TESTIMONY:
(several testimonials)
Christian Orthodox worshipers hold candles lit from a flame that
emerged from the tomb believed to be of Jesus Christ as they take part in the
ceremony of the holy fire at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on April 19,
2014, in Jerusalem, Israel.
Although he quit believing in God as a teenager, 50-year-old
Brandon Osborn feared hell and damnation until he was 35. Raised in the “holiness
movement” branch of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints after escaping his mother’s
abusive home, Osborn finds addiction and recovery fitting symbols for his
experience.
“I consider religion to be an imposed addiction — no different than holding
a baby and shooting it up with small doses of heroin, increasing the doses as
the baby grows,” he says. “Religion is as poisonous and as attractive, to many,
as heroin — Karl Marx said it right, ‘Religion is the opiate of the masses.’
I’m still recovering from it. Part of my recovery is helping others get free.”
Can you really become addicted to religion?
Well, the risk of any activity or substance becoming an addiction depends in
part on the characteristics of the substance or activity, and, in part — some experts
believe most
significantly — on the characteristics of the situation and user.
For even the most intense pleasures — those that tend to create
the highest rates of compulsion — most users retain their capacity for autonomy and balance. Most
people can ingest a pleasurable neurotoxin like alcohol or even cocaine in
moderation, for example, while others find themselves drawn inexorably toward
self-destruction. The same can be said about pleasurable activities like sex or
gambling. And the same is logically true of religiously induced pleasures — including intense
feelings of euphoria, transcendence, hope, joy, absolution, security,
immortality, certitude, purity, purpose, belonging, or superiority.
Chris Scott, a former devout Bible-believer from Phoenix, notes
how the euphoric feelings spurred by religion have the potential for poor
outcomes. Scott says that his experience was “most definitely” like an
addiction. “The best definition of addiction that I’ve ever heard,” he says,
“is anything that provides a mood-altering experience but has adjoining
negative consequences, and yet the behavior is continued anyways.”
In recent decades, the idea of recovery from addiction to
religion has taken root, particularly in Christian America. A proliferation of
websites provide platforms for sharing stories, like exChristian.net, or offer support and help,
like RecoveringfromReligion.org.
There are self-help books too: When God Becomes a Drug, by
Father Leo Booth, promises readers
“practical ways to overcome excessive devotion and attain healthy
spirituality.”
Thousands of testimonials leave no doubt that going cold turkey — abruptly quitting a faith
or religious community — can leave people who quit religion experiencing both residual
symptoms from their time in the religion, and withdrawal symptoms.
La Luz del Mundo has been the subject of
several controversies. Church leaders have been accused of creating a cult of
personality, sexually abusing members, and amassing wealth.
Status of church apostlesEdit
La Luz del Mundo has been accused of having a "cult of personality"
centered around its leaders,[125][126][127] and at times of worshiping its leaders.[128] The birthdays of church leaders are
celebrated as religious festivals, and church members describe seeing or
listening to their leader as a religious experience.[125][128] Toward the end of Samuel Joaquín's life,
church members were using bibles with his key speeches and epistlesappended
at the end.[129] In May 2019, La Luz del Mundo faced
scrutiny for using the Palace of Fine Arts (a
government funded public venue) in Mexico City to host a concert as tribute to
its leader Naasón Joaquín for his 50th birthday.[130]
A day after the Heaven's
Gate mass
suicide on March 26, 1997, on TV Azteca's
evening newscast Hechos, Jorge Erdely Graham of
the anti-cult group
Instituto Cristiano de Mexico (Christian Institute of Mexico) claimed that
church members may commit mass suicide if so directed by their leader, Samuel
Joaquín.[131][132] No evidence ever surfaced to support
