Control Structures (The Gatekeepers Who Block What They Claim to Offer)

"The kingdom of God is within you." — Jesus Christ, Luke 17:21

I need to say something upfront.

I believe in God.

This isn't an atheist critique. This isn't a "religion is a fairy tale for weak minds" piece. I've read those. They're lazy. They miss the point entirely.

I believe in something infinite. Something beyond the material. Something that gives meaning to consciousness itself.

And it's precisely because I believe that I have a problem with the institutions that claim to represent that belief.

The Proof That Lives Inside You

Here's the philosophical argument that I find most compelling:

Humans desire the infinite.

Not metaphorically. Literally. We want more—always more. More knowledge. More connection. More meaning. More time. We are the only species that contemplates eternity, that imagines what lies beyond death, that asks "why" instead of just "how."

Why would we desire something that doesn't exist?

We don't desire things that are impossible to conceive. We don't hunger for experiences that have no referent in reality. Hunger implies the existence of food. Thirst implies water. Sexual desire implies... you get it.

The desire for the infinite implies the existence of the infinite.

C.S. Lewis made a version of this argument. So did Augustine. So did countless mystics across every tradition.

You already have the proof. It's the ache you feel when you look at the stars. The something-more that tugs at you in moments of silence. The sense that this can't be all there is.

That's not delusion. That's data.

The Priest Class Returns

Remember the blood feuds from "Imaginary Points"?

The first monetary systems were invented by priests. They ran the temples that became the first banks. They fixed exchange rates. They recorded debts. They established themselves as the mediators between humanity and the divine—and between humans and their own economic survival.

Control through gatekeeping.

If you wanted to access the gods, you went through them. If you wanted to settle a debt, you went through them. If you wanted to make sense of existence, you went through them.

The institution became the interface. And the interface extracted a toll.

Two thousand years later, different robes, same function.

The Confession Mechanism

Let me ask you something.

If you ran an organization and you wanted maximum control over your members, what would you design?

You'd create a ritual where people voluntarily tell you their deepest secrets. Their shames. Their transgressions. The things they've never told anyone.

You'd make it mandatory for good standing. You'd frame it as cleansing, as necessary for salvation. You'd put it in a dark box where the intimacy feels sacred.

And then you'd have something on everyone.

I'm not saying every priest is a blackmailer. Most aren't. But the system is designed to accumulate leverage. That's not conspiracy theory—that's just looking at the structure.

Any organization that systematically collects secrets about its members has power over those members. Whether they exercise that power or not, the architecture is built for control.

The Secret Society Quip

People ask me about secret societies. Masons. Illuminati. The networks behind the networks.

Here's my take:

The ultimate secret is that you believe they know something you don't.

That's where the power comes from. Not from actual hidden knowledge—from your belief that hidden knowledge exists and they have it.

The emperor has no clothes. But if everyone believes the emperor is dressed in divine fabric, the emperor rules anyway.

I could go down rabbit holes that would make your head spin. But you don't need conspiracy theories to see what's right in front of you.

The documented, public, admitted history of institutional religion is damning enough.

Christ vs. The Church

Here's what gets me.

If you actually read what Jesus said—not what the institution built in his name teaches, but what he reportedly said—it contradicts almost everything the church became.

He flipped tables in the temple. He called out the religious leaders of his time as hypocrites, vipers, whitewashed tombs. He told people their faith made them whole—not their membership, not their tithes, not their obedience to religious authority.

"The kingdom of God is within you."

Not in the Vatican. Not in the confession booth. Not behind a gate that requires institutional permission to pass through.

Within you.

He ate with sinners. He touched the untouchable. He said the last would be first. He said to love your enemies.

And then an institution rose up in his name that:

Accumulated more wealth than most nations
Covered up systematic abuse for decades
Sold literal tickets to heaven (indulgences)
Tortured and killed people for disagreeing (Inquisition)
Built palaces while preaching poverty
Maintained tax-exempt status while influencing elections

The church became the Pharisees.

The thing he warned against. The gatekeepers who block what they claim to offer.

The Universal Thread

Here's what's wild.

If you strip away the cultural packaging—the specific rituals, the dietary laws, the naming conventions—every major spiritual tradition says the same thing at the core.

Buddha: Look within. The answers aren't external. Attachment to institutions and dogma is itself a form of suffering.

Christ: The kingdom is within you. Direct relationship. Love above law.

Muhammad: There is no intermediary between you and Allah. (Sufis took this further into direct mystical experience.)

Hindu mystics: Atman is Brahman. Your individual soul is the universal soul. You already are what you're seeking.

Indigenous wisdom keepers: The sacred is in everything. The land. The animals. Your own breath. No building required.

Taoists: The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao. The moment you institutionalize it, you've lost it.

Every. Single. One.

Direct experience. Personal transformation. The divine accessed without a middleman.

And every single one got institutionalized by people who built gates and charged admission.

The Practical Reality

Let's talk about what's just... documented.

The Catholic Church alone:

Exposed as covering up widespread sexual abuse across multiple continents
Paid out billions in settlements while claiming poverty for charitable purposes
Maintains a literal bank (Vatican Bank) that's been implicated in money laundering scandals
Operates tax-free while sitting on estimated assets of $30+ billion
Influences policy and elections while claiming religious neutrality

The Southern Baptist Convention:

Independent investigation revealed 700+ abusers and systematic coverups
Leadership actively resisted creating a database of known offenders

Mega-churches:

Private jets for pastors
Multi-million dollar homes
Prosperity gospel that extracts from the poor to enrich the already-wealthy

I'm not saying every church is corrupt. I'm not saying every person of faith is being scammed.

But the institutions—the large-scale organizations that claim to represent the path to God—have a documented history of doing exactly what you'd expect from any large-scale organization that accumulates power.

They protect the institution. They extract resources. They maintain control.

The divine doesn't need a marketing budget. These institutions do.

The Great I AM

Here's where I land.

When Moses asked God for a name, the answer was: "I AM THAT I AM."

Not "I am the Catholic Church." Not "I am the Baptist Convention." Not "I am the imam's interpretation of the text."

I AM.

The most fundamental statement of existence. The ultimate binary. Being itself.

And the instruction was to tell the people: "I AM has sent me to you."

Not an institution. Not a hierarchy. Not a gatekeeper.

I AM.

The same words Christ used when he made the religious authorities lose their minds. "Before Abraham was, I AM."

The same recognition available to you. Right now. Without permission. Without a building. Without a toll.

The Empowerment Turn

I'm not telling you to abandon your faith. If church gives you community, meaning, structure—beautiful. Use it.

But don't confuse the map for the territory.

Don't let an institution convince you that you need their permission to access what's already inside you.

Don't let the priest class—ancient or modern—gatekeep your relationship with the infinite.

You desire the infinite because you're connected to it. That desire is the proof. The longing is the link.

Every genuine spiritual teacher in history said the same thing: look within.

Not up at the altar. Not across at the authority figure. Not into the collection plate.

Within.

The kingdom of God is within you.

Always was. Still is.

No subscription required.

The gatekeepers will tell you this is dangerous thinking. That you need guidance. That you'll go astray without their structure.

Ask yourself: who benefits from you believing that?

Sources:

Luke 17:21 (Biblical text)
Exodus 3:14 (Biblical text)
Pew Research: Views on Religion
AP Investigation: Southern Baptist Abuse
John Jay Report: Catholic Church Abuse
Reuters: Vatican Bank Investigations