as His creativity. We will encourage religious and non-religious people alike to cultivate and increase the creative and constructive aspects of their nature.

There are actually a lot of good principles that a non-religious person can incorporate into their lives. Just because these principles are mentioned in the Bible is no reason to reject them. So, whether you go to church or not, we encourage you to keep reading our material.

Hypocrites are a major source of ‘dead-ends’ in the maze of life. We will be producing four separate messages on what to do or not to do about hypocrites. You will find these words to be especially enlightening and invigorating. There is still hope for you in spite of them!

Well, I could go on and on about what we plan for the future, but this should be enough to whet your appetite.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could avoid all the touchy issues which involve God and religion? But, that’s not possible. Life is made up of problems and obstacles. They can defeat us or we can overcome them. Problems were meant to be faced and resolved – one after another.

If the ‘religious maze’ has confused you and made you want to give up on it all – dare to share your particular frustration with us. Maybe we can help.

If you feel like you have found acceptable answers to some of the normal ‘maze obstacles’ within religion, feel free to share those answers with us.

We encourage complaints and questions. If you want to complain about church, about Christians or about the confusion in religion – have at it. We will try to answer your questions to the best of our ability.

Feel free to write and spout off on any topic you want or ask any question that comes to your mind.

If you want to e-mail us, our address is: editor@dailyhelp.com