Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins. – Ayn Rand

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I came across this wonderful quote while reading up on philosophy beyond the bible. The quote comes from Ayn Rand whose philosophy of Objectivism became quite influential in the 60’s. Google her, she was quite the thinker.

Although Rand dismissed religion altogether, I took this quote to religious and faithful heart. Take a moment to read it a few times and have a think for yourself.

Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins.

Allow me to explain how I digested this quote for myself (obviously all in my own opinion).

God gave us our minds. The ability to choose. He also gave us a set of reminders and rules to live by, should we choose to remain as his children. Conveniently, the bible tells us that God sent messengers to relay those reminders & rules to live by. The administration.

Now ask yourself, does “choice” exist within the church?

Most would say yes. I, on the other hand, have to agree with Rand that it cannot co-exist with force. The only choice ANY member of the church has is choosing to stay in the church. These days, all staying really means is that you ARE #onewithEVM. And being ONE with EVM, essentially means you’re giving up your own morality. You’re giving up your own choices and decisions. With the belief that it all comes from God, you’re letting EVM (not to be read as Jesus) take the wheel .

Feel free to argue with me on that in the comments below.

The real question is, WHY would God give us the ability to choose, if the only way to salvation is to follow EVERYTHING one man – EVM –  tells us to do? Either God’s wrong, or the administration is.

Jesus Christ himself had his own administration. A group of apostles who had many differences — all of whom questioned the Lord in different ways until the very end. Each made choices. Each asked for forgiveness when learning the hard way. Each had their own influence. And while this was thousands of years ago, anyone who’s read the bible can attest that no apostle, or Jesus himself, took credit for the work they’ve done. Never did they boast or make the headline a priority.

In today’s church, we create events to break world records. That’s to be read with an emphasis on the word “world”. Since when did the records of the world matter anyway? Isn’t it all temporary. That alone shows you where the focus of our church is misplaced.

In today’s church, ministers are thugs that bully those who make the choice to leave. They cultivate an offensive culture online against anyone that isn’t #onewithEVM. They say they do it for the love of the church, but their actions show it’s for the love of EVM.

In today’s church, asking a simple question can be offensive to a minister. Asking a question can open up an investigation on yourself in return. And instead of guiding you to make the right choices, the church administration is using the bible to FORCE you to follow the path they choose — no questions asked.

When’s the last time you’ve had a lesson inspire you to act, versus force you how to act?

Take for example: Mother’s Day. FYM was cool with it. EGM was cool with it. EVM? Nah, chill. Ain’t nobody got time for that. And just in that example alone, it shows us that each executive minister CLEARLY makes a choice on how to interpret the bible. How to relay their mess… erm… I mean, THE message.

The bible has been around for centuries. And none of it is new.

And if we can agree that the Bible is the ONLY constant… well… I’ll let you choose who to blame for all the current chaos.

May the force be with you… NOT!

-hermano rorschach