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A look at Blindness:Blinded by Religion
by Grace Tom-Lawyer In an era where suicide bombings and the activities of terrorist groups such as the Boko Haram are rampant, the killings of the cartoonists in their office by some Muslims in Paris two weeks ago still astonished many.These extremists were furious at the portrayal of the Prophet Mohammed by the cartoonists and decided to inflict punishments themselves.Fortunately even fellow Muslims have condemned their act and dissociated themselves from such inhumane behaviour. Nevertheless,it is important to realize that these extremists may not have started out with murder in mind.Gradually and with increasing degree their intolerance for others built up until murder became an option to support their cause.They are a modern day warning of the dangers of religious blindness. This is what happened to the Apostle Paul, who did not start out killing Christians.Being a Pharisee he was so consumed with keeping the Law that when the Church started, he opposed it so vehemently.The first time we see him in Scriptures he is holding the coats of those who were stoning Stephen, the first martyr to death(Acts 7:58) and he progressed from a supportive role(Acts 8:1), to a leadership role(Acts 8:3). In this later role, we find him on his way to Damascus(Acts 9:1-3)having collected letters from the High priest so that he could arrest Christians there.Luckily a dramatic conversion led to a change. It is also possible that as Christians we may become blinded by religion and religious ways and thus refuse to change ineffective previous patterns or embrace novelty.Sometimes it may be our own preference or denominational style of doing things that we have turned to a law and a standard by which we judge others.People who are not following our self imposed laws are then likely to be condemned with their reputation at stake.Sadly,it is not sin that is their offence.They have not just followed our own set of rules,feeding our egos while we are bereft of our blindness. Religious convictions are so strong that sometimes in a bid to follow them,there is a tendency of being blinded.Paul had this problem with some of the churches(Romans 14:18-23 ,Colossians 2:16) and he used the Scriptures to convey the truth to them.Other spiritual disciplines such as prayer and being led by the Spirit are aides to the recovery of sight from religious blindness. Grace Tom-Lawyer is a writer who lives in the United Kingdom and loves to share a message that brings dignity to the lives of people with a passion for the practical application of Biblical truths in everyday living. 2014 Grace Tom-Lawyer. All rights reserved. wwwflourish.blogspot.co.uk Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |