America is very big on religions. In fact, sometimes it’s as if we turn everything into a religion when the opportunity arises. Instead of saying “I don’t understand how it could be true, but I’m open to it being possible” so many of us say, “It’s not part of my beliefs – what I’ve gotten from sources (including religions), therefore it’s not true.” What religions am I referring to? I’m referring to everything that enters the mind of Man -including the religion of politics, the religion of science, the religion of medicine, the religion of technology, psychology, philosophy, and even mathematics!  (Yes, I’m even including Atheism – but that’s easy to see.)

Have you heard someone say either of these – the equivalent of words that mean “It’s not part of the science that I know of, therefore I don’t believe it.” or “It’s not part of the medical knowledge that I know of, therefore there’s no way it can be possible.”  I have.  Then, all we have to do is exchange the words ‘science’ for ‘religion’ and vice versa, and we recognize the comment.

In fact, at times we’ve even heard the equivalent of “You believing differently than this is you being gullible, misguided, delusional, or outright fraudulent.”

This is widespread, and it shows that the person saying something to this effect has turned their beliefs and knowledge into a religion.

We’ve heard so often when people have said the equivalent to “It’s not part of my religious beliefs, therefore I don’t believe it-therefore you shouldn’t either, because only my beliefs are the truth.” We see examples of this in the U.S. and all around the world.

We also have people who have turned science, medicine and all the rest into religions, as well. Yet, it’s not just a current happening. This very process has been part of mankind for millennium.

Instead of considering that it’s our own knowledge and understanding that falls short, we tend to carry out the religious ritual of pointing to others saying the equivalent to “You’re wrong to believe differently than me. My knowledge may as well be sacred.”

Since this is very easy to see when looking at history, we don’t think of it as being a current process in our society. But, it’s happening now just as often as it ever has been. It’s just that we don’t think to put it in the context of science, medicine, technology or the rest, during today’s time. Too bad, because these have been religions for a long time. It always been the heretics of these “religions” that put forth the idea that “there is something beyond what we believe is true.”  (Heretics like the Wright Brothers and Albert Einstein who pursued what others believed wasn’t true, and oh, yeah – Jesus Christ.)

Yet, bridging what we know and what we don’t know has been a tremendously difficult bridge to build. Why? Because both sides of the bridge have held strongly to that which we know or believe to be possible only, and fought hard against that which we don’t know and don’t believe being possible.

It is rare that people speaking for religions ever make the comment “My beliefs are beliefs, not necessarily proven facts.” It is rare that science or medicine or even technology ever make the comment, “We’ve found this small part to be true, but we don’t know if it could also be false or if anything else in opposition to this or outside this paradigm that we’ve never conceptualized is true or not.”

It is rare that people entrenched in their beliefs say, “I don’t know how my beliefs can mesh with opposing beliefs, opposing knowledge, factual science, but I’m open to both being true somehow.” It’s rare when people representing science and medicine say, “I don’t know how things we haven’t proven may possibly be true, but I’m open to they being possible.”

Instead, we get, people saying “Science is the truth and anything else is a delusion.” We get, people saying “This medical information is true and anything else is fraud.” We get people saying, “My religious beliefs are true, and I won’t consider anything else possible.”

The Saving Grace

The world doesn’t revolve around any persons or groups who may be stuck in their own religion whether it’s traditional religions, Scientific, Medical, Technological or any other belief or knowledge system. The Earth is inhabited by more heretics than fanatics – more open minded people than close-minded people.  These heretics are saying, “There’s more than what you espouse to be true.  You have no belief or knowledge that is omniscient and complete. ”  Thank God.

PS.  Can you see how Politics has become a religion?  How about how “beliefs about money” has become a Religion?

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“Whoever believes the world will be saved by technology, doesn’t remember Atlantis.” (The Rainbow Cards, 2014, ©, Jodie Senkyrik)

“With God, all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)