The Grip of Organized Religion: How an Institution Like Religion Gained Control over People’s Lives

POSTED ON REDDIT, JUNE 2016: (still collecting data)

My hypothesis: People who are uncertain about their spirituality desire a doctrine to follow, and those who truly know God do not need one; those who deny their spirituality simply do not see it.

Proposed research questions: What purpose does religion serve? When was the first organized religion formed and why? Why is it that people allow an organization, like religion, to rule their lives? Why do people simply believe what they are told by supposed spiritual leaders, instead of reading ‘the word’ for themselves? Why did the ‘pilgrims’ rebel against the king and leave England to come to America, before it was duly named?

Statement of the problem… organized religion attempts to control people and their actions.

Discussion... 

As far as I’m concerned, we need to be done with organized religion altogether. Too many awful things have been done in the name of religion. Now, that doesn’t mean that we have to do away with churches. People should gather, they should congregate, they should praise. We just don’t need to be bound by rules and rituals anymore. We need to be grateful to be free, to be imperfect, to be loved. Churches should truly be a place of worship, adoration, love, reverence, and respect. Not a place of ordered obedience and conformity. We should celebrate our individualism, while recognizing our spiritual oneness; it is obvious that we are all connected somehow, so shouldn’t we embrace that and allow it to join us in spirit, while respecting each other’s uniqueness? Our obvious distinctiveness permits us to recognize one another in our physical form, yet we feel this inexplicable connection to one another that is undeniable for the vast majority of us. Why are we fighting? Although, most of us can not comprehend the fullness of this mysterious correlation, we understand it is there. Why is it that some of us are blessed enough to feel that undeniable love, while others struggle with faith and wonder if there is even anything after this life at all? That is not a question that can be answered… at least, not yet. There are many magnificent and wondrous things in this physical world that, I suppose, we are just not supposed to understand at this time. The world is still evolving; we are still evolving, growing, learning, changing – hopefully, for the better. That, only time will tell. (This is only a small portion of what MAY be a 75 page dissertation one 'n a half years from now; please understand that I am still doing research and just asking for opinions here.) Please comment and share.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt73THSyXLQ