Carl Mumpower

Most religions are political movements having more to do with the things of man than the things of God.

Mysticism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islamism, and socialism offer navigational tools for a dangerous world.  They are also shamelessly exploitive.

Africa’s called the “Dark Continent” for a reason.  Societies that carry their drinking water in buckets and rely on mysticism may be colorful, but rarely are they healthy or advanced.

Hinduism and misery concentrations in India demonstrate people bridled by a caste system are easy to control – impossible to uplift.

Buddhism’s attraction centers on self-actualization.  The pursuit of “nothingness” is an ironic antidote to the corruption, poverty, and disease found where this faith flourishes.          

Despots and dogmatists thrive in the Nations of Islam.  Everyone else is variously consumed by a faith of oppressive contradictions manifested in Islam’s ground zero – the Middle East.

Devotees of socialism and humanism have skipped God altogether.  Unfortunately, worshipping government and self as means to manipulating and robbing our fellow-man offers a proven path to moral bankruptcy and social malaise.
God made all men equal.  The same cannot be said for cultures and religions.  Having done more to buttress mankind than all others combined, Christianity stands as an imperfect exception among perfect imposters.  Per Vishal Mangalwadi, in The Book That Made Your World, that success can be tracked to one source — the Bible.

It’s the Bible that birthed Western civilization and its incomparable systems of education, science, arts, justice, health, and prosperity that set the standard for the world.  Importantly, where these forces existed in other times and places they were rarely dedicated to the needs of the common man.       

That is after all the central theme of the Bible — God unconditionally cares for all people, not just the best, brightest, empowered, and funded.  The West got this message because, thanks to the Bible, we had this message.

The sourcebook for the Christian faith was inspired, not dictated, by God.  Man and the church have variously edited, misused, and ignored content to impious purpose.  Still, Jesus’ model, God’s commandments for living, and the charges of love and accountability prevail.  No other faith can claim a blueprint with a larger or more uplifting footprint.
The 400th anniversary of the King James Bible is a time for both celebration and caution.  The Bible made the West and rightfully challenged the rest.  We abandon that roadmap to the world’s peril.

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Carl Mumpower, a former member of Asheville City Council, may be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it