A lot of Christians I come across usually boast that they do not follow "religion". They condemn "religion" and claim that they are only concerned about the person of Jesus; not any rites, dogma, etc. Of course, while such remarks may sound nice, I find it contradictory to the message of the Gospel: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27) I believe this has been the appeal of early Christianity "be unspotted from the world". But Christianity today, represented by its largest church (Roman Catholicism) is quite the opposite of being "unspotted from the world". Throughout the Gospel you see a theme of withdrawal from the world: "My kingdom is not of this world", etc. The early Jesus movement was apocalyptic, a movement of marginalized and the meek. Its leaders and apostles likewise fit into that category. But the Roman Catholic Church, with its incredible political power and influence. One only has to look at the Vatican, the seat of authority in the Catholic Church, with its amazing wealth. There seems to be a huge disconnect between the early Jesus movement and the powerful empire of Rome. As James said, "pure" Religion is unspotted from the world. I think this is the reason why people are turning away from Catholicism and finding their spiritual and religious fulfilment in other sects and religions, such as Islam, Pentecostalism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and charismatic churches. When they look at the Roman Church, with its power and glitter, they are not reminded of the humble and other worldly ministry of Jesus and his way of life. When they look at the pope, they are not reminded of a "man of God", but of an emperor who is part of the establishment political and religious system. Pure religion should appeal to the marginalized, its leadership is drawn not from the wealthy and powerful, but from the marginalized like the early Jesus movement in 1st century Judea. The ancient prophet, an ordinary shepherd or herder, who speaks with God and is accessible to the ordinary and marginalized people, with no pretensions and pomp about him, is very different from this Catholic Pope Why do you think ordinary people view the former as a true religious leader and the latter as a pretender using religion for worldly gain? Who in your view is truly in contact with God and represents the will of God on Earth?
Young people just wont go for the fairy tales anymore. That is the reason religion is dying off...at least in the USA.
there's probably something to what you're saying there cherub, but the catholic church despite its present day circumstances has served very well in the mist of overcoming the brutality of over 200 years by pure will of their God to stand in the roman empire before it was formed as the "universal" catholic church and became the church and religion of the roman empire. church of the state if you will and in all those years the Gospel message has been acceptable in all reigns of the world since, even though some reigns have gone otherwise. the church like its predecessor the Israeli people, has gone its corruptions and purifications and separations (like the protestants for example) in its relationship with the Living God and will probably continue to, until Kingdom come, as in "the day of Gentiles" has been fulfilled. so don't bad mouth it to much, consider what the Christian community would think if the Vatican was eliminated even if they weren't catholic. the presence of the Vatican alone provides a stability.
