Chapter 21
The current state of religion
In the 21st century, we have entered a period of quite serious departure from faith in God, especially among young people. Statistics show an increasing number of those who have abandoned their religions in recent years. Due to this phenomenon, social analysts, philosophers and theologians are trying to create their own theories. Their assessments may be correct. From the point of view of essenceism, the progress of science, including the expansion of knowledge about the universe and the development of biology and medicine, have not necessarily distanced humanity from the Creator, although they have greatly limited the "religious" explanations of natural phenomena. Among many other reasons for leaving the faith, my system shows that one stands out in particular. It concerns the degradation of the authority of clergy caused by violations of moral principles. This burdens many of them, which also affects the entire activity of religion. This especially applies to Christianity.
Almost every clergyman of great religions loses the fight with Satan at the very beginning of his career. This indirect conclusion according to essenceism results from the analysis of Jesus' forty-day fast in the desert and the temptation he experienced there from Satan. My system therefore suggests that clergy follow the example of Jesus' behavior, because only in this way can they overcome evil, that is, in a literal and symbolic way, overcome the three temptations of Satan in the desert.
Jesus lived his life in constant poverty, rejected by the Israelite hierarchs who lived like princes. These hierarchs dressed in beautiful robes sentenced Him to death, representing the evil power of the "lord of this world". Worse yet, Jesus received no support from either the people or his own apostles and disciples. He was completely abandoned by everyone. It is worth realizing this difference. On the one hand, poor Jesus, teaching people in public places and in secluded places, and on the other hand, rich clergy, especially high temple priests in beautiful robes, draped in gold and insignia of power, speaking "ex cathedral" in temples shocking with their splendor. This illustrates two worlds. One of the humble Teacher of humanity, and the other of the rich world of clergy interacting with political power. From this we can see that the combination of religious and political power, i.e. "altar" and "throne", led to the murder of the Son of God.
Christian churches and Muslim mosques everywhere in the world create a duplicate power structure subordinated, in my opinion, to the "lord of this world". So, parallel to local government authorities, parallel to district, provincial and state authorities, there is a second network of power that is as effective as the first one. Parishes, parishes, bishoprics, as well as Islamic structures maintain power over people and, as in the case of politicians, they are supported and paid by them. So there is a religious and political dual power. This structure has a major impact on maintaining the rule of the "prince of this world" for centuries. Essenceism draws attention to the fact that religions from their very first moments were created in a fallen world, that is, in a sphere that had nothing to do with the concept of the Creator. They could therefore be inspired and controlled by Satan.
Great founders of religions command respect and seem credible in our eyes. The same applies to some of their early supporters and disciples. However, the further development of each religion took place in the fallen world. Human weaknesses and mistakes, various discrepancies in the understanding of God, as well as the selfish aspirations of religious leaders and individual clergy were able to significantly change the meaning of religious doctrines. They included constantly modified interpretations, testimonies of individual religious experiences and new ideas for social activity. As a result of these changes, religions not only helped people maintain the proper level of morality, but often created a state that was completely opposite to the intended one, leading people to do evil. Bloody rituals involving believers, the Inquisition, religious wars, acts of fanaticism, and even the infamous liberation theology are the best examples of this.
We still live in a world under Satan's control. We can therefore assume that he had a considerable influence on the content of knowledge propagated by individual religions. Of course, I do not deny the beneficial influence of the good spiritual world, but this influence remains completely beyond the possibilities of rational assessment. There is no doubt that the various branches of Christianity, accepting the main assumptions of Christ's teachings, have added a huge contribution from the human point of view. This, over time, could have greatly changed the message Jesus wanted to convey. These changes could have been so great that they completely weakened the message of the Son of God, contributing to the continuation of evil in the world. Individual voices of criticism pointing to the mistakes made by religious hierarchs have no impact on the current situation. This is because Satan usually does not allow people to threaten the structures of the fallen world he controls. Today it is hard not to draw the conclusion that Satan has pacified religions quite well. Sometimes one has the impression that, apart from politics, religions are the main force keeping Satan in the position of "ruler of this world." The collaboration of many political and religious leaders has caused great damage to communities across the globe. These two forces of power are by far the most effective means of keeping humanity under Satan's control.
