Think for Yourself

“You need to grow up, be respectable,” the man in the expensive Italian suit.

“What does it mean to be respectable?” I ask.

“You do what I tell you to do,” the well-dressed man says, “Put away childish things. That’s what St. Paul says, you know.”

“Who defines what is childish?”

“I do, but I pretend as if God and I are of the same opinion.”

“To what end?”

“Control! I control you by withholding acceptance until you conform to my wishes. I use God not because I believe in Him, but because it keeps you from questioning my self-made authority.”