Before I was allowed to play at Erin’s house, her mother called me aside. She introduced herself, Bible in hand, and was quite friendly until her tone shifted and she asked, “So what religion are you?”

“I go to St. Lawrence’s,” I answered, more interested in the bike ride Erin and I were about to take than a theological discussion, “I’m Catholic.”

“Well, Erin and I are Born-Again Christians. In order to play here you need to be saved and accept Jesus into your heart,” she said sternly, though unsure of how I would respond.

“But I believe in Jesus,” I assured her, “We learn about him at catechism on Sundays.”

“Well it’s about time those Catholics teach something that comes from the Bible,” she said disgustedly under her breath, “Go ahead and play, tomorrow come over and I will save you, okay?”

“Sure,” I said, happy to get out of there, although curiou

Like the mad scientist in cartoons that makes the cat think it’s a dog and the dog think it’s a cat, religion brainwashes its followers—it’s brainwashing in its purest and simplest form. At the heart of religious ideology lies the notion that every religion believes it is supreme to all others. It must, otherwise it would not exist. The only thing that can possibly transpire from this theory of religious supremacy is the argument that “My God is better than your God,” creating hate and fear, which lead to war, bloodshed, suffering, and death.

Another shortcoming to this toleration-society is that in attempting to embrace all religions, a culture similar to that of Old Testament Israel is promoted. Confused about its religious identity, it incorporated and embraced customs of many other religions. The result was a multicultural society, which was superficially desirable, but slowly and surely led to the moral corruption and collapse of the nation. In Israel's formative years, God told its people to keep the unique religious code He had given them. Specifically, He warned them not to incorporate the religious practices of others. He told them that the consequences of dabbling in religious multiculturalism were far worse than they could imagine (see Deuteronomy 12:29-32).

That night at dinner, I quizzed my mother about our religion. At nine years old, I never really thought about religion before. I guess I just thought everyone was Catholic.

Ten years later I still contemplate the same questions. What exactly is the goal of organized religion? Have these goals been achieved?

A growing theme since September 11th has been "there is good in all faiths." It's a variation on the proverbial "many roads lead to heaven." President Bush has voiced this concept many times over the past two years, as he seeks to inspire harmony between the diverse religions of the United States. In her 50th Christmas message, the British queen urged people of all faiths to set aside their differences that have led to global violence. She said we can all learn from each other, "whatever our faith—be it Christian or Jewish, Muslim, Buddhists, Hindu or Sikh." The pope attempted to strike a similar note in his Christmas message, saying, "May the gentle face of the Child of Bethlehem remind everyone that we all have one Father."

“We go about our religion in our own way,” she said after another long chuckle. “Some religions are more concerned with making everyone else believe what they believe, than actually worshiping in their own way.”

“Catholic is being Christian,” she answered, “And where did this c

Some topics in this essay:
Renaissance Period, Catholic Christian”, Testament Israel, Religion Religion, Born-Again Christians, , Child Bethlehem, Jehovah’s Witness, President Bush, Garden Eden, jehovah’s witness, accept jesus, september 11th, otherwise exist, christmas message, name god, eternal life, own way”, israel palestine,