I know who the anti-Christ is!

I was raised in the Catholic tradition and taught the commandments. But I have always struggled with the hypocrisy of the Church. There were many people in the religion that were lovely people, very kind and compassionate, and many that were not. But what overwhelmed me was the contradiction between what I was taught and how I was treated and saw others treated. It was a church to help the poor, but amassed wealth (I felt physically ill when I went to the Vatican and saw the excesses of wealth there). It was a religion of equality, but the priests, brothers and nuns were dictators who could not be disobeyed. It was a place of safety and security, and yet it openly abused children and the vulnerable at their whim. I walked away from the church as soon as I was old enough, even though my mother was a strong follower. I could not understand her double standards. She thought George Pell was a lovely man as he was a good friend of hers.

Recently I was told in a message who the anti-Christ is and it all fell into place.

I look back to the teachings of Christ and other prophets. They talk about equality – we are all one in the eyes of God. We have a commandment “Thou shall not kill”. The basic tenet of all religions aligns with human rights. It Is about compassion, respect, equality, and living as a community in balance and harmony. The original religious teachings do not mention power, elitism, discrimination, segregation or suppression. They teach love and do not mention fear. And yet, the implementation of each religion has had very different results.

One would assume that the anti-Christ is the opposite of Christ or the destruction of Christ’s teachings. This began with the institutionalisation of the religions. They killed those that disagreed – witches, heretics, other religions, and persecuted people until they signed up to the religion. They taught fear, obedience, suppression whilst the elite took the spoils. They enforced segregation and discrimination with violence. They created trauma in their communities through exertion of power over their followers.

Institutionalised religion IS the anti-Christ. Have a look at the religion that you favour. Does it have equality or elitism? Do you have to worship a God or gods, treat the leaders of the religion as demi-gods? Do the elite have more privileges and power than others? Do they tell you how to live, and suppress your rights if they do not like what you are doing? Do they preach using fear? Do they live what they preach or are they above the rules? Do they have excuses when they break the rules they make?

The Christian religions which are based on Christ are a perfect example of anti-Christ behaviour. They have an elite hierarchy that suppresses the masses with fear of going to hell. They segregate and discriminate based on gender, sexual identity, and culture. They treat people with disrespect and become abusive if anyone questions them. They have developed out of a history of war, genocides, cruelty, torture and greed. The church believes itself outside of the law as shown by the horrific crimes of its priests against children, and no action taken.

They created laws and regulations that suppress the masses and allow the rich to walk free. They created a legal system that is based upon argument and loopholes so they can manipulate it to their own ends. They created rulers and political systems that are corrupt and obedient to the church. It takes a brave politician to upset the church, and now we have politicians trying to enforce legislation that permits religion to ignore human rights. They have ignored the real teachings of Christ with impunity until now, but they are losing their power. So now they want legislation to allow them to continue their abuse of human rights. Next they will want legislation to burn witches and kill heretics. They already do this through character assassination.

We look at cult leaders as a terrible thing. And yet the action of religious zealots is cult mentality. Yes, the protesters outside the abortion clinics that want to punish women who have abortions, and then cheer on the army to the next slaughter of civilians in another country are cult followers. There is no consistency or logic in their beliefs, and this tells us they have been brainwashed by cult leadership.

Put the actions of any church against its original teachings. The Christian faith would fail miserably. Every time they discriminate or segregate, they go against the teachings of Jesus. He treated lepers, women and fisherman as equals. The church can’t even treat women as equals.

Jesus threw the vendors out of the temple saying that this was the place of God and not for commercial use. And yet the church thrives on commercialisation. They claim it is for practical reasons. Burning witches and killing heretics was for practical reasons also. Was the abuse of altar boys for practical reasons? The ignoring of this abuse was though!

The anti-Christ can justify anything. Jesus never made excuses. He lived with integrity and belief in his actions. He didn’t blame someone else for his teachings and allow them to go on the cross instead. He was honest, compassionate, and taught his beliefs to whoever wanted to hear. He didn’t ban people of different beliefs or sexual identities. He welcomed all. He didn’t force his teachings on anyone. He allowed people to accept them or not.

The anti-Christ has spread throughout our society in every organisation and institution where we have elitism, hierarchies, discrimination and suppression. It is in our courts, our parliaments, our education system and our health system. The anti-Christ is everywhere in our actions where we take away another person’s human rights, exert power and create fear.

It is in the wars, the refugee camps, the famines and the corruption that takes away a person’s right to live in freedom with basic healthy food, water, air and shelter. It is in the education system and job market that makes a doctor’s value ten times that of a shop assistant. It is in the health system that sends you home with drugs instead of taking the time to help you heal.

The anti-Christ is in the corporations that take your money, knowing they are selling you something that will harm you, or harmed the planet in its production. It is in the marketing that makes you feel inadequate so that you buy more.

Our elitist mentality, grab for power, desire for money, abuse of others is the anti-Christ.

If you look at Jesus’ basic teachings, they align with human rights. I have not examined all religions, but I believe that their basic teachings will align with human rights. Equality is not a male saying he will "allow" a woman to have an equal job. It is when permission is not needed, and it is a basic human right. Would any religious prophet have left people in refugee camps without basic human rights and ability to lead a decent life, for years on end? Jesus would cry at what our religious institutions, politicians and organisations are doing today. He would be furious at people using his name to harm others. He would cry in despair that profits are more important than humanity.

Greed is the anti-Christ. Greed for money, power, position, and dominance over others. It has infiltrated our society at every level. It makes us commit crimes against God every day. It has polluted and destroyed our world and made it toxic. I see toxic in how people treat each other constantly. The person that has to dominate another so they can feel more powerful. The person that creates fear in another to control them. The person that takes more than they need, leaving others without. The person that ignores the plight of those in need. The person that harms because they desire more.

The person could be man or woman, corporate CEO or politician, it is everyone. Do you have power and use it to take advantage of others? Do you have greed and cheat others to get more than them? Do you take without giving back? Do you override the will of others? Do you use fear to get what you want? Do you go to church on Sunday after destroying people's lives during the week and think your sins will be absolved with a donation? Abuse of power is the anti-Christ.

We eliminate the anti-Christ when we change our belief system to what Jesus actually taught. Look at the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We are all equal, and we each deserve to be treated with respect and compassion. We are free and able to eat, drink, breathe and find shelter without hindrance from others. We have the right to live in love and free of fear.

Jesus was a prophet teaching us the spiritual path. So were all the other prophets that established the other religions. Their purpose was to teach us how to live in balance and harmony with the world we have been gifted. This has been corrupted and we need to abandon the corruptions and go back to the original teachings. We need to expel the anti-Christ from our systems, detoxify them, and go back to purity in our intentions. Only then does humanity have a hope of survival.