such claims,[131] which were later characterized by
religious scholars Gordon
Melton and David Bromley as
"fraudulent reports by ideological enemies."[133] The claims focused media attention on church
leader Samuel Joaquín who would subsequently be accused of sexually abusing
young church members.[131]
Sexual abuse accusationsEdit
On May 18, 1997–a day after Samuel Joaquín's 35th wedding anniversary[134]–a handful of women claimed on the Mexican
network Televisa that
they had been sexually abused by Samuel Joaquín approximately twenty years
earlier.[135] In a third report on August 17, shortly
after the church's most significant holiday, former member Moisés Padilla
Íñiguez also accused Samuel Joaquín of sexually abusing him when he was a
teenager.[136][135][137] These accusations were spearheaded by
Erdely's anti-cult group, which demanded that La Luz del Mundo be stripped of
its legal recognition as a religious organization.[138][139] Four people later filed formal
complaints with the state prosecutor,
but the statute
of limitations for the alleged crimes had passed.[131]
The issue came back to life in February 1998 when, two days
before Samuel Joaquín's birthday, Padilla reported being kidnappedand
stabbed by two gunmen.[131][140][141]Padilla received 57 shallow slashes from a
dagger which, although they did not put his life in immediate danger,[140] could have resulted in death from blood loss.[131] Padilla blamed Samuel Joaquín for the
stabbing and for an earlier attack in which he was allegedly beaten by men who
warned him against criticizing the Church leader.[131] A church spokesman denied that the
Church or Samuel Joaquín had any involvement in the attack and suggested that
Padilla may have orchestrated it in a desperate attempt to authenticate his
previous charges against the organization.[131][141]
Judicial authorities investigating the charges said the alleged
victims were not being fully cooperative, whereas former church members
expressed suspicion of the Mexican legal system, arguing that it favored the
Church.[131]Ten years later a spokesman for the state
prosecutor said the criminal complaints were unsuccessful because, in addition
to the statute of limitations, the accusations were incomplete.[142]
On June 4, 2019, current La Luz del Mundo leader Naasón Joaquín
García and a church follower were arrested after their chartered flight from
Mexico landed at Los Angeles International Airport.[143] The California
Department of Justice alleges that between 2015 and 2018 Naasón
Joaquín and three co-defendants committed twenty-six felonies including human trafficking,
production of child
pornography, and forcible rape of a
minor.[144] Before being denied bail,[145]Naasón Joaquín's bail was
set at $50 million due to fears that his followers could raise enough
money to free him and that he would then flee the country.[126] According to California Attorney
General Xavier
Becerra, the bail is the highest ever imposed on anyone in Los Angeles
county.[126] La Luz del Mundo denies the accusations.[146]
Wealth of church apostlesEdit
Church leaders have been criticized for accumulating wealth
while the majority of church members belong to the lower economic classes.[147] The Joaquín family owns a lavish private
zoo-themed ranch called Silver Wolf Ranch in Seguin, Texas,
valued at $3 million as of 2008, and includes horses and a collection
of restored vintage
cars.[148] The ranch is divided into two parts, a
federally registered nonprofit zoo and wildlife rescue refuge, and a private
zoo-themed family retreat. The nonprofit part is funded by donations from
church members in Texas, while the private part is funded by family earnings
from businesses such as a travel agency in Guadalajara, per a church
spokesperson.[149
SO, THIS IS WHAT I THINK
AND I BELIEVE
I SPEAK WITH GOD DIRECTLY, WITHOUT INTERMEDIARIES
I DON'T NEED OR WANT
INTERMEDIARIES TO TALK TO GOD
YO HABLO CON DIOS DIRECTAMENTE SIN INTERMEDIARIOS, NO
NECESITO INTERMEDIARIOS PARA HABLAR CON DIOS.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: GOOGLE
DEFINITELY RELIGIOUS AND IDEOLOGICAL FANATISM IS HARMFUL FOR
WEAK MINDS
THOSE RELIGIOUS LEADING ASSUMPTIONS, PREACHERS MUST BE
INVESTIGATED BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY MALINTENTIONED, NOT ALL OF COURSE
