by Luther Brown

Created on: January 07, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

GOD, Religion and Me: Can I Survive His Followers?

God and I are in one of our periodic adjustment periods. I have never been one of those people who could be called a "Bible thumper." Rather, most people who know me would be hard pressed to describe my religious views at all. That is, I believe, as it should be. Some would say that I'm an atheist (they would be wrong!) and some would say I'm agnostic (and they would be wrong too). I believe in something beyond myself, however and whatever anyone would like to call It. Od and I engage in these adjustment periods whenever I don't see something clearly or whenever I disagree with what others say. God almost never disagrees with me. But when I disagree with my fellows, I have to seek an adjustment with God in order to deal with them.

As the son of a preacher, I have first hand knowledge about the workings of the church (AME Zion) and organized religion in general and my opinions about them are not pretty, nor do they necessarily conform to what religionists would wish. In spite of much that churches and religions do that is good, their history is replete with examples of some of the most barbaric and evil deeds known to man.
Religionists, despite their protestations to the contrary, have not always stood up to confront evil in its many forms; in fact, in many cases, they have been the Devil's handmaiden. So, in spite of man's need to believe in something greater, in spite of his fear of death and the unknown, that belief should still come legitimately.
I consider the man/God relationship to be extremely personal. That flies in the face of what passes for religion of any ilk these days. I don't believe that my relationship with God is or should be the subject of anyone else's discussions or opinions unless I ask for them. I don't believe a lot of things. Whenever I am confronted with a problem and a well meaning religionist offers advice to start going to church or to start to pray, I feel that I'm being asked to try to bribe God, especially when my basic beliefs and the reasons why I am usually absent from those places has not changed. I also don't think God would like the idea that I found him capable of such bribery.
Christians evangelicals and fundamentalists in particular - seem to believe it is their God-assigned duty to interject themselves between man and his God. They seem not to trust that God has given all of us brains and judgment and other qualities that allow us to make decisions for ourselves,

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