Rituals and Cereimonies

Dateline: Any given Sunday.

Location: Any Catholic Church but also can be applied to any Christian Church.

As we enter the usually large building with its impressive architecture filled with statues, carvings, stained glass, candles and crosses we observe the people in front of us dipping their fingers in holy water (made so by a priest's blessing of it in Latin and the sign of the cross made over it in the air) and crossing themselves as they genuflect (men go to one knee and women make a curtsy) before entering the main assembly. They move toward their favourite pew and genuflect again before entering. This then is the first set of many ceremonies/rituals that will occur here this day and it's not even a high day. Before this "mass" begins many will enter a little room get down upon their knees ("cause ya better believe, believe, believe...") and confess their sins to a man whom they call "father" (*1) and will seek absolution from him. He will then give them a seemingly random number of prayers to recite which almost always include the "Hail Mary". (*2) They then take these prayers and kneel in front of either the alter, or one of the statues of Mary and do their penance. Their time served they return to their seats free to sin again for another week.

The Church service, or mass, hasn't even started yet and there has been no fewer than five rituals preformed by every faithful follower that has entered. I haven't even mentioned the ceremonies that are being conducted by the alter boys in the vestibule just to get ready for the service. The mass will continue for the next thirty to forty five minutes or so - depending on the priest's schedule - with an almost inexhaustible amount of kneeling, standing, making the sign of the cross etc, etc. Never once during the mass will the priest ask the congregation to turn to a given place in the Bible so his words are not proven.

The Protestant Churches are just as guilty of ceremony as the Catholics. While they might not have the idols adorning their Churches, they are not without pageantry. All these rituals are effective in causing the congregation to pull together as a unit, to control how far out of the "norm" the individual goes. However, none of these rituals or ceremonies can be found in the Bible, therefore they can only be of man's invention and not God's requirement. The only rituals ever mentioned in the Bible were those surrounding the sacrifices, which no longer exist;
"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Heb. 10:10.)

In the interest of equality it must be said that, nowhere in scripture is the Jew told to keep two sets of cutlery, two sets of dishes, that a Rabbi must inspect and bless their business in order to hang their "Kosher" seal of approval. So too because of these and many other idiosyncrasies Judaism is not without its pomp, neither is Islam.

Since, these notions of how God would have us pray to and worship Him are not found in scripture anywhere - in fact the opposite is found - they must come from the hearts and minds of men and not God at all. This is the essence of religion, to control the hearts, minds and pocketbooks of the people. To tell them what they want to hear so that their faith can be lead where their religion wills it. How can this be the Way of God when His Bible says the opposite? "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." (1 Thess. 5:21) How can so many denominations of differing theologies all be right? The idea that "it doesn't matter what religion you are part of, just as long as you are part of one," is completely illogical. They just simply cannot all be right! More appropriately, if you look at what the Bible directs and what these religions direct, none of them are right! None at all!

Case in point; One of the Sabbath keeping Churches I was an active member of has a methodology for acquiring wisdom or enlightenment - many other churches use this same method but please, bare with me. This method includes fasting (no nourishment at all, none, not even water), study with meditation and prayer for and individually determined amount of time, usually twenty-four hours. This is the exact same method used by the Mormon Church to accomplish the exact same thing. These two Churches couldn't be more diametrically opposed to one another yet they both use the same means of acquiring knowledge. Quite simply put, they can't both be right! So what truth was acquired if they disagree? Where is the unifying enlightenment of God's Word - the Bible - when Christians can't agree on what it says? No religion can answer this no religion would answer this.

In the movie "The Kingdom of God" there is a constant recurring phrase; "God wills it!" It is uttered by clerics of both sides as Christian and Muslim forces battle for Jerusalem (City of Peace), how preposterous!

Let it be known, I have nothing against any one religion. My issues are with any and all religions. I think them all to be wrong and nothing more than control mechanisms used to control the masses.

Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. Karl Marx.

Peter Anson

Back to "The Opium of The People"



*1: "And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven."
Matt. 23:9

*2: A verse in the "Hail Mary" goes as follows; "Hail Mary full of grace, pray for us sinners..."
The idea that Mary can intercede on our behalf for our sins is also contrary to scripture;
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"
1 Tim 2:5