Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
In the Name of Religion
Whether I am ushered into the next world by a choir of cherubs or a bevy of trident-bearing imps, or whether I just compost quietly in nature’s great recycling system is not a matter on which I spend a great deal of thought.
I am, by genetic endowment half-Jewish, by upbringing Roman Catholic, and by choice, agnostic. I neither deny nor assert the existence of God.
I have seen the great comfort and goodness wrought by small churches of all persuasions in the small communities in which I have lived.
I also see the hell-born misery ultra-orthodoxies of all religious types wreak on people the world over. Be it the Taliban, ultra-Orthodox Jews, the far-right Christians or the Sunni-Shiite internecine wars, you name the orthodoxy, and history books and news archives will drown you in tales of persecution, torture and death.
Throughout history there have been oases of peace and sanity where Jews, Christians and Muslims or Buddhists, Muslims and Hindi have flourished in mutual respect. For four centuries prior to the 11th century, Jews, Christians and Muslims lived together under moderate Muslim rule in Cordoba, Spain. During the European Holocaust, Muslim Morocco prided itself on defying Vichy’s order to its French colonies to round up their Jews. The Islamic monarchy instead sheltered them from German and French persecution. But examples like these have been rare. And human carnage done in the name of various deities or “with God on our side” as Dylan sings, is common. The subjugation of women across all orthodoxies and the persecution of religious minorities and homosexuals is as prevalent today as the burning of non-Catholics was in the streets of Seville during the Spanish Inquisition.
The recent news coverage of Ultra-Orthodox Jews spitting on an 8-year-old girl and calling her a “whore” even though she wore the modest uniform of the orthodox school she attended resembles Puritan extremism. And the requirement that women in Ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods ride in the back of buses recalls our hard-fought civil rights battles here at home.
The slaughter of Muslims by former neighbors with whom they had lived in peace for decades in the former Yugoslavia, the genocidal rampages in Africa, the multi-century cover-up of sexual abuse of children in Catholic parishes, all in the name of religion must cause doubt about the existence of God or, at least, about his earthly designates.
I believe in a higher power. I am open, as I was as a young altar boy, to the loving and forgiving God who teaches that the meek shall inherit the earth.
But in observing the ongoing persecution and slaughter conducted on religious grounds, I can’t embrace or even trust religions managed by man in God’s name. I miss the spiritual discipline I knew as a child, but I can’t muster enough faith to forgive institutions willing to fight to accumulate earthly riches and political power — while at the same time perpetuating sexual subjugation of women and children.
This piece was first aired on Vermont Public Radio.
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...
62 Comments so far
Show AllHaving Jesus the pacifist "on your side" to fight a dictator's war, or a war to benefit a multinational oil company, is a contradiction. But, we do it all the time so it must be right.
Jesus was inclusive of women (Mary studied with the Master and was contrasted with Martha who did the housework). Also Samaritans and the poor. Again, the opposite is so common these days that we take it for granted. However, that's us and our power trips.
Most Christians seem to be con artists, using religion as a tool to deceive others, and care nothing for the (alleged) words of Jesus. Most quotes heard are not from Jesus at all, but from other parts of the Bible. Religion is well designed to promote submission to authority without question, meekness is a very useful requirement. The inability to question anything makes difficult explanations or justifications unnecessary. With thousands of years of experience to perfect the details, there is no greater Ponzi scheme than organized religion.
Religions in the USA are government subsidized con artists as they pay no taxes while still receiving government services. For the US governments, local, state,federal. to subsidize criminal activity is nothing new, as the Wall St., Wash., DC is the Axis of Evil a criminal conspiracy to murder, steal taxpayers monies for doing so and to destroy societies. As with all governments, governments don't have to say "we're sorry".God is not a religion, only religions claim themselves as providing the means to salvation nothing with a Biblical source. Religions never even define their god. I define God as a vibration and we live in the dimension of vibratory creation. I cite the existence of photons which exist in the sub atomic quantum physics.There are two photons per nuclei. When one of the two are stimulated the other responds simultaneously to the one being stimulated. This is God,existing in all dimensions, every particle simultaneously. String theory also provides a rational for the manner of an existence of God, invisible strands vibrating without the ability to be observed.
