The Religious Spirit is one of the seven great demonic Principalities that rule the earth – when it can. It should not be confused with only church or synagogue; the religious spirit is way of dealing with life based on fear, and it can energize in both secular and religious spheres. It is found in people and institutions who already have a position of some security and are afraid of being challenged.
Fear is the Cause
We know the word religious means “I do that religiously” as is a matter of custom, form and belief. These disciplines may work for the individual but not for government, politics or any branch thereof. (The opposite of religious is faith which we cover elsewhere.)
The Fear can be Anything
Fear loss of position, fear of change, which is most frequently the reason, fear of the loss of friends and status, and fear of being wrong. It is a substitute for faith, either faith in yourself, your connections, your family or faith in God and becomes a quasi-identity of who you actually are.
Right v. Righteous
An elevated sense of being right allows you to feel better than someone else because you are Right, and they, by extension must be Wrong. This makes you more valuable and important to those people who agree with you. The Right Person does not want to change; but he fears it. One of the blessings of Covid19 is that millions of Americans and no doubt foreigners as well have been placed in such a tight place they were forced to see the reality of change.
Group Think as Protection from Change
The Religious Spirit is always a “group” think option. They believe that the large number of people who adhere to something makes it right. This is the standard in China; one and a half billion people all agree, and that makes it right. Western civilization is based on the premise that there are absolutes, and the number of people who believe something has no bearing on whether it is right or wrong.
Slavery becomes entrenched by Fear
Group think allows you the comfort of not changing. But it can also lead to ignoring problems and self-justification both for you and the group. Clearly slavery is wrong, but for centuries it has been glossed over as an evil. Christians pointed to slavery in the Bible as being if not endorsed at least tolerated. Some Southern Christians insisted that black people were not genetically the same as white humans; that had to stop with the discover of DNA which shows all humans beings in the species, Homo sapiens.
Blacks were considered inferiors so they could not vote; all this was based on group fear, not to mention the financial loss of workers in the fields. It became an article of faith that only the Democrats could ‘keep the blacks in line’ and so any other political party threatened that control. Those who deviated or challenged those beliefs found themselves not included in parties, churches, or groups, especially political office, and eventually any kind of office including school teacher. It would be dangerous to expose children’s minds to opposing ideas.
Black vs. White became a War between Change and No Change
The same kind of theology came to entrap the black community into believing the only people who could help them were Democrats, who allowed fear to keep themselves enslaved to one political party with small benefits. One of the mistakes black activists make is calling themselves African-Americans, as though they actually are a different species. It is more than divisive.
The Bible says mankind is enslaved by fear Hebrews 2:15 deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. That includes not just a physical death but death of all your associations friends, your job, everything that is attached to the group. Fear brings bondage.
China defends its way of life
By this logic Chinese Communism is the best method of human government because such a large majority of people support it, therefore it must also be wise and good. A system that is Right also makes no mistakes. But in the world of practical living here we have a Covid-19 virus decimate the people, along with crop failures and weather damage, and suddenly communism is shown to be not very wise or good.
But the Communists can’t change – because they are always right. So, expect a clash of systems as reality wars with delusion in China.
Business is not threatened by Right-ness
Business under the free enterprise system does not fear the right-ness of anything or anyone. It responds to changing the marketplace or down it goes. There is nothing sentimental about fear, or ego, or position, truth, or fiction. The numbers tell the tale. If your business has fallen off, you must do something or close your doors. This leads to conflicts with people who believe they have a “right” to a job, or that they have a “right” to keep a job when the company is failing. This is a tenet of union management – the employee is retained even though there is no work.
Refusal to Change and some Worthless Employees
This bizarre story came out of New York City. Hundreds of teachers who were suspected of child abuse or other crimes were kept in a safe place during the school year and paid a wage even though they were not allowed to work. It was the union’s idea.
This article is from 2009 but the situation continues from the 1970s. New York may think it has enough money to do this but eventually it will be truth time; you cannot afford to keep on the payroll people who do not produce no matter what the reason for their inactivity.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/31494936/ns/us_news-education/t/nyc-teachers-paid-do-nothing/#.X3MNLWhKjIU
Those worthless employees needed to face a jury, not years of paid vacation.
You can see why so many people are annoyed by President Donald J. Trump who stands his ground. Businessmen look at data and facts and they weigh options; they are not cemented to being Right.
In contrast is a political party thinking it has a right to steal votes – because they are Right, and Right Must Win. Evil must be stopped. Of course, there is always self-interest involved. My job, my values, my political party must remain in power because my future depends on this political system being in power. That is the secular mind at word. The Christian, naturally, says, God is in charge.
The burden of being right leads to paranoia, the relentless pursuit of enemies who are “Wrong” which we see now as endless impeachments, investigations, accusations, and personal attacks, including the fabrication of complex, libelous and slanderous attacks such as the Steele Dossier.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/t-steele-dossier
This fabrication by government employees – your tax dollars at work – was intended to bring down President Trump because – you guessed it – he was wrong and they were right. The definition of peace is “You must agree with me.” Both fear of exposure and charge are present here.
