Religion Lite

August 15, 2005

There is a scene in the 1979 move “Salem’s Lot”, in which the local priest tells a young couple whose son is missing, “Over the last century the church and society have changed “Evil (with a capital ‘E’) to evil (with a lower case ‘e’.)” That declaration holds true a quarter century later, and offers insight into how Evil has become pervasive in our society. Satan’s oldest trick was to tell Eve “the Apple” was only “an apple”, or whatever undesignated fruit she ate in disobedience to God’s single command.

I wish to expand upon the priest of Salem’s observation.

Evil is now evil. We don’t want to name Evil, so we give it a generic name. So terrorists are not Evil, they are just religious fanatics (evil). Child molesters are not Evil, they are just products of misguided, abusive and neglected childhoods of their own (evil). Gangs are not Evil, they are just the product of social and economic injustice (evil).

God is now god. Lest we offend anyone, we dare not name God. So, to be considerate of all gods, let’s just call Him god. Yeah, that’s it…the generic god. But isn’t that idolatry? Was that what Solomon did in trying to accommodate the gods of his 300 wives and 700 concubines? And doesn’t that break the first and greatest commandment?

Sin is now sin. If we no longer call good “Good” and evil “Evil”, then we certainly cannot call sin “Sin”. But what shall we call it? Let’s just say everyone makes “mistakes”. Yeah, that sounds so much better. Murder is no longer murder, adultery is no longer adultery, sealing and lying are no longer… you get the picture.

Hell is now hell. Eternal damnation has lost its flame. The consequences of Sin (oh, I’m sorry, sin) are no longer to be feared. Live life to its fullest, you only go around once. All this talk about accountability, responsibility, salvation and judgment is just preacher talk. Heck, (notice I said “Heck”, not “Hell”) there probably isn’t an afterlife or eternity anyway. So eat, drink and be happy!

This form of religion, (Let’s call it Religion Lite) is a gentler, kinder form of religion. It must have broad appeal, because most people haven’t seen a sin, evil, or God in decades. They say their life is a living hell, although they don’t believe there really is a hell. Go figure!

Call me a maverick, but I haven’t joined the First Religion Lite Church. My faith at times prevents me from being politically correct, requiring me to speak the truth in love. Such demands!

Jesus said if anyone is not willing to confess Him, neither will Jesus confess that person before His Father. If anyone is not willing to take up their cross daily, they cannot be His disciple.