No Religion
There may come a time when you are told to denounce your faith.
Then the king wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people, and that all should give up their particular customs. All the Gentiles accepted the command of the king. Many even from Israel gladly adopted his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath. And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the towns of Judah; he directed them to follow customs strange to the land, to forbid burnt-offerings and sacrifices and drink-offerings in the sanctuary, to profane sabbaths and festivals, to defile the sanctuary and the priests, to build altars and sacred precincts and shrines for idols, to sacrifice swine and other unclean animals, and to leave their sons uncircumcised. They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane, so that they would forget the law and change all the ordinances. He added, ‘And whoever does not obey the command of the king shall die.’ - 1 Maccabees 1:41-50
In today's reading from the Book of Maccabees, the king demands all abandon their faith to worship his religion, and many do.
I wonder what would happen today.
It could be that many would reject the king, not because they are strong in their faith, but because they have no religion whatsoever and would refuse to accept his.
This is happening in many parts of the world. People are fleeing oppression to avoid having to adhere to laws they don't believe in.
They would choose no religion over one they don't agree with, and I understand that. Our society is becoming much more secular, while others are becoming more strict, orthodox.
Giving people a choice means they can choose none.
It used to be that you would be threatened into belief. If you choose not to believe, you are choosing death, so you had better believe.
If we scare people into accepting religion, are they really followers?
So, today, we may have far fewer believers in our society, but perhaps the ones we have are true. What we need to do is tout the values of our faith and hope that will draw people in, rather than demand they follow or die.
More to come...