Many Critics of Christianity believe that faith is merely a means of social control and that it is somehow a straight jacket to freedom. That Christians are particularly predisposed to being controlled because of a general ignorance of science, an unthinking acceptance being naive and easily influenced, believing just what the priest tells us to. That this is a form of oppressive indoctrination which will lead people to do anything however unjust in the name of Christianity. Critics say that there is a better way and that is to learn for yourself what is right and beneficial from your own and shared experience. This requires that you are not obliged to obey a set of rules handed down to you by a religion, further that truth can be obtained by being a free thinker.
Underlying this view is the idea that Humans can find fulfillment without faith and that we can learn to be better and that there is enough to fulflil the soul in the various interests and endeavours in our daily lives, that we are somehow free to choose what satisfies. Yet we cannot live by just pleasing ourselves, we do have to consider others to which we have to apply moral and ethical considerations. We are not claiming that non Christians are incapable of considering others but rather that this cannot be done without somebody making a claim to a moral truth of some kind and with many truth claims come the quest for influence and control. Throughout history people have craved power whether that be at an individual community or national level, this can be for land, money, influence, privilege, ideology or simply for the sense of dominance over others. This is all part of the human condition.
For some in contemporary society the idea has grown that we can choose our own truth "You tell me your truth and I’ll tell you mine" This negates any ultimate claim to truth like you would find in Christian thinking. For Christians truth is not relative, it is based on faith in something ultimate. It is also honest in that it addresses the reality of human sin and how it is harmful to us. This is not a popular teaching in a secular humanist society where choice, autonomy and self actualisation are seen as more important.
In looking at control we ask a very basic question "was Jesus wanting to control people and did the early Christians want political power of any kind." Jesus demonstrated time and again that he was not interested in social political or imperial power, he rode into Jerusalem not in a chariot but on a humble donkey .The Jews looked to him as the much awaited Messiah to overthrow the Romans by force and when Jesus didn’t they turned against him. He was teaching instead about spiritual liberation and Gods kingdom of love. In the trial before Pilate Jesus was asked if he was the king of the Jews and Jesus replied "you have said it" so he did not claim that title for himself and when Pilate assured Jesus that he had the power to release him, Jesus told him that he only had authority because God had granted him that authority.
Jesus was looking beyond human or imperial power to the power of a spiritual heavenly kingdom. Jesus submitted to an illegal and unjust arrest and execution and did not defend himself against charges which were in themselves corrupt. He relinquished his power and control then as he did on many other occasions using it instead to heal and teach. On another occasion he urged people to pay their tax "Pay to Caesar what is Caesars" even though many Jews resented paying tax to the occupying Romans and had expected Jesus to resist them. In Romans 13 the apostle Paul urges that people should submit to the authorities and keep laws because authorities are there to restrict those that do wrong and that God has placed them there. Social order was important.
This at first seems to deny that Governments can be corrupt or that their motives are anything other than pure but which also sets the stage for Christians to follow slavishly anything that "Authority" requires of them. This also seems odd when Jesus was crucified on a trumped up charge and that Pilate who really wanted to release him caved in to people power. Christians understood political corruption and Jesus understood the limitations of people in power. Kings, Judges Patriarchs, prophets and masters were all required to treat others particularly the poor and marginalized with love, respect and fairness. Elsewhere in the Bible Christians are blessed for seeking justice and many down the centuries have railed against authority to achieve fair treatment for the poor and oppressed yet Jesus is saying that ultimate power and justice lies in the kingdom of heaven which is expressed explicitly in the beatitudes which we are to work for in this life.
The early Christians were beaten imprisoned and killed in huge numbers by the Romans, yet they remained determined to teach the good news of Jesus Christ, why would you do that if there was no obvious gain and certainly no control as a reward? This persecution continued for several centuries until the time of Emperor Constantine in 313 BC when Christianity was legalized. This was the beginning of Christianity being intertwined with political power, initially Christians were glad of the protection they were afforded but gradually the Church began to mimic such power structures. Throughout history this has led to the church being implicit in the ambitions of kings and empire in events such as the crusades, the inquisition and within the Church in practices such as indulgences where people thought they were buying themselves into heaven. We cannot deny that in history people of power have used God for their own selfish purposes whether that be Kings, Governments,emperors or clergy, they have used scripture out of context to justify their own ends going completely against the teachings of Jesus.
The concept and fear of hell is often cited as a mechanism to control people yet there is little record of leaders in world history who claim to have used the "fear of hell" as a means to control the population and it seems unlikely that large swathes of society have spent their days anguishing about eternal damnation, it is pure supposition. Fear of punishment though does play an important part in our lives, it helps us to realize the consequences of our actions helping us to consider others in forming our own personal morality. Jesus spoke of hell on 12 occasions mostly in relation to the evil of religious piety and although he did warn of the consequences of sin and judgement he was much more interested in teaching about the abundant life and love found in the Holy Spirit which is available to all people. The bible tells us that perfect love drives out all fear including the fear of punishment
In contrast there are 680 references to love in the bible so it is much more likely that the Christian life is motivated by the ethical teachings of Jesus to love God and one another as pure good sense to practical living and for personal and spiritual fulfillment.. So there is another Christian story to tell which is not about control at all but about love and liberation. Ideas of equality and justice that derive from biblical teaching and Christian action in law, democracy, education, hospitals, charity and care for the poor. Campaigns for justice including the abolition of slavery, prison reform, women’s emancipation, voting rights, democracy and ideas of a just society. Christians today are involved in worldwide charity organisations aimed at fighting poverty and injustice and local churches support their local communities caring for those around them. In loving Jesus we are motivated to love those around us and in doing so we enjoy spiritual communion with God through a life of prayer. We ask forgiveness of our sins as a way of relieving our emotional burdens and in the process we are liberated into a life which is challenging as we try to orientate ourselves more to the needs of others but which also brings a sense of fulfillment and peace.
Jesus gives us a choice, there is no coercion. Jesus asks us to relinquish control of our pride and ego, to rely and trust in him. Our life is to be rooted in the spiritual kingdom of God so that the Christian life becomes the exact opposite of control, instead being a way to personal liberation. We give our lives to Jesus voluntarily in the same way that he gave his life voluntarily for us.