The Reformation Experience Was a Timeless Message

The Reformation is not discussed enough. In it lies a story that applies to today and all times to come. To summarize, it was a time when Martin Luther, a priest in good standing, wrote and talked about the evils then going on in the Catholic church. That evil was priests taking money for promises they made about the fate of dead people. If grandma sinned and needed a break to get into heaven after she was dead the priest could arrange that for you. But the priest demanded money. 

People were fed up with this but, in their limited knowledge, thought they had no choice. Luther came along just at the right time and a revolt took place. He did not intend to start a new branch of the Christianity but that was the outcome. He made up his own stuff; he preached hatred of Jews and no doubt contributed to centuries of grief for them.

To me, the Reformation illustrates the dark side of religion. It is a thing those in positions of power use to punish others in the public. The scheming priests shaking down those in their parishes and Luther claiming his superiority to the Jews are both reasons to remember people make stuff up and use it to their own ends. 

Today, there are perhaps a few hundred organizations, a few large and many small, collecting money. The money, they tell donors, will eventually eliminate abortions. If history gives us a lesson, it is that they will not stop abortions, they will not even reduce the number. These groups are shaking down the unaware just as the priests did before the Reformation. The groups have manufactured a definition of "human life" and are profiting from it. Opposition to gay and trans people is the same. Some made up issue that brings in money.

That's why the lesson from the Reformation is timeless.