The One God Religion in Steps To Salvation

Partly due to my study of history and partly due to my experience of crossing over to the other side, I firmly believe that religion has been a source of conflict on earth. I am not talking about a belief in the God of Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, David, Solomon, Jesus and Mohammad; I’m talking about the man-made structure of religion.

In Step One, high school senior Nathan Rothschild enlightens the class about the history of money, which is intertwined with religious hierarchies:

“Yes sir,” the student began. “Back in the centuries leading up to the Armageddon War, the money supply was controlled by elite bankers. These bankers had a lot of power. They could manipulate currency at will and impact national economies for better or worse. They were driven by profit, greed and selfishness—the opposite of positive capitalism, which helps citizens become financially independent.”

“Mr. Rothschild, when did this money-manipulation begin?” Mr. Bauer followed up.

“Sir, this practice goes all the way back to Biblical times and the famous story of Jesus chasing the money traders out of the temple. Back then money traders controlled the money supply. They made it impossible for practicing Jews to pay their temple tax when they came to Jerusalem because devout Jews could only pay the tax with a coin called the half-shekel of the sanctuary. This shekel was a special coin—an ounce of pure silver without an image of a pagan emperor. That’s why the Jews believed it was the only coin God would accept. But thanks to the money traders it was also really hard to find.

“These money traders also included the Jewish elite and the Jewish leadership. Because they had a money monopoly, ordinary Jews were forced to pay whatever high price they demanded to get the shekels they needed to pay the temple tax. To Jesus, this was completely immoral and unacceptable. It also violated the sanctity of God’s house. That’s why he threw the money traders out of the temple. This was the only time he ever became violent during his ministry, at least that we know of.”

“So Mr. Rothschild, are you telling us that the problem with money traders began during the time of Jesus?”

“No sir, the problem with money traders started long before him,” the student answered confidently. “Two-hundred years before Jesus was born, Rome fought with money traders. Two early Roman emperors tried to rein them in. They reformed usury laws and limited land ownership to 500 acres. Both of those emperors were assassinated. Then in 48 B.C. Julius Caesar took back the power to coin money from the money traders and minted coins for all Roman citizens.

“With a positive money flow, Caesar built great public works projects and earned the love of the common people. But this also made him a target of the money traders. Some historians believe Caesar was assassinated because he took back the power to coin money. No one knows for sure if that’s true. But one thing is true: Caesar’s death meant the end of abundant money in Rome. Taxes and corruption went up and the Roman money supply went down by 90 percent. Regular Roman citizens lost their land and their homes. Because the Roman people lost confidence in their government they refused to support it. This plunged Rome and Europe into the Dark Ages.”

Later, Rothschild discusses the unholy alliance between the Vatican and the Medici and Borgia families:

“Then in the 15th century two powerful families in Italy linked the Vatican and the global banking system. The Borgia family took political power at the Vatican and the Medici family created the modern banking system.”

Before the student could continue, Mr. Bauer jumped in again.

“Tell us Mr. Rothschild, where does the word ‘bank’ come from?”

“Yes sir,” the student responded, “the word ‘bank’ is derived from the Italian word ‘banco’ which means ‘bench’. During that period of the End Days, only Jews were allowed to trade with money. So you’d have a Jewish guy sitting on a bench in the marketplace for the exchange of money and bills.”

“Very good, Mr. Rothschild, you may proceed.” The student drew another deep breath before answering.

“The main practice of the Medici Bank was the secret movement of money. Even though it went through cycles of prosperity and hard times, the Medici Bank built a political power base that put the Medici family on the Papal throne 10 years after the Borgia’s reign ended.”

Here Mr. Bauer interrupted again. “So are you telling us Mr. Rothschild, that there was collusion between the financial industry and the Catholic religious hierarchy known as the Vatican?”

“Yes sir,” Rothschild replied. “And Rodrigo Borgia had a reputation for being the worst pope of all. When he was elected in 1492 he took the name of Pope Alexander VI. He had already fathered four illegitimate kids, and the rumor was that he fathered at least three other kids while serving as Pope. But the Vatican was famous for its immorality and corruption during this time period, going back to Pope Sixtus IV in 1471.

“Even though he was the head of the Catholic Church and supposedly God’s earthly representative, Sixtus had been anything but godly. He took the papal practice of nepotism to a whole new level by rewarding his nephews with money and power. He also used them as agents in the power politics of competing Italian states. At this time in history, Italy was not a unified country. It was made up of independent city-states that had their own governments.

“These nephews thought up diabolical plots for their own selfish reasons. One of these plots even ended with murder–the murder of one of the Medici’s in the Florence cathedral during High Mass. One of Sixtus’ nephews learned his lessons so well that he achieved even more politically when he was elected to the papacy as Julius II. Pope Julius II actually directed military campaigns. He also commissioned artwork from Raphael and Michelangelo. That’s why we have the beautiful frescoes of the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel—and that’s also why we had the Protestant Reformation.”

In the book, this student’s answer is the longest one of all of his classmates and goes into much greater detail than I am posting here. During the collaboration process, I wanted to present a vision of Salvation Time in which all people freely moved into The One God Religion as encourage by Moses himself in Step Two:

It hasn’t escaped our notice here on The Other Side that most of the hatred, violence and animosity on earth is perpetuated in the name of religion. This rancor between competing theologies would be amusing if it wasn’t so destructive and deadly, not to mention completely absurd. Why is this fighting completely wrong and unnecessary? Because there is only one God.

