Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Religion was created by man to control the masses.
And if that makes you upset, let me give you a very clear example that I recently lived.
So I grew up in the charismatic Christian side of Christianity.
There's a billion people that say they believe in Christ.
That includes more fundamentalist Christians and Catholics.
And so there's a certain aspect to the way that people see saying and the emotionalism of the worship services, etc. In Christian churches.
There's nothing wrong with it. It's wonderful. Most people are sincere.
Prosperity gospel is a little bit different, but we won't go into that right now church as a business, especially in the US But I recently attended a Catholic service where it's a charismatic Catholic church. And I didn't even know this existed.
I guess it started in the 60s, but it's.
It's not nearly as big as, you know, the traditional orthodox Catholicism, where everything is very solemn and sacred and respectful and quiet, which, you know, I can get with that. I can go and go through a mass in a huge cathedral and really connect with God because I'm not worried about what other people are doing. I can just. I can go and be in peace.
But this is a very charismatic Catholic church. They're singing and dancing and it's the same sort of thing as you would see in a Christian church where you have the meeting, music is soft in the background, the person on the mic is talking and praying, and it just goes in waves, which, as any musician, as any artist knows, that's the way you. You work a crowd. You bring the energy up, you bring it back down, you bring the energy up, you bring the energy back down.
So as this was going on and I have a picture of. Maybe I should put the picture up. But I got to thinking, because they have the Eucharist on the altar there, which is like supposedly in the Catholic Church, it represents the literal body and blood of Christ, not just figurative, but literal, because it has been blessed by the.
The Pope and the padres and everything, all the way down.
And they have, of course, a huge banner of Mary and the crucifix in the center, of course, with Jesus hanging on the cross. And. And then on the other side, there's this huge banner, equally same size as Mary of the local Mexican saint, who is a saint from the state, like 100 years ago or something.
So I'm sitting there thinking, like, these people are all super sincere and without those elements, those symbolisms, those symbols, sorry, those posters, banners, whatever, you wouldn't know that there was any difference in this service.
From a typical charismatic Christian service.
And yet because of those symbols, because of those items, because of those photos of people, if a Christian were to walk into this service right now, they would immediately say idolatry, and they would begin to criticize and judge.
Now, I'm not criticizing and judging the Christian because a Catholic would do the same thing. Going to a Christian service where there was no Eucharist, where there was no picture of Mary, and they would be like, well, I don't feel like I got the whole experience. It was just like a concert, a music concert, because you didn't have the Eucharist, you didn't have the important things that are actually the only meaningful part of going to a religious service or a mass like that.
Until it works both ways. It's on both sides, such as one. And I'm not criticizing either one, except to say.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: That God is not competitive. He's not competing with himself. It the universe, God is omnipresent and God in the universe are one. It is not competing with itself in that way.
It is constantly evolving and improving, creating, but not competing in the way of judgment.
And so I can look at people, and I have people that I care about on both sides of this specific discussion, Catholics and then fundamentalist Christians who do not agree whatsoever with the other side because of the reasons I just listed. And yet I can look at both of them, be like, you're both sincere, you, both your hearts are to love God, at least as far as I know. I mean, all I can do is judge your fruit. And your fruit is good in the sense of good and evil on this world and this material planet and journey that we're on. Like, I can judge the fruit of your life has been good for both of you, for all of you. So why are you such at odds over these theological discussions that quite honestly, neither of you can prove.
No one can prove these things because religion is a twisting of our relationship with the divine, with the Creator, and it is used to cause division.
So it just blows my mind, like, to be in situations, and I'm sure I will be again and soon, over the holidays or whatever. Like, where it's like.
[00:05:22] Speaker A: If your relationship is specifically with God, it's you and God, then all these external things shouldn't matter. You should be able to go in there with people who are sincere and 98% of their theology matches yours, their praying to Jesu Cristo or Jesus Christ.
It's exactly the same, except for a few minor points that you vehemently disagree with. And because of that you're not able to worship God. You're not able to connect with God.
That's me that I do judge a little bit, because I think that that's silly. Like, put your ego aside because you don't 100% know either.
You think you know. We all think we know, but that's what life is about. It's a journey to explore, to connect with God, to connect with nature, to connect with other people, to connect with ourselves.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: Not to be so judgmental and be like, well, my way is 100% right. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the Muslims are right, maybe the Hindus are right, maybe the Catholics are right, maybe the Christians are right. Maybe, maybe. But I don't know. And so I'm not gonna judge if you're there sincerely worshiping and your heart is to do good and be a good person and spread joy and peace in life, love to the world, and that's your authentic truth.
Like, who am I to judge that? And who are you to judge the people on the other side who are doing exactly the same thing, but their theology is just slightly different?
It's silly.
It's. It's quite ridiculous, honestly. Like, I don't think that that's. I don't think Jesus would approve of that at all.
You can't show me a scripture that. Where Jesus says that, you know, these hundred different denominations in Christianity, including Catholicism and all the different, different versions of Catholicism, there's no way that that's of God. So somebody's wrong.
And yet 100% of the people in every single one of those dogmas is going to say that they're right and everyone else is wrong.
But just open your heart. Open your heart, because maybe every religion is wrong. Maybe it's not about religion. Maybe it's about your individual, you connecting directly with the Creator, with the divine and going inward. Maybe the solution is in here, not out there, not even in a building.