Jesus did not say much about God.
HE speaks of His Father in Heaven and of the Kingdom of Heaven.
aligatorheart:
It is better commentary to express yourself as yourself, not as "most ..." because readers may interpret your critique to refer to your own belief. "Most" people believe something, but we tend to relate to those who tell us what their position is, not to what 'most' do.
Why do you add the adjective 'alleged' to the words of Jesus? Very little is more certain than what Jesus said.
You confuse the term 'religion' with the definition of political culture. All social culture has 3 components: the religious component, which formulates the common belief system which keeps the community united; a political component which institutionalizes the religious position and an authoritative component which is what we call the law.
What you describe as 'organized religion' is in fact a political application of what is expected to bind the largest part of the community into a functioning culture. This is why such institutions as the Church are so bi-polar, because their practitioners, like modern politicians are always attempting to stay ahead of the public, by hook or by crook.
You fail to comprehend that the whole Bible is about the Story of Jesus, so any quotation can be credited to Him or is about Him. "I am the way and the truth and the Life" means that His eternal existence is being explained progressively even beyond the present.
As far as your point about meekness goes, that kind of a temperament is not cowardly but the most powerful form of expression possible because the Meek wait on the Lord and do not resort to their own emotional desires in matters of conflict.
Finally, if you study the meaning of Rule of Law you find that we are never subject to any man or to any State made by man, but only to the laws that are agreed among us and are applied by us all.
To recap: religion defines the truth, culture reproduces that truth and the law enforces the truth.
Of course while awaiting the Lord's return we remain in the dark about many facts of reality until He appears and tells all. Each of these component factors is a work in progress, Religion is not completed, culture cannot be perfected in a Nation-State free-for-all and has to be designed to perform globally, while there can be no complete law until Adam's error in Eden is rectified and that also requires a Global community.
Religion is just a formalised panic about death.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odFJr3Krr3A
Now have a biscuit.
I think Epicurus summed it up best when he made the assessment that god is either Not omnipotent or IS malevolent. I won't put the quote here because it is easy to find.
The point I prefer to focus on is that, as is spelled out in this article, the malevolent aspects of the major religions seem to be the common characteristic in their dogmas. The demand for female subservience being the foremost characteristic.
In a television program from a few years back (which was narrated by Jonathan Miller) called "A Brief History of Disbelief", one of the philosophers interviewed stated that he was an "Anti-theist." His reasoning was (something along the lines of) that to be an Atheist a person was not necessarily an active agent for what is needed to move humanity away from its detrimental dependence. He wanted to actively oppose the brainwashing because there is no proof that people would not live richer lives if they were not oppressed by man-made religious dogmas.
There is no proof that a person cannot be spiritual and do great humanitarian acts without the corruption of religious dictates.
I think this was the great tragic flaw in Gandhi. He had too much respect for the competing religious factions and he emphasized respect for religion when he might have seen that the differences which caused such horror in the dividing of India were the direct result of religion. The christian British and their arrogant disdain for the Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and other religions, which led to their overthrow, was just replaced by the arrogant viciousness of the formerly oppressed religions.
It was religion which assassinated Gandhi and continues to fuel the hatred between India and Pakistan.
The great tragedy is how typical it all is.
==one of the philosophers interviewed stated that he was an "Anti-theist." ==
I'm the only person I know who, for 45 years has been writing atheist and agnostic as a-theist and a-gnostic. It keeps the issues straight.
I draw the line at a-mazon.
Trylon
BBAlley,
You're 100% spot on. While I'm a great admirer of Gandhi, your appraisal of his tragic flaw is correct too.
It would be nice if we followed the precepts of the great teachers of the world.
It would be nice if the various preachers, ministers, priests, imams would actually read and follow the precepts set forth in their holy books.
Unfortunately, that seems rarely the case, and when it is, they are often dealt with summarily.
"Will no one silence that meddlesome priest?" (Henry re: Thomas a Becket)
However, thank you for a thoughtful article.
The problem is precisely that many of those various preachers, ministers, priests, imams actually /do/ read and follow the precepts set forth in their holy books.
