The Falsehood of Religious Individualism

Did you know that rugged individualism is a political concept used to excuse a rich person’s lack of alms? In the late 1800’s it became the primary tenet of the Republican party’s platforms. In this theory, every person has to make his own way and solve his own problems without help or interference from outside of himself. This concept eventually infiltrated American Protestant churches to the point that every person was deemed competent to come up with his own interpretation of the scriptures. The rapid proliferation of Protestant denominations in the twentieth century bear witness to this fact. It has gotten to the point where each church goer is a denomination unto himself, and there is not even a semblance of unity in the American Protestant church.

More heinous is the logical extension of the religious form of rugged individualism. If every person has his own opinion on the scripture, and each is equally valid as any other, then what is to say that other religions are not also equally valid? I am not saying there is no value in any other religious faith than Christianity. But if two competing ideologies contradict one another, how can they be equally valid? There is some value in any form of faith, and God can use any religion to draw people to Himself. But that statement does not include the concept of equal validity to all forms of religious faith.

Jesus said, “I am the way (the road or path), the truth and the light. No man (or woman) comes to the Father but by Me.” That is in direct contradiction to the Hindu idea that all paths lead equally to God. Yet this concept of rugged individualism has so permeated the American religious scene that people give equal weight to Pagan and Eastern religions as to Christianity and the Jewish faith from which it derives. “The Lord your God is a jealous God.” “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” These statements cannot be merely ignored for political correctness. Yet we tend to do so out of a rebellion against God and His Plan of Salvation.

What is the danger in this? For those who know no better, there is little danger, because Saint Paul wrote that all persons will be judged by what they know. But it is hard to imagine someone in the United States of America, Canada or Mexico who has not at least heard the Good News of Salvation in Jesus Christ. Anyone who rejects that Gospel, once they’ve heard and understood its implications, rejects the One Who made that Plan in the first place, and the Name of the Plan is Jesus.

No honest philosopher will argue against that logic, although there are many who are not even honest with themselves. Two competing and opposite claims cannot be equally valid. To say that the statement of Jesus that no other way exists to be saved is equally valid with the statement that all ways are equally true is illogical babbling that is not worth the air it takes to make the noise.

Think about it, and be honest with yourself.

The Spiritual Aspects of Addiction

Today I am making a change of pace to give a warning to any of my readers who may think there’s nothing wrong with recreational drugs. I hope this is a wake up call. My neighbor has been fighting an addiction to methamphetamine for years. Last month she fell off the wagon just once, a little bit to celebrate the holidays. Her kidneys totally shut down for three days, and if I had not intervened to get her into the hospital, she would have died by December fifth. She has just been released from the hospital to a physical rehabilitation facility. Needless to say, her holidays were anything but pleasant.

Why did my neighbor fail in her fight against this addiction? She doesn’t realize the spiritual aspects of the battle. Friends, this is war. The spirits of dead Nephalim are out to kill you or drag you into their own punishment. The battleground for this war is the minds and souls of all humanity. There are casualties in this war, sometimes unwanted collateral casualties. But no one can be neutral. The enemy of your soul will take that as an invitation to attack.

Addiction is one of the ways these demonic spirits drag humanity to our doom. Drugs that weaken the ties between the physical senses and the soul are a gateway to the realm of the spirit. These drugs include hallucinogens, euphorics, depressants, stimulants and any other mind-altering agents. Do not be deceived by hyperbole from the pushers and users. These drugs were originally discovered by shaman in the distant past and used for their ability to open the user to the realm of the spirit. If you open yourself to the realm of the spirit without any form of spiritual protection, the spirits who want to kill you will be happy to infest your soul, and they’re always right there to greet you when you take that little trip.

The use of recreational drugs is equivalent to opening the doors of your home whenever you go to sleep, allowing any and all undesirable elements to enter and pillage, and even do you physical harm. Your soul is your fortress. By keeping watch, you can exclude those spiritual enemies that wish you harm. But when you leave the gates of your fortress open and unguarded, expect the enemies to sortie into your demesne. You cannot defend yourself if you open yourself to such attack.

There are safe and reliable means to enter the realm of the spirit without endangering your self that way. No one needs to take drugs to experience the alterations of the mind. But most seekers who reject those methods do so because they reject God. The foolishness of this rejection becomes apparent when you examine the motives of the two sides in this spiritual war. God created you out of love, and love is His only motive. His desire is to enable your growth to the fullest extent of your potential. The Nephalim and their parents want nothing less than to hurt God by destroying what He loves, you. Their only motives are spite and hate. Why would anyone embrace the one that wishes his doom, while rejecting the One Who loves him? Yet that is exactly what is going on in the use of recreational drugs.

If you have become addicted to such drugs, realize that there is not only physical and mental aspects to this addiction, but a spiritual aspect as well. You can’t defeat the spirits arrayed against you on your own. Neither can God defeat the spirits fighting within your own soul without your cooperation. If you would win the battle against addiction, surrender your soul to the only General Who can marshal the troops to win. Give your life over to the service of your Creator, and He will aid you in the war.

I am not suggesting that the simple recitation of a formulaic prayer will end all your spiritual battles, far from it. This is war! But only by joining the army of God can victory be yours. The fight is a long one. And the enemy never rests until the end.

 2017.