How religious are you? How religious am I? Probably more than we know.

Someone said, “Man is incurably religious.” You might be able to track the source, a French philosopher, or Carl Jung, a psychiatrist.

Religion has powerful influences in our world; more than we know.

Ellen G. White was a very religious person. She was one of the founders of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and she had prophetic visions. At one time, she claimed that God sent her a vision, and told her that we should not eat anything with a face. Animals have faces and plants do not, so she was a leader and founder of the vegetarian movement.

Did you know that the Vegan-Vegetarian movement has religious roots?

Other religions, like Buddhism, also emphasize vegetarian diets.

Two brothers followed the teachings of Ellen G. White, for healthy living, including diet. They believed that a bland vegetarian diet would reduce sin. I heard the story that one of the brothers led a research team in a kitchen-laboratory, and one product they looked at was corn mush. One afternoon, the crew went home and forgot to clean some mush off a metal roller.

The next morning, the film of corn mush had dried, and cracked, and the pieces had started to curl. Before the mess was cleaned up, the leader was inspired. With some processing, he was able to produce crunchy flakes of toasted corn mush.

Today we have boxes of “Corn Flakes” and those two brothers were the Kelloggs. The idea of breakfast cereal in a box expanded and many competitors started making their own brand; just add milk.

Did you know how much religion there is in your breakfast?

• READ: The Secret Ingredient in Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Is Seventh-Day Adventism: Smithsonian

Also, we have at least two wars now. In Gaza, Israelis believe that God gave them their land, Muslims believe that their truth has liberated those regions and the Jews are turning the clock back. Religion fuels the intensity of that war.

I don’t know if the war in Ukraine is a religious crusade, but recently Ukraine decided to celebrate Christmas, the birthday of Jesus, on December 25. The Orthodox Christmas is January 7, and the Russian State Church is Orthodox, and it strongly supports the Russian war effort.

Christmas is now like a weapon of war.

In South America, there is a potential war between Guyana and Venezuela. There also was a war between Argentina and Britain, in the Falkland or Malvinas Islands, in 1982.

I remember a religious speaker from Argentina, speaking in our home church, and he told us that three countries French Guiana, Suriname (Dutch Guyana) and Guyana (British) had no right to exist. He didn’t explain, but I know more now.

There was a “1494 Treaty of Tordesillas” which was based on directions from Pope Alexander the Sixth. Just after Columbus discovered the New World, the Pope divided the eastern side (Portuguese Brazil) from western (Spanish) Latin America. That doesn’t leave room for British, Dutch, or French territories, and it is a religious rule.

There is a persistent conviction, in Latin America, that the east-west division is a simple and religious truth. That speaker in my family church was an evangelical preacher, and not a Roman Catholic who followed the Pope.

So two more wars, or threatened wars, have religious roots.

• READ: Treaty of Tordesillas: Wikipedia

These are a few of the stories that I know, and there are many more. Many parts of our modern world are shaped by religion, probably more than we know.

We believe in things and choose sides, and identify with our side. That easily becomes a religious conviction and then a tribal identity. That level of conviction changes everything, from politics to breakfast cereal.

So, why does this matter?

Religion is not truth, and we need truth.

I hope we all find this in the New Year. Here are a few examples of that truth:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1: 8)

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3: 18)

We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. (1 John 4: 6)

There are more statements on that topic, but this is a good start. We need actual truth.

Here is an example of the truth about our religiosity:

• WATCH: Man is incurably religious: Facebook