We should not let the Church die

If Christianity is to remain a part of modern day society we must come to understand change.  Organisms that do not respond to their environment become extinct. The Church is no different from any other organization it adapts or loses members and become irrelevant.

How many of you remember the Woodmen of the World or Woodmen of America? If you have visited old cemeteries, you’ve probably noticed the tree stone monuments, especially in the West, Midwest and South. Two organizations are given credit for their proliferation, Woodmen of America and Woodmen of the World. They were one of the largest fraternal organizations in the world, but not anymore. They still exist and offer excellent insurance policies, but membership in the organization has dwindled. Many fraternal organizations died off because they did not adapt to their environment.

When people and organizations stop changing they regress. When businesses stop changing they close. When non-profit organizations stop changing they disappear. Societies needs change therefore the things society use must change and adapt.

I submit to you that many churches are dying because they have become boring, unchanging and irrelevant. They have become totally disconnected to the lives of modern men and women.

If today’s Church was a political party if would be an unelectable party. The people in the pews desperately try to discuss what they need to function as a Christian in the 21^st century and the Church leaders point fingers. Perhaps the reason so many Church leaders become overly active in politics today is because they can relate to how it works. Those at the top of politics and the Church have lost sight of what the people really need. They would rather stay the course than admit they could have been wrong. The Church is not dying because the people are less holy. The Church is dying because the leaders have become more focused on the organization and their power than the people.

It is clear the power struggle going on in the worldwide Church today has served to do damage to the Church.  It has left some people in the Church feeling like criminals for example the gays, divorced, etc. It has left people feeling unloved, guilty and excluded. This is not what Christ intended for the Church to do or be. The leaders of the Church must be faithful to God’s truth not their truth and be less interested in their personal power.

For the Church to stand still and stop evolving is eventually to be left behind and face extinction. Many Christians like me have begun to critique the beliefs, teachings and practices of the leadership as God intended us to do.  Jesus Christ questioned the leadership of the Jewish religion and encouraged others to do so. Many in the Church become discussed with the dictatorial power of the leadership and leave the Church.

The Gandhi’s, Mother Teresa’s, Martin Luther Kinds and Thomas Merton’s of the world understood change must occur in to order to survive. They realized they were not perfect and did not have all the answers and were willing to listen to others. Church leaders have taken ordained authority too seriously.

I believe we have a unique opportunity to show how an institution that is widely acknowledged to be out of touch and is being ignored by many of its members can face its fears and explore new ways of being and serving.  Even if change is painful it is vital if the Church is to not only survive, but to grow.

Our leaders manipulate us and we allow it.

We think we live in a democracy. We think ultimate power rest with us the people. We think our leaders are our servants, accountable to us the people and doing what we want, making decisions for the greater good of all. We think that because our religious leaders, political leaders, corporate leaders and media leaders have cleverly led us to believe we are still in control when we are not.

Media has become a monopoly. Only a handful of multinationals own and control the majority of mainstream media outlets. We are given the information they want us to have. They tell us the conclusion we are supposed to reach.  Mainstream media is now mass produced, corporate friendly, political friendly (liberal/conservative) and unchallenged. The information channels that most people use in democratic societies are becoming more distorted and are eroding democracy.

Our political leaders don't care about democracy. Why should they? After all, being accountable to the people only reduces their power. ObamaCare, national debt, balanced budget, gun control and Presidential Executive Orders are prime examples of that. George Orwell said, "No one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. The object of power is power."  Government leaders and big business leaders are bedfellows, with ex-politicians often sitting on the boards of big companies, the business community is able to unduly and undemocratically influence the legislative process, steering our legal system towards a corporate controlled state. Political leaders and corporate leaders work hand in hand to erode democracy because that is in their interest. When will we wake up to the fact that we are merely a pseudo-democracy? Some might argue that we are this already.

Why would corporate leaders put people first when their ultimate goal is to maximize profits? When it comes to what is best for the people and profit they will always put profit before people. C.E.O’s do not lose sleep when they move manufacturing overseas and layoff hundreds of people if it increases profit. The decision by General Motors to manufacture the Buick Envision in China is a slap in the face to American taxpayers who bailed GM out of bankruptcy in 2008. General Motors does not care what American's think they are banking we will be stupid enough to purchase the Envision SUV and once again put our greed above what is good for America and its people.

We need to realize that whenever any group of people, even religious leaders, have a disproportionate influence over government policy democracy suffers. There are no exceptions. When religious leaders have access to millions upon millions of dollars without accountability to the government like the rest of us they have disproportionate influence. When religious leaders live in multi-million dollar estates provided by their ministry, free of income tax, they have disproportionate influence. When religious leaders can threaten political leaders with excommunication and block votes they have disproportionate influence.

If we want to live in societies that are democracies only in name, bearing all the attributes of dictatorships, then we only need to carry on in the direction we are headed. If that is what we want, then we will have it soon, sooner than we think. When we can no longer be critical of political, religious, corporate and media leaders without being accused of being racist, bigots, prejudice, politically incorrect and un-American we are no longer living in a democracy.

