PEOPLE, RELIGION AND FEAR.

Most people on this planet are religious in some or other form. They all worship something or somebody. Ironically the one thing which keeps them religious is that well known emotion we know as fear. We seldom stop to think about fear, what is fear, how does it influence us, and how can we overcome fear? Fear is a feeling, an emotion. We feel scared when our comfort one is threatened, but when does this happen? When we are faced with an unknown situation, by a wild animal for instance, like a !ion, or a bear, for e"ample. Then fear steps in and we feel trapped or cornered, and we want to get away from this situation, or animal, or human being which we don#t understand, or know. It is in the last sentence that the origin of fear is found$ %the lack of understanding, and the lack of knowledge&. To overcome this fear we have to do three things$ study the sub'ect, understand the sub'ect, and then we can start having respect for the sub'ect, and together these three create %love&( )nce we have accomplished %love&, nothing is impossible. If you start a new 'ob as a millwright, or a welder, or an auditor or financial manager, or an engineer, or a nurse, a doctor, it doesn#t matter which 'ob$ we are afraid( We are scared that we can do something wrong and might loose the 'ob. *ut we get ourselves together, study the environment, learn the ropes, and before we know it we are performing up to standard. What we have done is con+uer our fears. We are not afraid anymore and we discuss the work and its problems daily, multiple times a day, and in doing that we learn more every single time. ,ventually we start liking the 'ob because we understand it, and understanding together with knowledge creates a %love& for this new environment. If we cannot cope with it, or we cannot create an acceptable relationship with the company, or the people, we start looking for a new 'ob, a new environment( - reason being, we could not con+uer our fear. .erhaps the co
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workers did not accept us, or were afraid we might get promoted before them. boss might have been unforgiving and through this kept the fear very much alive. We might even have become so scared that we became too afraid to leave, and used our fear to create a living hell for ourselves. ,ffectively fear can either get you to leave, or force you to stay right where you are. )n the other hand, having gained knowledge and understanding of the 'ob, it might have taught you that there either is, or is not a future for you in that specific environment, meaning that you have used logic to come to a sensible conclusion, which benefits %you&. -ll of the above is normal reaction to everyday life, and we all live comfortably within that framework, accept where we have created hell on earth through fear( Most religions survive through selling fear to their members. The /hristian, 0ewish, Muslim, and *uddhist religions all thrive on fear. The first three tells you if you don#t obey, %1od -lmighty&, %2ahweh&, or -llah$ you will certainly burn in hell for ever. The *uddhists are more subtle and teach that if you don#t do unto others as you would be done by, you will come back in the ne"t life and live under very harsh conditions$ being humiliated, treated like a dog etc, in order for you to learn to do unto others as you would be done by, in the life after that. Meaning the sins of this life will cost you two more life times here, and we all know this is not a walk in the park( -t least *uddhism doesn#t send you to hell forever( In religious debates with the above mentioned the members of those institutions can get +uite emotional, and in most cases close their arguments with words like$ repent or you will be punished, or may 1od have mercy on your soul. 3ery seldom would they think about what they heard, or give credit, where credit is due. The reason for their reaction is FEAR, which simply means they don#t understand their own religion, and having very little knowledge regarding its origins. The argument is4 fear creates knowledge( If you don#t fear their 1od you will never have knowledge( Then you are also told that their book should be read and understood in a specific way or manner, meaning that the way they have decided a sentence should be understood, is the only understanding to that sentence, word, paragraph etc( My +uestion here is$ would it not be logical to have an open mind on the sub'ect, study it and compare notes openly, and regularly in order to understand your
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religion? 5ow will the member be able to fully comprehend the history of his or her religion if he or she is not allowed to have an open mind concerning that religion? This fear in religion is effectively keeping the member uninformed( In my %travels& through life I have met many people and 'ust about every single religious person was afraid to debate his or her religion. If hell was real or comprehensible it would have been easier to understand this fear. 2ou might want to ask me$ %how do you know it is not&, and my answer is$ %do you have an idea 'ust how long forever is? !et us bring heaven into this answer. -pparently your stay in heaven means worshipping, singing and honouring your 1od forever( !et me +uote it$ we read in 6evelations 7 from verse 8 to 97 that an enormous crowd is busy throwing themselves face downwards in front of a throne, worshipping 1od :aying %-men( .raise, glory wisdom, thanksgiving, honour, power, and might belong to our 1od for ever and ever, amen&. The 0ohn who apparently wrote 6evelations were then told that this crowd were given redemption, %they are in heaven&, and doing this worshipping day in and day out! For this they will never be in need of food or drink again( ;oing this forever will very soon feel like being in hell, but without the fire( Those in the fire apparently burn forever but don#t turn to ashes$ how long will it take them to get used to the fire, a couple of days? The last two paragraphs are the basis of all the ma'or religions, and the fear is closing their eyes and ears to the fallacy( What I have stated above does not mean, or imply, that the whole, *ible, Torah, or <ur#-n, or the Tibetan scriptures is all hogwash, it simply means it is books written by people to control and discipline the people involved. *etween the pages of those books are very valuable truths, and a very important part of those religions history and people. There were some very important people who lived during the course of religious history, 1od -lmighty, :eth, ,noch, =oah, 0acob, 0esus, and .aul, to name but a few. Who were these people and what were their true intentions? The *ible preachers have taught the people during the past two thousand years that the mentioned people all had our best interests at heart, but did they? We were taught that 1od -lmighty created man from the red earth, that a ;evil tried to trick man into committing sinful lives, but is this true? We were told that ,noch was an
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honourable man, and so revered by 1od that he went to heaven in the flesh, but who was ,noch really? We were taught that 0acob lived a life loved by 1od and for that his descendants became the chosen nation, but what really happened between 0acob and 1od? We were taught that 0esus was the son of 1od and his main purpose was to die for our sins in order for man to be granted eternal life in heaven, but is this true, what was the real cause of his demise by the hand of the church itself? We were taught that .aul alias :aul was the main voice that carried the message of 0esus to its full glory, but was he, and did he? We were taught that 0esus would come back in the =ew 0erusalem and rule here on earth, but will he, and what is the =ew 0erusalem? This is a couple of +uestions many people have pondered about for the past two thousand years and longer. In my book %We <uestion&> http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/waltermuller) these +uestions and many more are discussed. .erhaps the answers in that book might help you shed the fear, and pick up the light yoke 0esus spoke about.

Walter Muller.