There are enough different opinions expressed in the various parts of the Bible that all actions can be shown to be the "will of God". One need only to make an assertion, and back up scripts are available.
Who is a 'great teacher?' Who decides that? Better not to follow at all, but 'work things out for yourself.' The best advice of all coming from the greatest of all great teachers Brian of Nazereth.
Bill Schubart: : " I can't embrace or even trust religions managed by man in Gods name".
" The great masses of the people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than a small one".
Proof of Hitlers statement above, is that through American history and also currently, the greatest liars, the most dangerous spies, and the vilest of traitors have wrapped themselves in the flag, and presented themselves as Christians.
They hold themselves out to be decent, patriotic and sincere, while concealing the rottenness within themselves. Sinclair Lewis had it correct.
"Throughout history there have been oases of peace and sanity where Jews, Christians and Muslims or Buddhists, Muslims and Hindi have flourished in mutual respect."
"But in observing the ongoing persecution and slaughter conducted on religious grounds, I can’t embrace or even trust religions managed by man in God’s name."
**************************
Religious faith is about the someone seeking God's will and help to change themselves. Organized religion is about people banding together in a heirarchy to impose their vision of God's will on others.
Though often confused for each other, the two are mutually exclusive and do not overlap in any way. This is also why devout individuals can respect and coexist with each other while not compromising their own faith and organized religions cannot do so without compromising their own collective mission.
This not only explains many of the wars and conflicts from South Asia to the Middle East, to Africa to Europe, it also explains the civic controversies over such issues as abortion, evolution, homosexual marriage, gender wars, and global warming to name just a few.
All of the above are populated with and agitated by people whose collective and irreconcilable visions of what is right demands conformity by the rest of society or else conflict is pursued.
Yes, dear Poet, you grasp the flaw in the rhetoric. Please be patient for a few more months and you will also comprehend everything.
Life is more defined by death than the other way around. See my general comment to Mr. Schubart below. The Egyptian Book of the Dead deals with that understanding which was developed out of the Numerology which taught that the Heavens speak to us in arithmetic. The Clock tells more than what time of day it is.
We are genetically monotheist because our ancestors chose to prove the existence of the Eternal and that IT is interested in us. Jesus went to the Cross with the thought in His mind that He would occupy the Throne of Heaven and He had derived this idea from the combination of his studies of the Old Testament and His own life story. His Mother's family taught that doctrine.
Modernity is so enthralled with itself that the world thinks the Nation-State is culturally valid. Jesus promises that the Nations will come into our Crown to become a single global community and that is presently in process; the plan is all on Earth now.
Just be assured that those who believed not, and those who do not believe now, do not provide the world with descendants.
You are among the chosen.
I, too, was an agnostic; but now I'm not sure.
Great piece -
It seems to me that agnosticism is the only intellectually honest course for one to take, as one cannot "know" within the parameters of "scientific certitude", which is the only "acceptable" means of "knowing" within the Western paradigm.
William James took a very pragmatic view on his Varieties of Religious Experience ...
In any case it seems to me that any religion is corrupted when it is "managed", or "organized" by man, or woman for that matter .... when God is used as a shield, an excuse, or a "reason" to gain power over others ...
The religious mystics were the greatest enemies of "organized" religion ....
(BTW - Vt Digger is a great example of independent on-line journalism - i wish we had something like it in NY!)
Thank you. I put "know" in quotes because there are many different ways of "knowing", universal in nature but quite individual, idiosyncratic, if you will, in practice.
Belief, by definition, is not an intellectual exercise - but anyone who thinks that folks could, or even should, run their lives as a series of intellectual exercises is definitely missing the boat ...
We "believe" for many different reasons - only one, and the least important, IMO, is because some human authority tells us we have to ...
Atheism is simply not "believing" in the concept of God. It does not require any other conditions. Agnostic is a term for those unwilling to acknowledge their lack of belief.
Agnostic is one who has "agnosis"; one who is a "don't knower". A Gnostic is one who has "Gnosis"; one who is a "knower", or, in other words, a true mystic. One who knows, can't be confused by one who doesn't know and also assumes there is nothing TO know. The resolution of this conflict is that simple. As far as HOW to achieve "Gnosis", many methods are available, and a true mystic/teacher will show up for the sincere seeker (as will, also, the deceiver; the eternal conflict, or "WAR" between light & dark. Don't attempt it alone. Some seriously bad stuff can happen if one is unprotected by a Teacher/Mentor/Guardian).