We need to understand exactly how we are manipulated into doing the bidding of our leaders, against our own interest. We need to understand the methods of manipulation:

Media ownership is central to the manipulation of the people. Manipulate the people, and you manipulate their vote. You either control the media by owning it or by doing favors for those who own it. In the United States, large corporations own the media and they receive favors from the government in the form of influence over legislation and special tax breaks. Only five mega-media corporations control almost all of the U.S. media, which is why American’s are becoming among the most brainwashed people in the world.

The war against terror has allowed political leaders to take freedoms from the people under the guise of "national security" and "protection". The politicians want the war on terror to seem unwinnable because it serves those who want power. Fear is one of the greatest manipulators of people. Create fear in the minds of the people and they fall in line – fear of hell, fear of crime, fear of terrorist, fear of layoff, fear of guns, fear of police, etc. Herman Goering said at the Nuremberg Trials: "The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

Control language and you control people's thoughts – political correctness. The elimination of selected words is a prerequisite for the control of the people. Radical Muslim Terrorist, Illegal Aliens, Christmas and the list goes on. Political correctness has corrupted the news media, universities, business, Congress, politics, etc. Political correctness is a tool used to limit thought in education, science, and culture by intimidation and coercion.

Politicians use patriotism to manipulate and control. As long as people are patriotic, they will overlook the sins of their government, both towards their own people and towards other those in other countries.

The promise of eternal life and the threat of hell has been one of the greatest manipulator of people than any other form of manipulation in history. The Roman Catholic Church has even apologized for its abusive past, but that does not necessarily mean their apology will have much effect on their future behavior. Anything "fundamentalist" just means that ideology is being put in front of people and is a recipe for individual and mass abuse.

It is untrue that only the uneducated can be manipulated. Some believe that the educated are actually the easiest to manipulate because they have been trained to process so much information that they often become less critical. The educated also tend to need an opinion on everything. Students in the past were more revolutionary and questioned society more on serious matters than they do today. It seems the main issues for students today are what foods are served in the cafeteria.

Politicians never admit a lie they simply keep repeating it until the people believe it. Obama administration said over an over Benghazi was the results of a video; Hillary did not send or receive classified information on unsecured Internet; Obama if you want to keep your doctor and your insurance you can; Bill Clinton I did not have sex with that woman; Richard Nixon I am not a crook; Obama I didn’t call the Islamic State a ‘JV’ team; John McCain met with Islamist State terrorists; Obama Republicans have filibustered 500 pieces of legislation; Paul Ryan a boy didn’t want a government lunch but one in a brown paper bag; Mitch McConnell took $600,000 from anti-coal groups; Republican cuts to Ebola research are killing people, etc.

Politicians are using unnecessary secrecy as a means to keep truth from surfacing and manipulate the people. Every government needs to have some level of secrecy in military matters to protect its boarders and its people. But when this is used to withhold information from the people which is not necessary for national security then the use of classify information is being abused. This is now happening on a daily basis because politicians do not consider the voters right to know to be important.

Leading politicians know exactly how to duck their way out of sticky situations by setting up a string of fall guys and girls. Obama has proven to be an expert at this. Master manipulators are great at throwing up smokescreens and being evasive. The people are continually manipulated into thinking the problem is everyone except the leader.

One of the simplest ways to control the information going to the media is to control which reporters have access to the source of information. Reporters were manipulated during recent middle-east conflicts when they were embedded with the military personnel on the battlefield. They were dependent on the forces they were embedded with for protection in hostile environments. It is doubtful you will be critical of the hand that is feeding and protecting you.

Above are but a few of the methods used to manipulate society. Anytime we allow ourselves to be manipulated we lose power. It is naïve to think leaders always put the people’s interest first! The leaders of Greece wanted to win elections regardless of what was in the best interest of Greece and you see what happen. The Democrats are known for buying votes with welfare programs regardless of what is in the best interest of the United States – national debt. Republicans and Democrats do not take a stand on immigration because they want the Hispanic vote regardless of what is in the best interest of the United States. 

Note: An example of political manipulation of citizens Carpio claims the U.S. presence in the Philippines will boost Philippine defense against China. Senator Santiago claims the U.S. is responsible for the Philippines being weak when it comes to their military.

The U.S. will protect their equipment and personnel in the Philippines against China's aggression so Carpio is partly right. But, as any nation would the U.S. will do what is in the best interest of the U.S. when it comes to China. 

Senator Santiago needs to blame Philippine politicians for the weak military and poverty in the Philippines. Corrupt Filipino politicians are responsible for both. The U.S. has protected and have personnel stationed in Japan, Germany and South Korea and all three countries are not faced with the poverty problems as the Philippines is and all three have strong military units and all three are INDEPENDENT of the U.S. and the leaders of Germany, Japan and South Korea do not blame all their problems on their people clinging to colonial ideas.  Senator Santiago is right the agreement between the U.S. and Philippines is made weaker because the U.S. does not recognize it as a treaty.