The Conditioning of Belief
Religious conditioning—often cloaked in the robes of tradition, righteousness, and cultural sanctity—is one of the most powerful forms of indoctrination in human history. Whether referred to as spiritual guidance, religious education, or divine instruction, it frequently serves as a method of shaping belief through repetition, fear, and conformity. Across the world, religious identity is overwhelmingly determined not by personal discovery, but by geographic, familial, and cultural inheritance. What a person believes is rarely an act of personal will; it is often a result of where they were born and what their community teaches them to believe.
This is especially true for African Americans, whose ancestors were stolen from their homelands and force-fed a version of Christianity—a faith used as both a leash and a lash by their oppressors. Indoctrination wasn’t merely spiritual—it was a form of psychological colonization, transforming a people’s ancient wisdom into submission under a foreign god and foreign rules.
Religion by Geography: Faith as an Inherited Identity
The global distribution of religious beliefs underscores the dominance of cultural conditioning:
- India is shaped by Hinduism and Buddhism, rooted in ancient texts like the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and Ramayana.
Afghanistan is deeply entrenched in Islam, guided by the Qur’an, Hadith, and Sira.
Norway predominantly adheres to Lutheran Christianity, with the Bible as its spiritual anchor.
In 16th- and 17th-century Mali, Islam replaced traditional African religions, and the Qur’an became central to state power.
Wherever one is born, belief tends to follow—less a spiritual awakening and more a cultural inheritance. Religion becomes a birthright rather than a conscious choice.
The Bible: Divine Inspiration or Political Tool?
The Bible, like all ancient scriptures, is a product of its time—authored by men, shaped by empires, and preserved through centuries of political filtering. While it contains messages of compassion and justice, it also harbors verses that are deeply judgmental, violent, patriarchal, and racist. Below is a breakdown of such passages and their historical consequences:
Scriptures Used to Justify Slavery and Racism
Genesis 9:25 – “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”
This verse was historically misinterpreted to assert that Africans were descendants of Ham, and thus cursed. It was weaponized by European and American Christians to justify the enslavement of Black people. This act of eisegesis (reading meaning into the text) reveals how scripture can be twisted to support white supremacy and colonial violence.
Judgmental and Exclusionary Verses
Leviticus 18:22 – “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.”
A cornerstone for anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry, this verse is frequently cited by those who ignore Jesus' radical empathy. It is a classic case of moral cherry-picking, enforcing purity codes selectively to shame and exclude.
1 Timothy 2:12 – “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.”
Used to suppress women’s roles in church leadership, this verse has served as theological justification for patriarchal domination, especially against women of color. It is a doctrine of silence, not of salvation.
Violent and Sadistic Verses Attributed to God
Deuteronomy 20:16–17 – “...you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. But you shall utterly destroy them...”
This genocidal command legitimized the annihilation of entire populations. It’s been invoked in support of settler colonialism, notably by Europeans against Indigenous peoples in the Americas.
Psalm 137:9 – “Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.”
A verse of trauma and vengeance. Even when contextualized as poetic rage during exile, it reflects a theology capable of justifying infanticide, vengeance, and brutal retaliation.
God’s Jealousy and Vengefulness
Exodus 20:5 – “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents…”
This portrays a God who operates not with justice, but with generational punishment—instilling fear rather than faith.
2 Kings 2:23–24 – “[Elisha] cursed [the boys] in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.”
This bizarre, grotesque passage turns divine power into petty vengeance. Few pastors dare preach it—it exposes the absurdity and cruelty hidden in holy texts.
The Weaponization of Scripture
These verses are not merely archaic relics—they are tools of control. Their selective application allows religious authorities to enforce obedience, suppress dissent, and preserve hierarchy. Whether through fear of hell, divine punishment, or spiritual exclusion, these scriptures are designed to mold human behavior around institutional control.
The Christ Construct: A Myth Rewritten
The figure of Jesus is arguably a literary amalgamation, borrowing from earlier mythologies, especially that of the Egyptian sun god Horus. Even the name "Jesus Christ" is a cultural construction—"Christus" means "anointed one", while "Jesus" is a Western adaptation of "Yeshua."
No credible Roman historian documented Jesus during the time he allegedly lived.
As Thomas Paine observed:
“The Christian religion is a parody of the worship of the sun, in which they put a man called Christ in the place of the sun, and pay him the adoration originally paid to the sun.”
Christianity, in its modern form, was born in 325 A.D. at the Council of Nicaea, when Emperor Constantine convened religious leaders to politically unify the Roman Empire. From this moment forward, religious truth was no longer divine—it was imperial.
Christianity as Control: A Historical Fraud?
The Roman church’s political consolidation of Christianity paved the way for centuries of violence and manipulation:
- The Crusades
- The Inquisition
- The Dark Ages
- The Vatican’s stranglehold over Europe
As one thinker rightly said:
“Religion can never reform mankind because religion is slavery.” — Robert G. Ingersoll
This mythological framework disconnects humanity from the natural world, normalizes injustice under the guise of divine will, and relinquishes human responsibility to a fabricated cosmic authority.
Breaking the Spell
Religious belief, when rooted in fear, control, and deception, ceases to be sacred—it becomes spiritual subjugation. While religion can inspire compassion, love, and community, its darker scriptures and manipulative myths must be interrogated. Blind faith, especially in texts wielded by empires, leads not to salvation but to subjugation.
To awaken is to question. To question is to free the mind from chains disguised as halos. True spirituality liberates, it does not legislate. It empowers, it does not enslave.
The most dangerous lie is the one believed to be divine.
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