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Destyne Guy-Williams
Focus Inquiry 112
Mrs. Byrd
27 April 2015
Religion
Walking onto the VCU campus, I first identified myself as an Episcopalian Baptist
Christian, however within the first week I had been challenged by so many other religious views
trying to convince me to convert toward their views. Since this was only the first week at VCU
you could only imagine the curiosity about my religion at the end of the semester. I knew I
believed in god; however which branch of Christianity or even which god, Allah, or Hashem. I
began wondering if there was a precise or proper religion to practice, I doubt there is a correct or
perfect religion. Religion is the reason whenever we lie or do anything “wrong” we feel the
slight guilt we were taught through beliefs. Religions often enforce a set of values or rules which
result in shame and punishment; a great way to control the human race. Faith and beliefs
constitute simply the opinions of religious practitioners; therefore religions are not fully reliable
because they are all man-made.
Each religion is based off someone’s belief about what has happened in the past which
dictate the way future should be. My problem with this is the proof of religious belief, most of
the time, can be scientifically proven. Also the source of many religious books is a human
author, not divine inspiration. However this is just my opinion and can hopefully have more
justification after research. When sorting my thoughts about religion, I examine many points I
have confidence in to support my thesis. To support my theory that religion is not fully reliable, I
want to point out that all religions are man-made, there is much exploitation within religion, and
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most religions are used to control society. In this paper, I will examine three figures who abuse
the power of religion to demonstrate the inherent ethical dilemmas resulting from blind faith and
man-made religion.
I want to begin by examining a personal experience which demonstrates the problems
with religion. My tenth grade year of high school, in history class, I was taught that the most
popular religions were created by a person. (Islam) Since I had never been taught that there was
an actual source of the different religions, my teacher’s statements amazed me. I asked him,
“Why not just come up with your own religion?” He replied “If you influence enough people,
you could achieve your own religion.” So I then began wondering if the only reason why I
believe the bizarre stories within the bible is because my family is influenced by the beliefs of
someone influential. I began to realize that religion has tremendous power to control peoples’
beliefs and shape the way they think. In the following examinations, I want to trace the
influences of power hungry religious leaders and how their influence distorts the minds of their
followers.
The first thought that comes to mind is the influential, Minister of World Changers
Church International pastor, Creflo Dollar. Theologian Debra J Mumford, points out in "Rich
and Equal In the Eyes of Almighty God! Creflo Dollar And The Gospel Of Racial
Reconciliation" that Dollar believes that because Jesus died for our sins, all followers can be free
of poverty. In fact God wants all followers to be rich and that poverty can be eliminated when
people change there thinking. This is only an interpretation of the word of God by Creflo Dollar,
which who himself is human and could be completely wrong. However, whether Dollar is wrong
or right does not dictate whether or not people follow his beliefs. Religious leaders produce
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major conflict within religion due to their own interpretation and influence on followers.
(Mumford)
Not only are Dollar’s beliefs labelled man-made but they also lead to exploitations.
Recently Creflo has run into quite controversial after perusing Project G650. According to CNN,
Dollars asked his Church members for $300 donations towards a new jet plane G650. His
reasoning for attaining the G650 is to spread his ministry international. However, Dollars fails to
realize for the sake of his members that he could just board normal planes like normal people,
especially if the purpose is to spread the word internationally not travel comfortably. Still, Dollar
influences thousands of members to fall for his unnecessary needs. (CNN)
David Korech is another reason why I fail to believe that religion is unreliable.
According to Kenneth Newport, Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Research and Academic
Development) and Professor of Christian Thought at Liverpool Hope University, on the 19th of
April in 1993 what was left of the Branch Davidian compound was scorched to ground. Leader
David Koresh led a cult of Seventh-Day Adventists that believed that David was the final
Prophet. On February 28, 1993 the compound was raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms (ATF) and resulted in the 10 fatalities. David Koresh then began a standoff with the
FBI that lasted 51 days. However Koresh beliefs led him to attain illegal possession of firearms
and explosive, which then influenced his cult that is beliefs were reasonable to believe.
(Newport) (Wikipedia)
Koresh’s beliefs and ways exploited the minds of his cult members, actually influencing
them that the wrong of his beliefs were for the best of them. His influence was very controlling
in changing the beliefs of innocent people into praising and worshipping a man as usual every
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other human. Koresh is very great example of how powerful someone’s influence can fool and
convince many humans into believing in ridiculous bizarre religious practice.
Another strong example of the power of influence is the Mass Suicide of Jonestown.
Reverend Jim Jones, minister of the Disciples of Christ, led a cult into settling into a built
community in Guyana. Jim Jones, as described by Britannica Academic, was not affiliated with
any particular denomination and had no theological training. Yet Jones influence eventually led
to the settlement of the Peoples Temple in Guyana. Jones was said to regularly humiliate, beat,
blackmail, brainwash many members into signing over their possessions to the church. An
example is convincing minority members of his church that if they were to leave the church they
would be rounded up into concentration camps. His manipulative ways controlled people into
believing being abused and wrong was the right way to live all because of the manmade beliefs
of Jim Jones. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Jones influence led to the Jonestown Massacre, mass murder-suicide of members of his
church Peoples Temple, after the shooting of US Congressman Leo Ryan, according to
sociologist Eileen Barker. Jones convinced over 900 of his followers to drink Kool Aid laced
with cyanide and squirt cyanide down the throats of babies. Due to the power, faith, and belief in
Jim Jones, his followers were fooled into their own fatality. Jim Jones illustrates one of the best
examples of a man-made religion with controlling factors and exploitations within religion.
(Barker)
Overall, my faith in religion has evolved and will continue to fluctuate as I learn new
beliefs. Though curiosity is what led to the exploitation of Dollar, Koresh, and Jones, I still feel
as though people should do enough research in what they claim to believe. Therefore I will keep
my belief in God, but only build my relationship through him and not influential leaders. In
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conclusion, religion is very complex but with the right research you can determine which
religion you believe and suits you, avoiding all the corruption of man-made beliefs.
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Work Cited
Barker, Eileen. "Religous Movements: Cult and Anticult Since Jonestown. "
Annual Review of
Sociology Vol.12 (1986): 329-46. JSTOR. Web. 27 April 2015
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/2083206?saveCitation=true&confirm=add&seq=1#page_sca
n_tab_contents>
Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Jonestown massacre.” Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic
Edition. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 2015.Web. 27 April 2015
< http://academic.eb.com/EBchecked/topic/306016/Jonestown-massacre>
Mumford, Debra J. "Rich and Equal In The Eyes Of Almighty God! Creflo Dollar And The
Gospel Of Racial Reconciliation." Pneuma 33.2 (2011): 218-236. ATLA Religion
Database with ATLASerials. Web. 27 Apr. 2015
.
<http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/richandequalintheeyesoftheallmightygod>
Newport, Kenneth G. C.. “Branch Davidians of Waco : The History and Beliefs of an
Apocalyptic Sect.” Oxford, GBR: Oxford University Press, UK, 2006. ProQuest ebrary.
Web. 27 April 2015.
< http://site.ebrary.com/lib/vacommonwealth/reader.action?docID=10177852>
Wikipedia "David Koresh." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Apr. 2015. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Koresh>