The fundamental goal of every religion should be to explain to people the world we currently live in and to show how to free ourselves from this unfavorable situation. This means removing Satan from our reality and restoring the original concept of the Creator. This liberation can be called salvation, nirvana or renewal. According to common understanding, salvation requires a Savior who, as the Son of God, will begin a new, good history of humanity. This fundamental goal of religion, according to my previous studies, can only be achieved through the intensive action of various religions preparing their believers for the reappearance of the Son of God on Earth. They should therefore create favorable conditions for recognizing Him and understanding His teachings. This, in turn, should result in him being accepted by humanity as their spiritual guide.
Unfortunately, most religions, after an initial period of relative simplicity and openness, tend to become overgrown with dogmas, prohibitions and various types of regulations imposing a restrictive way of life. Over time, these restrictions drown out the primary purpose of their existence, directing the efforts of their followers to things secondary to actual salvation. Most often, various remains of medieval ceremonies can be seen in religious practices. There are also immoral rituals or adoration of idols. It also happens that dogmas are maintained that contradict scientific knowledge or are clearly in contradiction with the level of intelligence of people today. There are religions that have strayed so far from the true meaning of their existence that it is impossible to influence a change in their functioning. In addition, those who point out that their fellow believers are following the wrong path are treated as dissenters, heretics, or enemies. This is a situation conducive to maintaining the current power and position of Satan, who does not want to allow salvation. Practically, this state of affairs also helps atheists and all those who negatively evaluate the activities of religions.
Since the Enlightenment, there have been philosophers, publicists and religious researchers who believed that religions are the source of all evil. However, the truth in such statements usually lies somewhere in between, because in our civilization good is often mixed with evil. It sometimes happens that supporters of particular religions do not even feel that they are doing something wrong. At the same time, existing religions are slowly losing their moral authority. The number of clergy with a genuine vocation is gradually decreasing. Modern religions cannot cope with problems such as the devastation of moral standards, social injustice, inequality before the law, terrorism, as well as poverty and hunger in huge areas of the globe.
The above phenomena influenced, among others, my decision to publish analyzes of essenceism. As its creator, I spent quite a lot of time in discussions with scientists, who were often my friends. I discussed with them the possibility of improving the state of our reality by demonstrating through science the existence of the Creator of the universe. During these conversations, they often agreed that the Original Being should be a logical necessity. At the same time, they clearly stated that they did not want to be followers of any religion, because religious doctrines were not scientific truth. So they had their "private" God. Many of them were impressed by Albert Einstein's views on the Bible. According to him, it is a collection of dignified anecdotes or legends, often quite primitive and sometimes even childish. His opinion was accompanied by the conclusion that "no interpretation of the Bible can change this.
In this situation, essenceism appeared as a system that, using methods modeled on science, points to the existence of God. With his findings, I would like to arouse in religious leaders the will to significantly change the perception of the role of religion in the situation in the world. My system calls for clergy to come to their senses due to their significant departure from their main mission of saving the world from evil. If this situation is not radically changed, evil in the world will last forever, and Satan will still be the master of humanity.
What amazes me in particular is the approach of religion to human eternity. There is a certain aversion to the rational knowledge about eternity that lies within us. Our spiritual future is assessed by them through the prism of rewards and punishments as well as merits for the God we worship. Using blackmail to get a place in "heaven" creates constant fear about the future. This should not be the case, because orders, prohibitions and fulfilling other religious conditions only strengthen the power of power that is inconsistent with the principles of love. This indicates that religions do not understand the fatherhood of the Creator, who is guided only by goodness and love. In this situation, it is hardly surprising that religions do not want to accept the claim of essenceism that God knows no evil.
To sum up, essenceism shows that only a relatively accurate repetition of the method that Jesus Christ had in saving humanity from the hands of Satan can lead the world to full salvation. My system calls this a globetrotting mission. They should, like Jesus, go among people and teach them where they live. They should, first of all, live modestly, eating and sleeping in the houses to which they are invited; just live together with other people. This should be a global action, stimulating all of humanity. This could be done primarily by the major world religions. They just need to free their clergy from the rich temples, mosques, parish houses and episcopal palaces and the material power of the Vatican. They simply need to ask them to do what Jesus asked his disciples to do, that is, to go out into the world and teach all nations.