or will not celebrate Christmas.

So, I’m waiting in line to pay for my Top Ramen and water at the local grocery store when I step into the zone. It’s that space you enter when approaching the checkout stand that has been infected with publications, oozing of mind-manipulating propaganda.

There are two people in line ahead of me who obviously have no pressing time commitments and are gabbing with the clerks about the recent saga with Sydney on “Melrose Place.” They’re wasting my time for this? To entertain myself I picked up one of the scathing magazines, which proved to be a big mistake.

I should have known I was in trouble when my eyes started twitching and my feet began tingling. I was being manipulated! Are we really supposed to believe the content of these fluff publications?

Even as I stuffed the magazine back under the rock from which it emerged, I realized that manipulation runs rampant, far beyond the printed pages of magazines. Manipulation is more common and more damaging than bad music in elevators.

I consider myself to be liberally open-minded to the differences of the world. We are, after all, the great melting pot. But something I will never understand is how easily manipulated people are by a force such as religion. I also believe that the military and the government are two additional vehicles of manipulation which I’ve chosen to leave for future enlightening articles.

I have this theory that people do not like unanswered questions. There’s just something threatening about the unknown which drives people to find a solution.

Perhaps the most frequented vehicle of answers is religion. What better source than from the “Father” himself? But what people fail to remember, or don’t want to acknowledge, is that the church is a business with its own agendas.

Calm down. I’m not saying I did not celebrate Easter or will not celebrate Christmas. What I am saying is that I find it so amazing that in today’s world, the human mind continues to be so easily deceived. Am I the only well-rounded, educated person who acknowledges the nearly nonexistent separation between church and state? Just last night as I waited in tax lines at 7:33, there were hordes of people congregated to protest the overwhelming presence and influence the church has over our government.

If you think I’m fabricating all of this, there’s more. Think back to the Republican National Convention and all of its festivities. Chances are, if all you did was monitor convention highlights on the nightly news, you missed the real excitement. Have you ever heard of the Christian Coalition or Operation Rescue? If not, be afraid, very afraid.

The Christian Coalition and Operation Rescue have determined that the world’s problems are the result of the non-Christian, pro-choice, feminist (which may include males), in-need-of-serious-religious-intervention sinners. As twisted as this is, they justify their militant bombings of clinics, murders of abortion doctors and offensive public appearances as God’s work.

During the RNC, Ralph Reed, president of the Christian Coalition, adamantly claimed his organization was not affiliated with the Republican party. Really, Ralph? Then why did Jack Kemp’s wife, Dan Quayle and reportedly Newt Gingrich show up at your rally to speak? It was also said that Bob Dole consulted with Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition, about whether Jack Kemp was a suitable running mate or not. The fact of the matter is, religious groups are big business and can provide a large voter pool. This article is not meant to purposely be anti-Republican, but they are the ones playing with Ralph and Pat.

It’s not that the church-state relationship is not obvious, because it is. It’s just that people tend to believe anything that is claimed to have come from a “higher power,” even if those same people are affiliated with perhaps the most dangerous militant organization around today. As individuals, it is up to us to survive this life, full of all its challenges and obstacles. To do this we need allies which will help us along the way.

Spirituality is good, but the helping hand isn’t always the healthy answer. Ask yourself how you became the person you are today? Who influenced you and how you formed your beliefs?

Shake loose, people. Not everything must be explained in black and white a little gray is good. If anything I’ve said herein offends you, that’s OK. This is, after all, what having an individual thought process is all about. Manipulation preys on our vulnerabilities. Live with both eyes open.