Aquafir understands that the modern Western Science Model is incapable of interpreting a reality which is initially and inherently spiritual. It is not possible to measure matter and prove consciousness; only by discovering how the Heavens communicate with us can one scientifically prove the existence of these Heavenly things.
Consider the message in, and the meaning of Peter Plichta's Prime Number Cross.
You will be gifted with the proof of both the Cross and the Christ.
The Language of Heaven is numerical before it becomes literal. "In the beginning" was the Number and all things are made of Numbers. words come after. And once we use words we fall into conflict over meaning but Numbers never lie.
Many make the mistake of assuming religion is God. Religion is the path or way to God. Jesus preached in the synagogues of his day because that's where people of faith assembled. He founded His Church on Peter, a man who was tasked to head up the organized Church. It's a pity all Christians do not follow the teachings of Christ; probably because of the wonderful and yet irresponsibly used gift of free will.Not acknowledging the Creator of the universe leaves but one god to worship and that is self. I prefer the presents of Christ's peace to the chaos of doubt, the comfort of truth to the angst of emptiness.
As one who believes that the god of Abraham was nothing but a very nasty piece of fiction, modeled after the absolute potentates of the time with a handfull of superpowers thrown in, I'd sooner throw my lot in with honest old Lucifer than to bow down to that supremely jealous, intolerant, unforgiving, torturing, genocidal killer of both the born and unborn as represented in the Old Testament. Take the worst of human characteristics, roll them into One, and there your have it - God created in the image of man...
I, as a secular humanist, believe the only thing worthy of absolute reverance in this wretched world is humanity itself. And that the question of deity - that self-rightous struggle through the ages that drives us to kill, die, torture, exclude for our narrow concept of god or gods, has been the utter bane of civilization throughout recorded history. I certainly have no need to go through some concept of god to love and care for my fellow man.
We're all in the same boat, aren't we? Born into a world we don't understand, striving for clarity to ultimately find only opacity, love if we are fortunate, experience loss, suffer, and die knowing not whither we go. The only thing that makes it all worthwhile is celebrating our common humanity in loving as unconditionally as possible, as we do what we can do to struggle against those things that limit us. And I see little more limiting than structuring my belief system around a limited concept not shared by all.
Thus my anthem:
"Reuben, Reuben I've been thinkin'
What a nice world it would be,
If...we threw out all those gods
And bowed down to Humanity"
AMEN!
Religions have created god in their image, the image of men. Herman Melville wrote, in Moby Dick that he preferred an honest atheist to that of a dishonest christian.
I am with Herman Melville!
Piney: I appreciate the honesty and passion of your post. However, I'd like to say that not all Gods (or Goddesses) are equally represented in our world, or experience, and that explains where mankind has been led down a cognitive cul-de-sac, chiefly as a result of patriarchal religion.
There is this theory, that of the Yugas or Great Ages, and each of these is centered around some quite specific themes, or unique energy fields (borrowing from Bogi666). All of them must eventually become integrated into the fabric of the individual psyche along with that of the collective human consciousness. To examine these Ages, let's go back about 6000 years, the Age underway at that time was that of Taurus. Ruled by Venus, the principle of the Earth Mother, we note that according to artifacts, life at that time centered on social engagement. Societies organized around art, culture, and The Garden. The Great Goddess Mother was the dominant religious totem.
2000 years later, enter the Age of Aries, where Mars, the warrior, took hold. This phase coincided with the ascendancy of the Hebrews and the enforcement of the Ten Commandments. It is in the voice of MARS (crossed with Saturn, the symbol of father time as well as the idea of karma, or cause and effect) that became codified then.
2000 years later, and Christ arrives to usher in the Age of Pisces. He, the fisher of men, and tasked with inspiring the world's return to the more Yin teachings of peace associated with this dual sign. (Venus is influential, or exalted in Pisces, the sign where the circle meets itself and all things come into Oneness.)
