True religion in the Bible is said to be '...to look after widows in their distress and to keep oneself unpolluted from the world.'

This means religious people are '...in the world but not of the world.' How can a person possibly be in the world but not of it? Obviously it means spiritually not of the world, but spirit implies difference in actions.

In any case, it is scriptures like these that suggest religions try to take people out of the mainstream culture and indoctrinate them with ideas foreign to the usual or commonly held beliefs.

What is the difference between the words 'divide' and 'segregate'? I suppose it is an emotional difference - the topic is suggesting heated anger is in 'divide' and 'segragate' is a milder form of separation from the usual world.

When religion is radical then it becomes 'divide' and is a problem such as with suicide Muslim bombers. When religion is mild - or lukewarm: Revelation laodioca Church - then it is like a Baptist or other Church where no radical dotrine exists.

Now we can see that radical religion is like right politics and mild religion is like left politics - can we not say that and if not why not?

In other words mild religions are worshippers of might and radical religions are worshippers of power - 'Not by might nor by power but by my spirit says the Lord' Zechariah 4:6.

Therefore the true Chruch would neither be radical nor mild, neither divide nor segregate.

These words remind me of the saying 'United we stand and divided we fall' - brothers, this totally wrong. The truth is divided we fall and divided we stand. For then each of us would be like farmers who grow their own grapes and do not grow grapes for others - Isaiah 65.

For each individual has a perfectly good brain and does not need anyone to help them find God. If anyone joins a group therefore he dishonours God because he is saying 'I need a crutch, my mind needs a crutch and I am not capable of finding God on my own.'

Thus when we all can say we are divided then we all will be happy and at peace, but as long as we say we are united by this religion or that or by this aetheist policy or that, then we will be leaning on each other and will be unhappy and not at peace.

Only when each individual finds God by himself, then all will be happy for that person will not need anybody else. For analogy, if we can all feed and clothe our own families and defend our own family then all will be happy and there will be no need for trade: no need ro use each other as a crutch.

Since the world is forcing us all to specialize, then our independence is to reveal the lies in our specialist area - otherwise we lean.

So does religion divide or segregate? Well it does both, and neither is particularly pleasant nor true.

Learn more about this author, Raymond Ellis.
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