“We’re all here—Jesus, Mohammad and me—and we know it’s the same God. So what’s all the fighting about? The world cannot move into Salvation Time with all of this hostility, bitterness and war perpetrated in the name of organized, divergent religions.”

Jesus and Mohammad nodded their heads in agreement as they remained seated in their designated chairs.

“So now that I’ve identified the most pressing problem on earth, what’s the solution?” Moses continued. “First, we must unite all religions under one very basic, fundamental truth: there is ONE God for all. This God does not belong to any one religion: he just IS. He’s not exclusive to Judaism, Christianity, Islam or any other organized religion. It’s the same God for all souls, all living creatures—the I AM WHO I AM; the Alpha and the Omega. He has no beginning and no end.

“And for the Creator life on earth is all about becoming a better person, doing productive and uplifting things for your fellow humans, and making life better for everyone—not perpetuating an endless cycle of violence in his name. For that reason Jesus, Mohammad and I recommend that you shift the world into a One God Religion on earth, where you will help to unite people instead of separating them. In order to achieve this noble goal, you must incorporate the very best of every existing religion and integrate it into one major religion to create unity among people all around the world, rather than hatred, war, violence, poverty, death and destruction. It’s unity over hate, love and connectivity over fear and loathing.”

Moses, Jesus, Mohammad and a host of Advanced Souls who were once religious leaders on earth then offer their assistance to the Salvation Twelve in moving people willingly toward The One God Religion. However since fiction must also reflect real life, I realized I had to make it clear in my novel that those who wish to keep their End Days religious denominations are free to do so – it’s just that the power structure these various religions had before have been extremely reduced. And MOST but not ALL people freely move into The One God Religion, with an emphasis on freely.

The greatly reduced religious power structure is presented in Step Three when Mr. Bauer and his class visit Rome and the Pope:

Pope Pius greeted the crowd warmly. As he stood behind a specially erected marble podium in Saint Peter’s Square, he felt honored that they’d taken the time to visit with him. Standing among a small gathering of about 50 people including the Arusha  contingent and 200 media members, he was both exhilarated and humbled by their presence. At first the students were surprised by the meager attendance, having intensely studied the papacies of the End Days. But Mr. Bauer discreetly reminded them that they were now living in Salvation Time where the Vatican’s influence was greatly diminished. Popes were still revered by those who’d remained Catholic and others who respected the rights of human beings to worship as they pleased, but they no longer enjoyed the trappings of immense power. And since the majority of people had freely chosen to join The One God Religion, popes in Salvation Days no longer attracted the huge and nearly unmanageable crowds of their predecessors.

A Caucasian version of Mr. Bauer, Pope Pius appeared to be around the same age, an affable man with a genuine interest in his fellow human souls and a sincere desire to maintain the peace and prosperity the world was now experiencing. In stark contrast to the popes of the past he was dressed in a simple black suit, crisp white shirt and black loafers. His neatly cut gray hair bore no semblance of a fancy mitre, just a plain, purple cap; his hands were free of anything resembling an ostentatious staff, allowing him to touch each visitor on the shoulder and shake their hand as he extended a personal greeting.

After delivering a few remarks he stepped down and began to mingle with his audience, working his way through the line accompanied by a lone security guard while the magnificence of Saint Peter’s Square—with its exquisite columns, ornate statues and dancing water fountains—competed for his attention. Spielberg of course, had been busily filming this wondrous scene while the rest of his peers had stood awestruck as they contemplated the God-given talents of the human architects. For Anwar Sadat, Saint Peter’s Square provided further proof of the righteousness of his decision to become a priest in The One God Religion; for Nathan Rothschild, an affirmation that something beautiful and timeless emerges out of even the worst of circumstances. This beloved Roman attraction might have come into existence because of rampant corruption but he couldn’t deny it was also a tangible reminder of the talents with which God endows every individual. In spite of his earlier fears, Rothschild found himself renewed and inspired by the experience.

Once the Pope had acknowledged everyone else he turned his attention to the Arusha travelers. Extending his right hand to Mr. Bauer in a firm shake, he placed his left hand on his shoulder and thanked him for his excellence in teaching. Mr. Bauer graciously accepted the compliment before facilitating individual introductions of Pope Pius to each student. As they’d been instructed all of the teenagers displayed the proper etiquette as Pius inquired about their journey thus far and engaged them in conversation about their families back home. After he’d completed a meaningful one-on-one with all 21 students he announced his intention to escort them through the rest of the Vatican and encouraged them to ask as many questions as they’d like.

No doubt, this new streamlined papacy will offend many but I truly believe the excessive hierarchies of religion, along with big government, are a threat to freedom. In Salvation Time, the Pope is still loved and respected but he’s truly a man of the people who lives a simple life and greets all of his visitors personally.

You’ll have to read the entire book for the full picture of my views about religion. In the meantime, I welcome your feedback here. Health debate is good for all of us. God bless you.

Preview and purchase Steps To Salvation on Amazon.com.