Fear is a powerful tool to direct people in a particular
direction. In order to help channel people into a particular
direction, Christianity employs various tactics to silence any
objections to it's tenets.
If people can be made afraid to question the teachings of a
religious hierarchy, that religion can more easily become
entrenched into the minds of a society. This religion in turn
will gain influence and power over aspects of that society
outside the spiritual arena.
Christians will often attempt to claim that fear isn't employed
to sway the minds of "unbelievers".
They'll claim that it's the "love" of God for all
people that brings the skeptical mind into the flock of God's
followers. After all, everyone knows that Jesus is Love.
This fluffy, lollipop sucking, teddy bear mentally is soon
disposed of when the Bible is actually cracked open and read.
The New Testament leaves no doubt that simple
"unbelief" in Jesus as the only way to God is a
transgression that an unbelieving soul will be punished for.
Examples that "unbelief" is a transgression follow:
Mark 16:16(Jesus speaking)
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does
not believe will be condemned.
John 3:18
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not
believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in
the name of God's one and only Son.
John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects
the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."
1 John 2:22
Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the
Christ(Messiah). Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the
Father and the Son.
John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me.
Heb 3:12
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving
heart that turns away from the living God.
Since Christians claim these verses are God's word, they
represent the absolute "truth".
So, we see that if someone doesn't accept Jesus as their personal
"savior" and believe that he was the expected king
Messiah, they are liars and stand condemned by God "the
Father".
These verses make a mockery of the so-called "free"
will that Christians constantly chirp about.
Christians will boldly advertise at the drop of a hat that God
gave mankind "free" will because he doesn't want
robots.
In order for truly free and independent thinking to be free, it
can't be accompanied by threats of punishment for reaching an
improper conclusion.
In truth, the paradox Christianity sinks into by virtue of it's
own false advertising is this:
The Bible God doesn't want robots!
The Bible God wants everyone to worship him.
And anyone who doesn't do as he wants will be eternally damned.
If a person feels the urge to buy something as tremendously
overpriced as the type of pious platitudes most Christians
attempt to sell them, they would do better to buy a lollipop
instead.
It's cheaper, and you can still feel like a sucker.
"Free" will isn't truly "free" when you MUST
conform to the will of another. Failure to obey and believe will
result in condemnation. A person could live a simple life as a
hermit, never swat a fly, never harm anyone, and be condemned by
this God because they don't believe the New Testament is the word
of God.
The "free" will Christians advertise is bogus and a
sham. It's counterfeit and should be exposed for what it actually
is…an ultimatum.
The evolution of fear is present throughout the Bible. Claiming
that fear of God leads to knowledge and that unbelieving
"fools" despise wisdom is a common theme in the Bible.
Prov 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools
despise wisdom and discipline.
1 Cor 2:14
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come
from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he
cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
It isn't difficult to convert these to a generic formula:
"The fear of the LORD whose name is(fill in the
blank) is the beginning of knowledge, but fools
despise wisdom and discipline."
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that
come from the Spirit of (fill in the blank),
for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them,
because they are spiritually discerned.
Using this formula, any religious belief system will simply
assert that fear of THEIR God is the beginning of wisdom and that
failure to recognize THEIR God as the ultimate creator and
authority is "foolishness".
There is nothing unique in the Biblical approach to promoting
itself as the "way of God". This type of advertising
through fear has been used by various religious hierarchies for
thousands of years.
The consequences of not following instructions are dire:
Heb 10:31
It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Luke 12:5(Jesus speaking):
But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the
killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I
tell you, fear him.
Unbelievers are equated with wickedness:
2 Cor 6:14
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do
righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship
can light have with darkness?
Unbelievers who do not follow the prescribed instructions will be
punished by God.
2 Thes 1:6-9
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you
and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This
will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in
blazing fire with his powerful angels.
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the
gospel of our Lord Jesus.
They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out
from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power
Anyone who teaches or believes anything contrary to the party
line is vilified:
Gal 1:9
As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is
preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him
be eternally condemned!
Punishment will also be administered to those who don't conform
to the party line.
2 Cor 10:5-6
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up
against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought
to make it obedient to Christ.
And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once
your obedience is complete.
And lastly, if someone doesn't believe, they are equated with the
dregs of society and will be tossed into the lake of fire with
all the other "trash".
Rev 21:8
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the
sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters
and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning
sulfur. This is the second death."
When the threat of punishment for the failure to reach a
particular conclusion is employed, the belief is at least
partially relying on fear to promote itself. Fear discourages
true independent thought and doesn't encourage it beyond a
prescribed path.
These types of tactics employed by Christianity(and other
religious belief systems) are often dressed up in a suit of
clothes and sold as God's "loving nature", or God's
"holy and just nature", or God's "plan for mankind
and the universe".
But in actuality, these tactics are nothing more than attempts
to manipulate and coerce the minds of others.
A person cannot know what their true beliefs are if they're too
scared to sample other beliefs for fear of angering some God.
Naturally, that's the whole point of using fear tactics to
promote obedience and conformity in populations.
The larger the flock, the larger the base of power for a belief
system. It's all about control.
The Bible God will punish anyone who doesn't reach a particular
and proper conclusion. There is nothing free about that type of
will. Conclusions cannot be made objectively because the
employment of fear tactics taints the "freedom" and
independence of the thought process.
Christians can tap dance around this issue all they want.
However, they're left with an inescapable problem that's a tough
sell to those who aren't cowed by threats. Christianity gives
mankind an ultimatum based on a foundation of fear.
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