I was helping my friend build a pergola one day, and we needed to get the metal sheets for the roof, the final step before calling it done. So we drove out to an industrial supplier in South Austin.

As we pulled into the gravel lot, scripture verses caught my eye. Painted on walls, carved into signs, mounted throughout the property. At first, I thought nothing of it. The owner's faith on display. Inside the office, I noticed a couple of verses that spoke of fear, and those made me think:

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7)

"Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling" (Psalm 2:11)

Standing there among the roofing supplies, I felt that familiar unease from my Catholic upbringing. The same message. Fear God, or else.

When did the message of Jesus transform into a weapon of control? When did we start listening to the same high priests that Jesus opposed—the very ones who killed him for threatening their power—instead of listening to his teachings? Why promote fear?

The Yogis had a theory about why religious institutions promote fear. They taught that fear was never part of the true teachings of Jesus. Yogi Ramacharaka pierced through centuries of distortion to reveal how "devils have been invented as a means of frightening people." He recognized that "the prostitution of the high teachings of Jesus by the introduction of such base conceptions" was not only wrong—it was a source of "righteous indignation" for those who could see the original light.

And rightfully so. When you see something pure and beautiful being twisted for control and profit, when you witness people's sincere search for God being exploited through fear tactics, that's exactly the kind of injustice that should make anyone with a conscience furious.

Jesus taught courage, not cowering. He modeled fearlessness, not submission to threats. This inversion, from love to fear, serves power. Frightened people submit more easily than confident ones. Souls convinced of their unworthiness buy more readily the salvation being sold.

I'm not saying religions are bad. They serve an important purpose and have their place in the world. But we must be aware that religious institutions are run by people with significant power, and that power has often led to corruption over the centuries.

I'm not suggesting to abandon Christianity. Quite the opposite. I'm encouraging you to follow the true teachings of Jesus, not the dogmatic distortions created by institutions and the power-hungry people who run them.

Return to the source. Choose love over fear, freedom over submission. See all humans as family, regardless of their appearance, origin, or beliefs. That's the message Jesus actually taught.

Be free. Be strong. Fear not.