Which Religion? Or All Religions?

A middle-aged Mexican lady and her husband sat across from me in the clean swept patio of their little home. I could smell the beans bubbling in the clay pot on a wood fire. Hand made fresh tortillas were wrapped in cotton towels in preparation for the evening meal. We relaxed together and chit-chatted in their native language. After a while,  I asked them if they owned a Bible. The woman went inside their adobe house and took out a Catholic family bible that hadn’t been opened for years. They had it displayed in a place of honor as a symbol of their faith in God, Jesus and the Virgin Mary. They listened carefully for a few minutes as I explained how it was possible to read their Bible for themselves. I leafed through the Old Testament and read a verse to them which they had never heard. I was discussing how their religion had changed the Bible and they were visibly nervous.

The man started to stand up and his wife told me in her rich accented Spanish, “No podemos entender la Biblia por nosotros mismos. El sacerdote nos ensena todo lo que necesitamos saber para salvarnos. Él sabe mucho porque él ha estudiado el latino y el griego.” (We cannot understand the Bible for ourselves. The priest teaches us everything we need to know for our salvation. He knows a lot because he learned Latin and Greek.)

I knew the conversation was at an end and shook hands with them before I left with a few mangoes that they gave me from their tree. Discouraged again, I realized that the only ones who listened to me were those who were not so involved in their religion. They were considered secular and perhaps attended mass only once or twice a year.

Since my husband and I made Aliyah to Israel seven years ago, we see a similar pattern in Judaism. We hear: “Our rabbis have studied all the books of Talmud, Mishneh, Gemara, Kabbalah, Zohar and they read the Torah in Hebrew. Our “Holy Sages” have lighted the way for us and we learn from our rabbis so that we can understand the required Halakhah and can live the life of following the Holy Torah.” It’s the same story, different religion.

Several Protestant religions, including Mormons, JWs, Seventh day Adventists and perhaps others also claim prophets with increased light that explain the Bible. All religions claim to be the way to heaven. Understandably, the masses are hooked, understandably for those who have been taught that they have no right to think outside the box.

I continually ask why people have stopped thinking for themselves.  Is it true that the Eternal doesn’t speak to us individually any more? Is the Torah so hard to understand that we need dozens of books of commentaries to explain it? Why are people throwing out their reasoning capacities and replacing them with the thoughts of others? Is religion only a congregational thing under the guidance of leadership?– and not an individual connection with the Creator?

What about Islam? Has it not brow-beaten its own people into mass subjugation? — And for the most zealous, it has stirred them to commit violence on all those who do not accept their laws which lead to their own desire for world domination!

Karl Marx once said: “Religion is the opium of the people.” This becomes true when all individual thought is given up. People go along to get along. It helps to feel part of something bigger even if we have no individuality!  Have we taught our children to “shut up or put up” instead of questioning things? And why does it bother us if a child argues about things that are important to him? Are we too busy to listen? Too busy to explore his thoughts and carefully guide him where necessary and support him in his quest for truth about life?

Isn’t it true that religion has played a crucial role in opening the door to the woke world we live in today. Wokeness is the new religion and we well know how to play the game. Few are the men and women who stand alone while the crowds follow the leader and like lemmings fall off the cliff of reality.

How do we make a change? Is it even possible? Could study of the simple Bible (Tanakh) provide a possible basis for change?

As the world spins out of control into an oblivion of blind madness following that which even the sharpest do not understand, can anyone stop and get off the dooms-day train, and stand alone until they find others who have already done this?