Selfish Religion

When I was a kid back in the 1960s, I remember that most religious people I knew expressed their faith by helping people: the poor, the sick, the elderly, and so on. It was usually mainline denominations that did so: Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists, etc.

Nowadays, more people are turning to fundamentalist churches rather than the mainline ones. However, quite a large number of such people don't become religious in order to be better people and to help others. Rather, many people "get religion" because they see it as their ticket to heaven. It's all about them.

Fundamentalist denominations encourage this mindset because they insist that people cannot be saved by "works"; that is, by helping people and trying to be better people. They don't consider that helping people might be worthy in its own right; that doing so isn't simply a means to "get saved" and help themselves.

They stress that the only way to get to heaven is by faith; that is, by accepting that Jesus died for their sins and accepting him into their lives. Period.

Such fundies don't worry so much about WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) when it comes to their dealings with others, especially that pesky empathy that Jesus was likely to show for people. They believe in an "inerrant" Bible, yet they ignore verses that say that whatever you do "unto the least of these, my brethen, you have done to Me", or if someone takes your shirt, that you should give them your cloak as well. And let's not even get into the "Get rich quick with Jesus" mega-churches -- that would be an entry of its own.

Thoughts?