Statistics Don't Speak
I rarely get a chance to watch teevee, but when I travel, there's a teevee in the hotel room and between looking for nature documentaries or an interesting movie, I can't help but watch a bit of news... mostly to catch up with the latest madness of fear propaganda. As always, the news channels are pumping the latest weapon of mass distraction - famous people doing stupid things, the Ebola virus, the Islamic State and what peeked my interest; how organized religions are losing membership. What I notice, however, is that the statistics have lead the opinion-filled teleprompter readers ( what used to be called news reporters, now resembling mere stenographers ) to have 'experts' on their show to help explain what the statistics may be saying... but statistics don't speak. Yes, the data needs to be deciphered, but it always seems to be deciphered according to perception and a faulty narrative rather than reality.
At the university, I learned how to put together a questionnaire to forward what I was trying to say in any given paper I was writing. And from my experience, I realized anyone could formulate well-written questions in order to draw out particular answers to arrive at a predetermined conclusion. So for the past week I've been hearing the same 'news,' derived from public surveys of mostly city folks coming out of bars I'm sure [ joke ], talking about how organized religions are losing members and pew isles are going empty [ not a joke, but good news and I'll tell you why ].
I've written in other blog posts about how some people misconstrue the term 'faith' and the notion of God with all the negative connotations that religious organizations have attached to them. But 'faith' doesn't equal religion... just like God doesn't equal religion. As I see things, God doesn't proclaim a religion, but the Way. God shows the Way to love others, teaches how to serve others and explains how to be your brother and sister's keeper. Religion is what men make out of something that can only be seen, realized, done and experienced through faith. What many people see in religion is man-made doctrines carrying more negatives than positives. Religions produce religious people who spread more fear than love and more restrictions than freedoms. Religions further dogmas that defeat aspiring hearts growing in their faith. Religion's leadership sometimes fails to see their shortcomings and instead have immovable attitudes and faithless responses to spiritual challenges among those they are supposed to serve. When changing times calls for more faithful application of the Way, they instead keep to their methods... which stifles and inhibits the faith of their hearers and observers.
So, to the 'news' about the falling membership of organized religion ( mostly Christianity / Churchianity ), I notice there is a missing reality from the mainstream discussion - and this is nothing new if anyone has been paying attention to the news narrative. People are leaving what has devolved into empty religion, full of ritual and routine, for real friends, real meals and real conversations about the things of the heart. People are leaving shallow relationships based on compulsion and administration, believing their attendance record will buy them a ticket to heaven, for building family. People are leaving the hypocrisy of financially supporting a hierarchical class of business administrators that resemble teevee preachers begging you to send them money rather than the Christ who owned not a single thing and gave Himself to the service of others, for serving their community in creative ways themselves and being like Christ every second of their day whether alone or in public. People are waking from the guise and are exchanging the facade for the real deal... and this I see is by God's direct hand.
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Yeshua replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”
- Luke 17:20-21
At the university, I learned how to put together a questionnaire to forward what I was trying to say in any given paper I was writing. And from my experience, I realized anyone could formulate well-written questions in order to draw out particular answers to arrive at a predetermined conclusion. So for the past week I've been hearing the same 'news,' derived from public surveys of mostly city folks coming out of bars I'm sure [ joke ], talking about how organized religions are losing members and pew isles are going empty [ not a joke, but good news and I'll tell you why ].
I've written in other blog posts about how some people misconstrue the term 'faith' and the notion of God with all the negative connotations that religious organizations have attached to them. But 'faith' doesn't equal religion... just like God doesn't equal religion. As I see things, God doesn't proclaim a religion, but the Way. God shows the Way to love others, teaches how to serve others and explains how to be your brother and sister's keeper. Religion is what men make out of something that can only be seen, realized, done and experienced through faith. What many people see in religion is man-made doctrines carrying more negatives than positives. Religions produce religious people who spread more fear than love and more restrictions than freedoms. Religions further dogmas that defeat aspiring hearts growing in their faith. Religion's leadership sometimes fails to see their shortcomings and instead have immovable attitudes and faithless responses to spiritual challenges among those they are supposed to serve. When changing times calls for more faithful application of the Way, they instead keep to their methods... which stifles and inhibits the faith of their hearers and observers.
So, to the 'news' about the falling membership of organized religion ( mostly Christianity / Churchianity ), I notice there is a missing reality from the mainstream discussion - and this is nothing new if anyone has been paying attention to the news narrative. People are leaving what has devolved into empty religion, full of ritual and routine, for real friends, real meals and real conversations about the things of the heart. People are leaving shallow relationships based on compulsion and administration, believing their attendance record will buy them a ticket to heaven, for building family. People are leaving the hypocrisy of financially supporting a hierarchical class of business administrators that resemble teevee preachers begging you to send them money rather than the Christ who owned not a single thing and gave Himself to the service of others, for serving their community in creative ways themselves and being like Christ every second of their day whether alone or in public. People are waking from the guise and are exchanging the facade for the real deal... and this I see is by God's direct hand.
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Yeshua replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”
- Luke 17:20-21
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