WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING MAKE US SINNERS

 

My degrees are in sociology, social psychology, and psychology. I am a strong supporter of science, although the application of science to me can be questionable with respect to the good of humanity. However, that is a discussion for another Post.

Some may find it strange that a science faithful can be a fervent Roman Catholic. Well, I am a Roman Catholic in faith, not an adherent to all the apocrypha the Church spouts.

As I have said before, I was in the seminary for 4 years and completed my Philosophy work, but being faced with 4 more years of theology, I decided to leave the seminary and pursue a teaching career.

Being in the seminary and learning so much about the Catholic faith profoundly changed my religious beliefs. In the seminary, I was enlightened by teaching priests.

The topic of sin was a very important behaviour facet to explore religiously. I was surprised to find out that although there may be objective sins, that is not what sinning is all about.

 

To sin, individuals must freely choose to commit an act which they believe is inherently evil or bad.

This is what was drilled into my head in our Religious Studies Courses in the seminary. So, intent to commit a sin is required for any of us to be guilty of sin.

We worked through many examples in the seminary, but let me just briefly discuss two which I hope will make clear what the definition of sin is all about.

There is a commandment (albeit Old Testament {OT})

“Thou shalt not kill.”

This commandment is well-known and killing is generally considered a sin. However, let us consider soldiers at war. Soldiers are expected to kill enemy soldiers during war. It is expected of them and they are put in situations where they must kill to survive.

If when a soldier kills another soldier firmly believes that the taking of that other soldier’s life is a good action, protecting their family, their friends, their country, and their own life, then the soldiers have committed no sin.

However, if a soldier feels that killing another human being, regardless of the circumstance, is an evil act, then they have sinned, regardless of what their country, family, friends, and religion says.

Another commandment from the OT

“Thou shalt not steal.”

I think a fun example is Robin Hood and his Merry Men. According to legend, Robin and his gang regularly stole money and other things from the nobility. If Robin and all of his men thought that stealing from the rich and giving the wealth to the less fortunate was a good deed, then none of them sinned.

However, if any of the Merry Men felt that taking away the money or possessions of others was wrong, then they had committed a sin.

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing Change Our Sense of What is Sin

Unfortunately, most Christian hierarchy preach that God should be feared. If we sin, we are going to hell. They preach that God looks upon us as evil sinners. He will condemn us to eternal fire for infinity because we sinned. To use an analogy, in a life span which is not even a grain of sand compared to all the grains of sand on a beach which does not even approach the infinity of eternity, THE WOLVES SAY THAT GOD WILL CONDEMN US, A LOVING GOD?

Moreover, the wolves teach that we can be condemned to eternal damnation for sins of thought, word, or deed. Furthermore, they tell us what sin is and try to get us to accept their definition of sin by saying that they speak the Word of God. My goodness, what a conceited and pompous belief that the church hierarchies know what God is thinking.

Thus, throughout history, the wolves have defined sin in many ways: converting to other religions, adultery, loving someone of the same sex, lending money, eating meat on Friday, eating pork, drinking alcohol, drinking carbonated drinks. Killing an unborn child, disobeying your husband, using the name of God in vain, and so forth and so forth.

The sad religious fact is that if a person believes that eating meat on Friday is a sin, and they eat meat on Friday, then they have done an act freely which they believe to be evil. ACCORDING TO THE WOLVES, they will face God’s punishment.

Thus, I believe that the Wolves by making followers accept what the wolves consider sin, in fact create more sin. Especially when the Wolves have no right to tell anyone what sin is or to judge anyone as a sinner. I believe that they do not speak for God. It is unfortunate that the Wolves are conceited and pompous enough to think that they know God’s mind. Only God has the power to judge the actions of individuals.

God of Love and Mercy

I am afraid that established churches may make individuals afraid of God and look upon Him as vengeful and punishing. Individuals may turn away from his love and mercy. That is what frightens me about the Wolves. They are conceited and think they speak for God. 

I do not speak for God. I merely bask in his love and mercy and try to have others accept his love and mercy. The wolves may be scaring people away from God. However, I know that the wolves feel that they are doing good. Thus, I believe that in God’s eyes, they are not sinning and are not sinners. May the Holy Ghost push them to accept God as loving and merciful.

I believe that religions have no right to state what is individual sin and what is not. That is God's and only His right. Much of organized religion is committing at least the sin of Pride. I feel that they must stop thinking that they speak for God. I believe this is their biggest sin, and they continue to commit this sin. By spreading fear of God and condemning others as sinners and satanist, they are turning people away from God's love and mercy. I believe that it is Satan who wants us to fear God and to fear God's punishment and wrath. We cannot love God if we fear him only. Why do not clergy learn this great lesson that I have learned?

I believe God is offended more when we are not "loving our neighbours as we love ourselves" than He is offended by other sin. I believe that we must help our neighbour, listen to their problems, give help to those who might be less fortunate than us, try to help people live a contented spiritual life, and share God's love with others.

The wolves want us to keep our talents and our true selves under a basket for ourselves and our family. They want us ignoring the cries for help from our neighbours, and waste all the inspiration that the Holy Spirit gives us to merely avoid sin and save ourselves only, while ignoring the salvation of others.

I believe that God loves us and wants us to meet Him in heaven. He will always forgive us for our sins because His own churches have misled us, chastised us, condemned us, manipulated us, and have hidden His Love and Mercy from us.