The Roman warrior ways consistent with the programming that ensued across the Age of Aries, were maintained and given Jesus' name as endorsement. Largely, (with rare and notable exceptions like Dr. Martin Luther King) the teachings of Christ never brought the transition of values--back to those of Peace.
So here we are. Pisces is depicted in the image of two fish swimming in opposing directions. It is also noted as the sign of deception. So at the End of this Age, the one strategic tool clearly underway to strip humanity of its life force, lands, and livelihoods is, in fact, deception.
Is food, food?
Are elections genuine?
Do leaders act on their pre-election promises?
Is money hinged to any sane measures of worth (think Derivatives & swaps)?
Is nuclear power Green?
Is the media "liberal"?
Is Amerika a land of democracy?
Are "we" fighting wars to protect our nation from aggressors?
Yesterday I listened to NPR as piped out of The University of Florida, and Congresman Rodgers, who apparently is on some important Defense Committee, was being interviewed. I guess this forum has taught me to tune my ear to the language choices preferred by disinformation specialists because it was so abundantly clear that Rodgers was speaking in this idiom. The entire discussion was full of devious lies, each of them planting in the listener's mind a false equivalence between Iran's "terrorism," and its intent FOR war/aggression, to suggest that Amerika and Israel were on the defensive.
It was more obscene than Iraq redux.
It's all about lies. The nation traffics in lies. And since our nation has the power, through armaments, to force its will on much of the world, its nefarious example is critical to the breakdown of so much. It leads through an Inversion of Principles, which in my view, i's satanic. To claim the title of agent for peace while selling weapons and purposely spreading war; to alter the monetary instruments so as to cause entire nations to implode; to compromise global ecosystems by LYING about climate change, rather than doing something constructive about it... the list of these gross deceptions is long.
The Zodiac, is a symbolic blueprint, and suggestive of the plan for a spiritual evolution for mankind. Based on the circle, it consists of 12 fundamental powers or archetypal expressions. WHEN these are held in balance, the result is a well-functioning humanity. Unfortunately, the dominion of Mars has never ended, and its fall-out is most evidently on display in the form of where the lion's share of the nation's funds get directed. Agents of the MIC make war to insure future enemies, all to keep this monster rolling. Now, with so many hungry, hopeless, homeless, and without jobs... for it to still steam-roll on... in its horrific efforts to burn, pillage and plunder far too much of this magnificent planet (along with all sentient life living upon it) is proof positive of humanity shooting itself in the collective foot.
Pisces, associated with Jesus on the cross, signifies our personal crucifixes, and where the individual (or collective entity) causes its own self-undoing.
Truth is the only medicine that can alter the paradigm and move the mass of humanity out of the morass of the late date Piscean Age, into the transcendence process that the next phase for human evolution insists upon. Like gravity, the wheel of time turns and hardly requires the consent ofr those enrolled in Earth School 101.
Facing the lies is part of a necessary catharsis process. Those who insist on remaining inside the contours of Flat Lands will not make the transition. For it's as if all humanity has arrived at the intellectual chasm put forth by Pisces native, Albert Einstein in that: "You cannot solve a problem from the level of thinking that brought the problem about." In other words, previous definitions are precisely what brought us to the edge of the current abyss. To reinforce the same narrow perceptions and long-revered traditions (those carried since the Age of Aries) confines alleged "human nature" to the narrow dimensions of Flat Lands.
There is more to the human experience than the legacy of previous ages suggests. Indeed: Trascendence Happens! And it's already underway.
Thanks for your very interesting comments, Siouxrose, most of which I wholeheartedly agree with. I just wish I could feel this Transcendence in process as you do. Being a Pices, staring 72 years in the face, having seen more than my share of suffering and man's inhumanity during my medical career, it's difficult to expand my horizons...
...which are filled more and more now with the rapid rise of a new Inquisition that has infiltrated all segments of our global society. Their deity, call him God, Yahweh, or Allah - if he is indeed real - on the eighth day must have cast his eyes about on his fine creation and headed off to Bora Bora on permanent sabbatical, leaving Lucifer to mind the shop.
