Here is a question for everyone: Who are you?

And another question: When did you choose to be that person?

There are forces, in this world, that want to tell everyone who they are, and what they must ‘believe.’ Have you ever converted to something new, like a religion or a lifestyle? The was much easier twenty years ago.

Now, the new rule, really the renewed old rule, is conformity.

I don’t want to get into any angry arguments, but it is simply true that you and are not as free as we might think. If you grew up in a conservative religious family, you know that you need to keep the others reasonably happy. That means conform, or at least pretend, when the others are watching.

When I was a young man, I was a bit stressed about the choices that I needed to make for my adult life. That included things like starting a career, maybe finding a girlfriend that I might marry some day, so I could start a family that fit in with my extended family.

Don’t judge me too severely, many of us go through that stage in life.

One day, I was walking somewhere, and I saw a scrap of paper, on the ground. For some reason, I picked up that dusty and wrinkled paper, and read the words on it. I was holding an invitation to a religious meeting. This meeting was with a group or sect that I had never heard of, and I was curious. So, I followed the instructions on the paper, and phoned the contact number. 

A friendly person answered and invited me to a meeting, in a private home. I was still curious, so I went to one meeting. It was informal. And the people there were friendly. Also, I was raised in a conservative Christian family who attend church, at least three times a week. The new group seemed to be Christians, who believed the same things as my parents. 

I will skip most of the details, but it is important to know that I’m old enough to tell you that there was a time when we did not have cell phones, and our home phone was black, with a dial on it. I lived in those dark ages. 

I started to make some new friends in the new group, and I learned that they were trying to start a new Christian church, in our city.

And then; everything changed. My new friends stopped all contact with me, and to this day, I have not spoken to any of them. More accurately, they have not spoken to me.

After a few days, my mother spoke to me. She told me that someone from the new group had phoned me and invited me to a meeting. She answered the phone, so the caller left a message for me. 

My mother gave them instructions. To quote her: “No one from this family goes to a church like yours.” I’m guess that she said a few more things, and I never spoke to my new friends again. More accurately, they never spoke to me again.

Many years later, Mom apologized to me, and I accepted her apology, but I also learned a hard lesson. 

Conformity is the new normal.

My parents are gone now, and I don’t want to make this a small family story. We have a huge cultural trend, that affects the lives of billions of people.

Make that ‘billions’ with a ‘B.’

In many countries, you religion will be recorded on your birth certificate, and you must be one of them, lifetime, There is no choice, or conversion. Breaking the rules can put a person in jail. We can be prosecuted, or persecuted.

There are many stories in the news, from countries like India (Hindu) and Iran (Muslim). People often shift between religions, including Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Judaism. Every group hates to lose members.

If you want an example of this ‘conform’ cultural trend, understand something about the personal life of the Vice President of the U.S.A. The wife is a Hindu and the husband is a sincere Christian. He hopes his wife might be attracted to the Christian message, some day, and choose to be a Christian, like him. In the attached article, someone in India described his idea as “It’s ridiculous and absolutely wrong.” 

Note, the news article is from a Muslim majority country, Turkiye (new spelling) and the controversy is about Christians and Hindus: 

US vice president sparks backlash in India after comments on wife’s Hindu faith 

If we missed it, we are often assigned to a profile for life, even in western countries that promise personal freedom. This could include religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, how we vote in our community, and immigration. 

I know, I just opened a huge can of worms, but the larger cultural trend directs us to conform, and never convert.

And here is more controversy. There is a popular idea, in many religions, including Christians, that we are moving into the end of this time in human history. This includes Muslims, Jews, and Christians, and even the ancient Mayans, with their complex calendar of the ages.

At the end, conformity will be the new normal, and conversion to anything new will be very dangerous. Here is a Christian summary of the main ideas in this belief:

Does the Bible prophesy a one-world government and a one-world currency in the end times? | GotQuestions.org 

In summary, I believe it is important to keep our personal freedom, and to choose who we will be, but this is becoming more difficult in our modern times.

And this simple old song, from India, is becoming highly controversial: