Religion is not like politics but people may handle religion the way politics are being handled. They go for the votes of as many as they can but unlike politics, every day is voting time. There are those in religion who want numbers and think that by having numbers, they are in better state and that will please God.
All of this mean one thing. They will stop at nothing to make religion popular and this craze may be at the expense of and counter to the spiritual direction to enlighten people on how to be deeply spiritual and to be more like God.
Wanting to share the goodness of what they experience is not as important as loving others without prejudice to their religious affiliation.
Ultimately just being a believer of God or a saint is no insurance for certainty of salvation or enlightenment. More the better in terms of numbers or rather the swelling of the ranks of a religion may work counter to the benefit of the souls of men.
The one who can sell the most end up leading the flock. To be able to sell religion, he must make it attractive and often this means flowing with what the masses want, and resorting to sales techniques of secular world when religion is never secular.
Thus an all loving God or saint is made to look unhappy with those who do not idolise him and even to be feared so as to coerce more to be in religion. Like in marketing technique all that they want is for more to buy the product. If men don't buy, they will be at losing end. This seems to be more rife in society nowadays in 2014 and beyond.
All that they desire is for more to opt in to their religion. That is more important and good so long as this is the stepping stone to more spiritual betterment of individuals.
But sadly, religious society may get stuck at the level of wanting more numbers and to maintain and swell their ranks, they keep going all out to please society by being popular. This invariably is at expense of true spirituality.
Just being in a religion and saying that one believes in a saint is just the first step. Just being crazy and adoring a saint is of not much value to the saint or the believer.
But in politics, it counts if people adore a leader as then men will close one eye to the shortcomings if any of the human leader. The real problem comes when the ranks are swelled by numbers and the few who are more spiritual are outnumbered and out-talked to extent that the religious institution goes tangentially awry and pure simple and heart-warming spirituality becomes remote - sometimes being put on a shelf for display.
Ethnic popular religious culture is that form of religion where to be popular, what the masses want becomes the practice and men even think that God and saints can be bribed. They even pray for gambling luck and prostitutes even pray for having more clients.
But more educated society is not spared from similar folly. Men will even kill one another in name of religion supposedly to please God and their saint. They divide society and family in name of religion - in name of God and saint.
But are all these and more what God and saints want? God knows even if men don't. Men will learn and perhaps they are already learning but how are they to turn the trend if the trend has gone the wrong way of being more popular than right.
There is no solution in sight so long as men and not God dominate and run religions and sects. But men must be more discerning after the initial passion with institutional religion. They must go for the ways of God and saints - not the ways of men, more so the popular and fashionable craze of societal men.
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| Lord Bo Tien |
Thus Lord Bo Tien pointed in 1969 that men must go for the basic or inner truth behind religions and sects that has been buried and hidden away by societal traditions and beliefs added over time. This is the goal of the mission of heaven undertaken by the good lord Lord Bo Tien.
While change of religion may be fashionable to some like change of political party to run a country, it may be better for men to stay put and know more of what have gone wrong. Religion is not a fashion statement or is it?
Also. a rolling stone they say gathers no moss. But men are restless and this is made worse by overzealous men who want others to join them.
But alas, all they need is to see the trunk and main branches and not the leaves and the twigs. Need we say more?
But alas, all they need is to see the trunk and main branches and not the leaves and the twigs. Need we say more?