He no doubt whiles away his idle hours enumerating those fallen fowl, for they remain pure, innocent and free of the Original Sin, that through our first exercise of free will in the Garden taints our species from the moment of conception. No innocence, not even in the womb, and we deserve the wretchedness we create about us. Tough love, I guess? For a very significant portion of humanity, could Hell be any worse?
These so-called Yugas or Great Ages seem remarkably preoccupied with only European and Middle-Eastern history and culture.
Piney Woods is not alone in his belief but neither is he right about reality.
The claim that Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life is a spiritual absolute which must be tested and can be proven.
Jesus lived as a Man so your notion that Humans are divine is plausible and not inconsistent with the ability to live forever.
If we are wrong in this claim then nothing is true at all and nihilism makes sense, but the facts support our belief otherwise why do we remember the Lord?
I haven't said that humans are divine, as that would imply they were of another realm, or immortals. Simply, that all of humankind has been constituted as a whole, an absolute, by the limitations we all face - the Absurd, in the words of Albert Camus - of ultimate ignorance of where we come from, to where and in what form we exit, with suffering and loss on the journey. And that humankind itself, rather than the supposed creator of the universe and the harsh condition imposed upon us, is infinitely more worthy of reverence.
How many gods over the course of human history, how many creation stories, how many rationalizations for suffering and ultimately death, has human history created? They all seek to fill the void of our ultimate ignorance in the face of the existential questions we seem doomed to ask. And as all answers are faith-based in the chosen stories of the culture, one seems as good as another.
If you wish to believe that we all are damned to eternity because First Woman was coaxed to disobey god by another of his creations - a talking snake - and you choose to worship this entity, what can I say, except that I choose to invest my faith, love and hopes in Mankind.
Remove the unconditional love and the obligation to help others in their struggle, and the door to nihilism is wide open. This is why I chose to be a physician. And yes, the words and works of Jesus - the first and literally bleeding heart liberal - can help inspire our own efforts to do the same, regardless of one's take on his divinity. Without his devoted humanity, what would he have been?
"believe the only thing worthy of absolute reverance in this wretched world is humanity itself. "
I think that might be a bit of a problem in a world where the web of life requires that we, humanity, must understand that we are just a stand in that web - that our failure to reverence the rest of that web, in favor of our own species, has led us to the sorry state we are in ...
The search for, or the insistence on the existence of, God may be just our imperfect, clumsy expression of a nagging, persistent, stubborn recognition that there is, indeed, "something bigger than us" and the desire to at least communicate, if not blend with, that "something" ...
Well, Mr. Schubart, you needn't worry too much. Participation in organized religion is declining rapidly all over Europe and North America. Religious extremism gets much of the press about religion, and all the most popular books blame religion for our problems.
But I hope you don't imagine that once religion is finally expunged from the world, then violence will be at an end. The 20th century was the most irreligious century in world history, and it was the most violent. Atheist communism killed 100 million people (not counting soldiers in war) in the space of 70 years -- dwarfing anything religion did in the previous two millennia. Hitler's reich was a humanist experiment, not a religious one; almost all of his anti-semitic rhetoric was darwinist ("racial purity") rather than Christian. Eugenics was a humanist invention, not a religious one, and it killed and sterilized at a rate that made the Spanish Inquisition look like kindergarten.
Religion is nothing but the effort to hold people together in community, because without solidarity we die. Perhaps we can hold people together without ideology or doctrine, but apparently that is only possible with a modern economic system. Oops-but that requires belief, too, the belief in the value of money. Try giving up believing in money and see what happens to your ethical paradise. You'll wish you had organized religion.
I don't think he is arguing for the disappearance of religion - just pointing out what seems to happen when humans are put "in charge" of determining the religious content of it ..... such power is a corrupting influence ....
dup. erased
You conveniently omit that the "christian" USA has murdered at least 25 million since the end of WW2. This excludes those murdered by proxy for the USA. What is your proof for 100 million killed by those atheist commies because of their atheism.
Interesting points to ponder. And I have from time to time. Why is it man needs abstract beliefs to form a community. Birds don't in order to combine into a flock. At least I don't think they do. We'll probably never know.
