Religion! Who needs it

"Religion! Who needs it?" or "Religious Tyranny:"James 1:27 (NKJ)27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.The above verse tells us what true religion is. But religions as we know them today do not fit into the above definition. It would seem that looking after the orphans and widows in their trouble is an after thought of most religions. Nor is there anyone that can keep him/her self unspotted from the world.Even in the days of the Tower of Babble men made up religions based on their imaginations.When Constantine, a man who knew many false gods of the world's religions, organized the Christian church into physical Church, and a state sanctioned church, he set it up like all of the other religions of the times. He was influenced by the Pagan Roman religions as well as the Jewish religion.It was not long after Constantine made the Christian Religion a state religion that the leaders of the state sanctioned church went from being persecuted, by others, to persecuting all those that did not willingly believe, and submit, to the RCC doctrines.For well over a thousand years, the Roman Catholic Church hunted down all that disagreed with them, called them "heretics" and had them killed by the secular rulers. I believe that some of these "heretics" were children of God who believed in Jesus but refused the doctrines advocated by the RCC.But the Roman Catholic Church was not alone. The protestant Churches that broke away persecuted those with other beliefs, and some also had people burned at the stake. Think about Calvin and his influence in the city of Geneva. His policy was not tolerant of the beliefs of others. Many people with different ideas, including Catholics, were put to death between 1542 and 1564. Even on Christian forums there are those that are not tolerant of others that do not share their beliefs.Think about it, all through history religions have caused wars, suffering, and slavery. Even today we have a religion that causes some to kill for it. It is also true that many, on forums, practice character assassination and harassment towards those who do not believe the same as they do. It is the different doctrines, rituals, ceremonies and the ideas on living life that men have in religion that separate men today. In every nation where religion has controlled, or controls, the secular government there has been oppression and murder in the name of religion. The framers of the USA Constitution took this into consideration when they separated, by law, religion from the secular government.It should be noticed that all persecution of the Children of God has come from the religious sector. It was the religious leaders (Pharisees) that persecuted Jesus. It was religious Jews that stoned Stephen to death (Acts 7) and tried to kill Paul (Acts 21).Today there are religious people trying to place people under religious governments, in this country and in others. The problem is under whose interpretation of religion are we to live.Religion is what man does for the god they have created in their own mind. However, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a religion. It is not about what man does for God but is about what God has done for man. It is God making a way for each, and everyone, of us to come back to Him and have a personal relationship with Him even though they are still sinful. God walked with man in the garden and wants to walk with man today. It is this relationship that God is interested in, not rituals and ceremonies that men do to look so religious.But most do not want a close, honest, personal, relationship with God in their hearts. They prefer to have a relationship with an impersonal religion. Why, because they do not have to be honest with it. They can hide their deeds and thoughts.John 3:19-20 (NKJ)19 "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.20 "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.Jesus is the light and everyone that comes to Him in a personal relationship must expose his or her deeds and thoughts to Him. Anyone can participate in an organized religion. Organized religion cannot see into the heart. Even the Bible says that religion is not what we think it is:Col 2:20-23 (NKJ)20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations--21 "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,"22 which all concern things which perish with the using-- according to the commandments and doctrines of men?23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.2 Cor 11:13-15 (NKJ)13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. (NKJ)Satan's goal is not to have you involved in overt sin and iniquity. Satan's goal is to have you appear righteous on the outside but spiritually dead on the inside. He wants you to be religious, but lost, just as the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 23:25-28)Paul, a Jew among Jews, knowledgeable in the Jewish traditions and laws in religion, gave them all up and counted them as rubbish in order to gain Christ. He said nothing about religion because that is what he had given up.Phil 3:8 (NKJ)8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain ChristCopyright 1999 by Richard Burger

(Gareth;51364)
That doesn't mean to reject the form of the Christian community as set up by the Apostles. It doesn't say to reject religion either, it merely suggests the form which Christians should conduct.A priest in training in my church was giving a sermon, and said that religion was a relationship with God, surely that would depend on what your definition of religion was. Surely if you come into thinking about it with your own definition in mind of man made constructs of course you are going to think that.Let's look at a few definitions of Christianity:"the world's largest religion, followed by those who worship Jesus Christ""The Christian religion""An Abrahamic religion which believes Jesus of Nazareth was (or is) the son of God and that following Jesus' teachings and those of the Torah and New Testament will result in spiritual reward in the afterlife. ..."This is the only one I found using "define Christianity" on Google, that didn't contain the word "religion"."# a monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and ...# Christendom: the collective body of Christians throughout the world and history (found predominantly in Europe and the Americas and Australia); "for a thousand years the Roman Catholic Church was the principal church of Christendom"So what? Judaism is a separate religion to Christianity. So what comes from the Jewish heirarchy isn't exactly a reason to reject that Christianity is a religion.Religion, "a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny; "he lost his faith but not his morality" - I certainly believe in that.
Did you NOT see that I said the the Protestant churches did the same things. Sometime I think people read a post just far enough to say that they disagree with it.If you look at the word religion in a dictionary you will see that it is all about what man does about and for the god of their choice. None of the definitions are about what God (Jesus) did for man.Richard

(Gareth;51392)
Why would it make a difference if you said the Protestants said the same thing? We are discussing Christianity as a whole.(P.S I'm not Roman Catholic, I'm of a Reformed Church - Anglicanism)
Really. I am discussing the original OP which include all Chritianity including the Jewish believers. Are are you saying the Jewish belivers are not Christian? They, most likely, will not agree with that.Richard