THE PROBLEMS

THE PROBLEMS WITH ORGANIZED RELIGION

MAIYA LOPEZ // COPY EDITOR

Religion could be a beautiful thing. It is defined as “a particular system of faith and worship.” In theory that would sound appealing, to partake in the togetherness of a group of people with similar beliefs. These could all be great aspects of religion, but it also sparks the question of if it’s actually too good to be true. And truthfully, that’s exactly the case. In today’s society, it can often be used to justify hatred, bigotry, and hostility towards differing groups of people, typically with opposing beliefs. But all of those are just surface level issues. Beneath the already challenging issues, what really goes on in organized religions?

While some critics of religion may argue that religion is not only harmful to the individual but to society, it is very scarce that people question why. Many religions suffer from religious ethical issues because of selfish, greedy, and immoral leaders. These people tend to twist what the rules of their religion state, and bend them to suit their wants or needs. Corrupt religious leaders emotionally manipulate their followers by guilting or instilling a feeling of hopelessness to keep them vulnerable. And considering the power differential at play between the followers and priests, this shows a worse narrative that expresses the harsh reality of power differentials in religion.

Religious trauma syndrome is a direct result from these transgressions, the exact definition being when an individual struggles with leaving a religion or a set of beliefs that has led to their indoctrination. Symptoms for RTS arise in response to traumatic or stressful religious experiences, which can be categorized as religious abuse. Religious abuse is abuse administered under the guise of religion, including harassment or humiliation, and more often than not results in psychological trauma. Some prime examples of this are spiritual, sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Some religious leaders, often found in Christianity and Catholicism, abuse the power they have by emotionally and mentally tormenting those below them by misusing religion for selfish, secular, or ideological ends.

It’s not just always the organization; it could also be the people. Alcoholism, substance abuse, domestic violence, greediness, sexual immorality and promiscuity are commonly seen within the church-going populations, a huge contrast to what their religion teaches. The most self-righteous, God-fearing believers can sometimes be the most corrupt people. Those all could be just human-nature traits, but considering these people are religious, it could have connection to past religious abuse and corruption.

Organized religion has many issues that are barely touched on the surface without extensive years of research. However, by speaking out against religious abuse and uplifting victims to share their story, we can work towards ending the corruption that can come with organized religion.

THE CLINTONS

RYAN O’SULLIVAN // CONTENT EDITOR

Politics is a cheater’s game. The harsh reality is most politicians just want your money in their pocket. It would be a fair estimation to say that no politician is free of at least a little bit of corruption. The U.S. has a two-party government, which most times causes politicians to fight tooth and nail in hopes that their party may come out the victor, which in this case means having the most power or the final say. While I point out that it is extremely rare to see a politician free of corruption, the Clintons have a very long track record of whistleblowers who ended up dying or just were completely wiped off of the face of the political scene.

Before continuing further, one thing I would like to make clear is that I am writing this article completely free of speculation. I want to present the facts and the evidence that may back up or disprove these facts.

First would be the suicide of Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex offender and child trafficker. While most criminals with similar charges are sent to a state prison, Epstein was sent to Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, a much more high-profile and monitored place to be jailed. In July of 2019, Epstein was placed on suicide watch after an inmate saw him in his cell, semiconscious, with marks on his neck. Prisoners who are placed on suicide watch are given special cells that allow 24/7 monitoring, and little to no objects that one might be able to hurt themself with. He was taken off suicide watch by a doctoral-level psychologist who detemined that suicide watch was no longer warranted. Just several days after being taken off suicide watch, on August 10th 2019, Epstein was found dead in his cell due to hanging. During Epstein’s autopsy, Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist, who had been studying the body for 4 hours, told CBS News he noticed unusual fractures in Epstein’s neck that may point more to murder than suicide. Epstein had fractures of the left and right thyroid cartilage and the left thyroid bone. Baden told CBS, “I have never seen three fractures like this in a suicidal hanging.” While I will never rule out coincidence, it is very suspicious that a high profile billionaire had so little coverage surrounding his death. Very little had questioned how Epstein would even go about hanging himself in his cell.

So why might a group of people like the Clintons, or other wealthy elites want an already incarcerated man to be found dead in his cell? Epstein’s Island, named Little Saint James, in the Virgin Islands, allegedly was the main location for Epstein’s transgressions against humanity. Many wealthy people were said to be on the flight log, including Bill Clinton. Clinton’s spokesman responded to the accusations that Clinton had a close relationship with Epstein. He claimed that Clinton took only four flights on Epstein’s private airline between the years 2002 to 2005. He also claimed that the former president knew nothing about the events that took place on Little Saint James. These claims however, are not backed up by flight records published by Gawker in 2015, suggesting that Clinton took more than a dozen flights on the Epstein airlines. Lastly, a woman who testified against Epstein in court claimed to have seen Clinton with “two young girls,” on Epstein’s island. The motive for these elites to murder Epstein in his cell would be the irrefutable evidence he held against them. He posed too big of a threat to the Clintons and even the Trumps if he were to speak in court regarding his island.

Second, the mysterious crashing of a plane that carried C. Victor Raiser and his son. There were five other members on board when it was said that low visibility and a narrow mountain pass caused the pilot to lose control of the plane and crash into the mountain pass near a fishing lodge about 2,000 miles North of Kodiak island, in 1998. Many conspiracy theorists claim that the crash was deliberately caused and point to the pilot’s delayed decision to switch course when it should have been otherwise obvious to do so. And also the pilots’ failure to maintain airspeed. Raiser, who was a major player in the fundraising for the Clinton campaign, was said to hold inside information that could criminalize the Clinton’s and lead to some underlying wrong-doing in the Clinton administration.

Lastly, and maybe the most outlandish cause of death, happened to a very well known Clinton-critic and important media member, Victor Thorn. Thorn was most well-known for his publication of his three works known as the “Clinton Trilogy.” In these books, Thorn claims to expose various scandals undertaken by the Clinton administration. The cause of death for Thorn was multiple self-inflicted gunshot wounds. A questionable cause of death because in most cases it may seem that one shot might do the trick, also, how is someone to shoot themself twice? One may also ask, what would lead a motivated press advisor to take their own life just two months before a very important election? Thorn was found dead on his birthday in 2016.

While there are multiple other conspiracies and stories regarding the criminal allegations in the Clinton administration, my hope was to go over some that may have been forgotten excluding the Epstein investigation.