Religious Manipulation: Controlling People Just Got Easier!

By Ryan Stark

A Brief Introduction to a Big Problem

What exactly is religion? Spiritual teacher Radhanath Swami defines it as so:
Religion is meant to teach us true spiritual human character. It is meant for self-
transformation. It is meant to transform anxiety into peace, arrogance into humility,
envy into compassion, to awaken the pure soul in man and his love for the Source,
which is God. As a Christian, I can say that this sounds about equal to what I was
taught about my religion. Muslims could say the same about Islam; Hindus could
say the same about Hinduism, and so on. Since religions are labeled as such
positive teachings, we are determined to follow those teachings and obey God. This
has made religion one of the strongest manipulative weapons that mankind has
ever touched.
No, I am not calling religion itself manipulative, but it has made controlling people
just that much easier. We may not always want to listen to people, but we are much
more inclined to listen to God. Because of this, there are many cases in which
people twist Gods word to have their way. Using our fears of Hell against us,
deceitful people have rounded us up like sheep to follow their commands. Though
we may be told we will be at peace by following a religion, we are truly not as long
as we are under the discretion of manipulators rather than God. As I elaborate
further on this, please understand that I am not tackling religion I am tackling the
clever religious manipulation that we fall victim to.

God Said it, Not Me!

A common form of religious manipulation is twisting the word of God to justify ones
actions or commands. As a child, your parents may have told you, God wants you
to share, so that you would let your siblings play with your toys, or maybe
something along the lines of God wants you to obey your parents, to get you to
clean up the house or go to bed. Of course, this is nothing bad, and your parents
had good intentions by quoting God; however, we continue to fall victim to this
type of control even as we are matured.
We begin to forcefully change ourselves to fit a religious description because we
believe it is what God said we must do. In reality, what we believe we are doing to
please God is only pleasing others. A gay boy restrains from openly expressing
himself; a woman who is victim to rape is impregnated and keeps her baby,
knowing she will be unable to provide for it; a married couple lives the rest of their
life miserable because they face countless disagreements but cannot separate; all
for what? Because of the disapproval of others? If you do research on controversial
topics such as these, youll discover that the Bible never directly addresses many of
them.
On a personal standpoint, I have been told before that I am disobeying Gods word
by being in an interracial relationship. This came off to me almost as a joke. It was
such a ridiculous accusation, but he truly did believe in what he said. Did I let this
interfere with my relationship? Absolutely not! My girlfriend has made me very
happy for a handful of years and I count her as a blessing from God. This is what I
believe in. The freedom of interpretation has been thrown across the waters and
people would rather build their relationship with God based off of others criticizing
words than build a personal one using free thinking and their own reasoning.

Are You Afraid?

Ask yourself this: Why do I choose to believe in God? Many believers, though they
may not admit it, are afraid not to believe. We are easily intimidated by the thought
of spending eternity in Hell after death. For this reason, nobody ever wants to
question God and look deeper into their religion.
Just as some tend to take advantage of our willingness to listen to God, others use
our fears influenced by religion to control us emotionally. Threats of Hell are used to
scare people into converting, and now those converts are open to more religious
manipulation. In this way, the motives of religion are falsified. We always hear from
pastors and other religious speakers that a relationship with God is built strictly on
love, not fear. However, when we are constantly feeling threatened by our own
religions, we dont learn to love God; instead, we learn to love fearing God.
Compare it to being in a happy relationship with somebody who one day casually
says, Hey, if you ever leave me, Im going to kill you. Youre not going to stay with
them because you love them, but instead you are staying because you dont want
anything bad to happen to you. This is how a relationship with God feels when you
feel obligated to be in one just because you dont want to go to Hell. Humans
transform Gods loving message into a threatening one and religion becomes a trap
rather than a choice.

The Peace is Not Peaceful

We may never achieve world peace as long as religions are clashing and this is
where humans truly are hypocrites. Typically, religions promote peace through God.
Religions, especially Christianity, tell us we do not have the privilege to use
violence, hatred, or judgement. Well, youve certainly heard all about Islamic
terrorist groups. Now, ladies and gentlemen, Id like to introduce you to the Army of
God, a Christian terrorist group.

Formed in 1982 in the United States, the Army of God is responsible for a variety of
bombings, deaths, and the famous kidnapping of Hector Zevallos, a doctor who
performed abortions. Most likely, youve never heard of this organization. Because
of what the biased news and media sources tell us, we are inclined to believe that
Islamic terrorist groups are the biggest problem. Shockingly, however, 90% of
religious attacks in America were from non-Muslim terrorist groups from 1980 to

2005.

While terrorist groups do not represent religions as a whole, they represent the
ignorance and pride humans gain from religion. People attacking each other under
the influence of God, the loving Holy Spirit, is a contradiction to what religion stands
for. The retired American Bishop John Shelby Spong once stated, All religion seems
to need to prove that it's the only truth. And that's where it turns demonic. Because
that's when you get religious wars and persecutions and burning heretics at the
stake. How will promoting our religions using violence and negativity allow others
to recognize the peaceful aspects of our beliefs?

In Conclusion: Embrace Your Life!

As naturally curious as I am, I have faced many different questions and doubts as a
Christian. I only started receiving the answers I desired when I stopped looking in
other people and started looking in myself. Free yourself from manipulation! If you
want answers from God, I strongly recommend you pray to him and ask him to give
you those answers. They may not come to you in a way youd expect, but when he
gives them to you, you will know it. If you interpret Gods word differently from
others and you are affirmative in your interpretation, stand for it; but do not be
ignorant about it and respect the beliefs of others. This is a huge factor in building a
personal relationship with God.
Free yourself from any fears that you have about your religion. Do not be afraid to
break the barriers that others have built in your mind. Ask questions and dig
deeper; stop being stagnant! As I like to say, swallow your fears or else they will
swallow you.
While the world may not be at peace, you still can be. Spreading the word of God
and attempting to gain converts is a beautiful thing if done correctly. Share your
beliefs with others and encourage them to join you using love and harmony. Nobody
wants to believe in a God who seems to have left a negative influence on His
believers.
In closing, I would like to give recognition to the late Nigerian author Chinua Achebe
for inspiring this article with his novel Things Fall Apart, a book we were assigned to
read in literature class. In this novel, Achebe tackles the effects on a perfectly fine
society when two different religions clash. Things truly do fall apart. Its a quick and
easy read yet provides a whole new perspective on the issues of religion. I
encourage you to read it!