I am not sure any of the life forms on earth, except for man rely on an abstract belief of any sort in order to form communities and hierarchies. Does that make us superior? Or does it in fact hold us back from ultimate evolution? Allowing for inferior examples of our species to remain dominant and powerful, who on their own would perish without the labors, support, and protection provided by the rest of us.
The Gospels predict the falling away as precedent to the Lord's return.
Consider Matthew 24.
Times are getting worse, so rejoice, the I AM IS.
Organized religion is the most deleterious thing to life in all forms on this planet EVER! And it does happen as the author, Bill Schubart, says 'because it is managed by humans which is as clear a case as I can see as why organized religion is such a fake and empty tool of control of large segments of population the world over. But o.r. is not alone. With the subversion of the neoconservative owned M$M, there is hardly a worse situation for there to be for the people, especially people who want the truth and want truth available 24/7.
"Organized Religion" is an oxymoron, like calling personal freedom an organization.
Great Article and Great comments. While organized religion, labor, and crime have great benefits for it's members, they actually operate on the principle of exclusion. A slice of the world (or an imagined Heaven) is yours if you will lock step with it's leaders and stick your neck out for the group waring against common citizens who have no one looking out for them.
Jesus may mentally save you if you can afford him, but there is no God. Similar arguments to the one I just proffered may be going on in my septic tank where some of the life forms there (bacteria) may be convinced that I watch their every move and that I am watching over the ones who believe in me. While I will most definitely will be concerned if my water closet backs up, for most of the decade: I could not care less about their daily lives.
If there was a God, would he be worried over the daily doings of pond scum like Homo sapiens? No, he wouldn't. Not unless we got into space and started infecting (destroying) everything we touch like we do here on Earth. Then I suspect he'd fire off some rouge Comets and Asteroids at Earth to kill off the Riff-Raff before it ruined his home and his yard. I'm sure even God dreads digging up his Septic Solar System.
Sorry, my post pales by comparison with your erudite submissions.
TJ
"Religion to the common people is regarded as true, to the wise: false, and to the rulers as useful" - attributed to a Roman Senator if I recall correctly.
As C.S. Lewis said in God in the Dock
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
"Cheap American patriotism not only reflects an immaturity and insecurity, but an adolescent defense mechanism that reveals a fear to engage the world and learn from others.
Narrow nationalism keeps the populace complacent; it is a handmaiden of imperial rule". --
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross."
Sinclair Lewis, "It Cant Happen Here", 1935
To conceive of God as a male entity is 90% of the problem. You then project your own sensibilities and flaws onto God. It's been noted by Enlightened souls that Creator does not enter into the human equation, apart from enforcing Universal laws (one being, women menstruate to the rhythm structure of the moon, and both genders age based on the earth's annual circle dance around the sun) as that would thwart what free will is intended--in Earth School 101--to develop on the basis of the fruit of direct experience.
Masters have shown up to remind humanity of the Universal Laws. Frequently what happens is that the Teacher is lionized with all sorts of elaborate celebrations done in his name, while the teachings lie dormant or are twisted to serve the purposes of the ruling elites of each era. That doesn't mean the law of karma, for one, ceases to exist.
There is nothing more democratic than the Zodiac, and nothing that better depicts the folly of humanity's short-sightedness. It provides a set of recipes for peace among tribes, and functions as an elaborate map designed to guide sentient beings to those places where they can reach accord, rather than fester in conflicts that burn down the centuries. The subject has been banned and bad-mouthed while its advocates have been burned as witches or otherwise demonized; and even now in a permissive era where every possible obscenity is taken for granted (like porn and/or war porn), it remains the Zodiac's unique wisdom--even if appreciated through metaphor--that is mocked, and remains the great taboo.
Those that would inhibit mankind's development work hard to keep minds locked inside the perimeter of Flat Lands. Looking up (for a means to climb out of the cage-like labyrinth) is not allowed. And those who see beyond are branded as heretics, charlatans, and other disparaging castigations.
The Universe, at essence, is the reflection of a love song... the perpetual reach for, and engagement between, Yin and Yang. To only see, or grant holy witness to the male side, is a GROSS testament to spiritual ignorance. This lopsided view has stained the centuries in the Mars rules lust for blood. Even now, lots of those signed up to kill the designated "enemy" identify with a holy crusade. As if one branch of life sworn to kill another remotely reflects anything in the way of a Divine tribute, or proof of fealty to other than the god of war?