These hoaxes and fake news are intended to generate fear so that police powers expand to protect whomever is Right. If your team is out of power then you generate riots, protests, indictments against innocents, and new protesters, such as Black Lives Matter.
The Lord demands change.
Malachi 3:6 says I am the Lord, I change not. This means if you are to be a Christian, or any believer in God, you do the changing; He doesn’t.
Smokers jolly well know by now smoking damages the lungs and leads to early death. Those who kick the habit extend their lives in a healthy manner. What applies to clean living applies elsewhere. People who cannot or will not change – that is – a direct act of the will, cloak themselves with victimhood as a permanent place to hide, using the votes or political will to stay in an inert place where they personally need not change.
History of Forced Historical Change
The Bubonic Plague
Recent history is full of examples how change brought needed reforms. The Bubonic Plague of the 12-13th centuries did that to all of Europe. It was a costly lesson depending on where you lived, for as many as 30% died with no relief from any source. Whole towns were wiped out and many thought this was the end of time.
But it signaled the end of the “dark ages.” It showed citizens the cracks in their systems. The Holy Roman Empire had zero holiness. Prayers bought and paid for purchased no relief and out of that crisis western civilization grew to what we have today. Political leaders lost their interest in a powerful papacy. If their holy prayers against plagues did not work, maybe their theology didn’t work either, leaders reasoned. God has not determined for secular man a theological government anyway.
A Religious Spirit Glorifies His Group
A religious spirit will say, “I never vote. I do not want to be involved with politics.” Alas, for him he is already involved in politics if he is alive and on plant earth. He can claim no superiority by being non-involved.
Martin Luther
Martin Luther stood his ground against church leadership and their doctrines of infallibility, brought public education to children and gradual release of the population to western democracies we enjoy today. Gone was the divine right of kings, even though many kings held on to it- like Henry VIII- and got away with it – for a while.
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan was perhaps the last “god” to hold office when his poor advice led Japan into World War II in the 1940s. So, it takes a long time for these paper divinities to get their due. Today the Iranian theocracy is being toppled by young people. Those who claim to be god must be ultra-careful. In the Bible the last person to do this came to a grisly end.
Bowel Problems and Claiming to be God
Herod, in the book of Acts accepts worship as god and poof – Acts 12:21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. 22 And the people gave a shout, saying, it is the voice of a god, and not of a man. 23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
2 Chronicles 21: 18 And after all this the Lord smote him (Johoram) in his bowels with an incurable disease. 19 And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers. President Xi Jinping of China has now claimed to be god. Let’s see what happens to him.
The Religious Spirit in Individuals
You will find the religious spirit rejects other people on the basis of one small error. The misstep is enlarged and becomes a reason for total rejection. Rejecting someone else elevates that person over another one and they no longer feel threatened. That error may not actually be there – it may be imagined – but the results are the same. Little sins or things done wrong in someone else’s eyes lead to outright banishment and they will write you off, forever. Think of the families or those members who never speak to each other – “I will never forgive him for doing that.”
The word “never” tells us it is a religious spirit. “Never” means they deliberately will not change. This is why God tells us not to judge – not because being discrete has no value but because we are frequently getting involved in areas where we are ignorant of the whole story. Secure people do not ever need to write off anyone and the best politicians know this.
Your “rightness” in a group identity substitutes for being right with God. A heavenly God may tell you that you are a sinner but your group says, no, you are right because you believe the way we do. Remember that book – I’m OK, You’re OK? And by extension those believers in another group god are no longer wrong but are evil because you are threatened by their accusations.
Frozen by Fear
The group generating the most fear will usually fail. Why? Because the phrase “frozen in fear” is prophetic – fear causes inaction so the opposition sweeps in and takes over. It may take centuries but it always fails. All fear ultimately brings loss.
From age to age the nature of Man does not change. He is born with the capacity of evil. What he does with his life and his future determines the lives and future of those around him and those who follow. But because good always wins in the end – one of those pesky Absolutes – Man inches forward.
The names of God never include the name Right because that always leaves open the idea, on occasion, He may be wrong. Hence, God is called Righteous which means He is always right. We have no easy access to the mind of God. What we do have of His mind in the 32,000+ verses in the Bible and the words of the Holy Spirit available to his people.
The nature of the true god is reflected in the nature of Greek and Roman gods. They have great gifts as well as debilitating flaws. As lessons in virtue and correction those gods’ lessons are invaluable and offered those ancient peoples the same teachings’ we have today in Proverbs and the rest of the Holy Books.
But learning the lesson for a good life for the natural man as opposed to being changed into His Glory are two separate processes. No one can be religious enough to be Holy. That takes a divine interruption. For the spiritual man there is “something else,” which only the radical salvation of the soul can accomplish. For that to happen all those Right People just bow down.
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©CorneliaScottCree.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission, from this blog’s author and/or owner, is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to CorneliaScottCree.com. Thank you for cooperating in the effort to give glory to God.