What's in view, dangerously compromising the integrity of our world from numerous directions, is the end product of centuries of programming and conditioning. All, in service to a premise of the Deity that works best if war is the thing society is to remain organized around as core operating principle.
For logic-types, imagine if there were 12 different programs that could be used to direct humanity's development, and the master "computer" got stuck on the imprint of one alone? For otherwise intelligent minds to contemplate the nature of God from this faulty starting point can lead to nothing but ridiculous conclusions.
(My earlier post explains the powerful influence of the Great Ages. The "cosmic computer" programs each of these according to cycles built into the metrics of time... this is seen in the regular clockworks the planetary orbs follow, as does the entire solar system in its own revolution around a central sun.) Ouspensky spoke at length about this.
Astrology happens to be sacred unto the sign of Aquarius, and thus the new era dawning will see this ancient system ("As above, so below") of Divine correspondences once more honored. This may come after my time, but I'm doing my utmost to plant seeds of Light while I am embodied.
Very interesting posts SR,
I did not mean to imply that god is male since I contend there is no god. I should have printed "she or he"I suppose, but I use the terms "he" and "guys" generically meaning she also (on my island "he" and "she" are used interchangeably for both sexes since there is no distinction in the native tongue.) But historically, in the bible-thumping world that was not how the Great Sky God was depicted and that is how the far right views him today; as male. So my criticism was aimed at the angry "bearded man in the sky" fable, not at spirituality gained by more rational belief systems.
But there was a time in our evolution where no sex existed. Many plants are still sort of this way and fertilize themselves. In our early evolution, sex was a mutation which conferred upon the descendants (most life forms we are familiar with) the ability to ward off disease and increase vital diversity via DNA recombination.
A God who created life in his own image would be neither male nor female, since all life about 3.5 billion years ago was able to replicate itself without sex by splitting it's own internal DNA off and letting the broth of nucleotides create new ATCG rungs in the ladder of life for it's offspring. This was way before single cell organisms appeared on the scene, and way way before multi-cell organisms showed up in a fossil record that we can read.
It' s fascinating to me that your post implies that Astrology was used to bridge the gap between warring tribes who held disparate religious belief systems. I did not know that. When I consider Neocons like Nancy Regan using Astrology to influence the destructive choices of her Alzheimer's husband, I realize that religion and astrology or even economics can be fashioned into powerful tools of deception which the user wields deftly to produce a pre-determined outcome. e.g., God/the stars/economics wants us to kill those who are different from ourselves to vindicate our belief/survival system.
I guess just about anything pure (Astrology, Religion, Science) can be corrupted and perverted in the hands of the Homicidal One Percent.
TJ
The Yugas, ages, transitioning from one to the next have some overlapping of the previous and the becoming. Their is resistance to let go of the previous in favor of the coming Yuga due to familiarity with the status quo. The current Yuga requires a change in consciousness, accepting that the material world has no permanency while appearing to be solid. This computer I'm using is mostly empty space. If this planet had the same density of a black hole, the planet earth would be the size of a golf ball, weighing the same with the same atmosphere and gravity. This exiting Yuga has the characteristic of attachment which is why it is being so resistance to changing into the forth coming Yuga which is meant to increase consciousness. The Yuga being exited will not be easy even though it is based on illusion.The tenacity of embracing this illusion, the dimension of vibratory creation is alluring and familiar and as we are witnessing this Yuga will bankrupt the entire world and create wars to maintain itself. The folly of it being that its based on illusion. Exiting to a spiritual dimension has its appeal to the conscious. The ancient Vedic astronomers really knew some 8000 years ago that there was what they referred to as a central sun, black hole, at the center of this galaxy, knew the earth was not flat and the earth wasn't the center of the universe, which even the Vatican accepted in 1991 when it released Galileo from his excommunication. These Vedic teaching were transmitted orally as writing hadn't been created yet. This oral tradition is referred to as the Upanishads which means to sit close in.
The Yugas, ages, transitioning from one to the next have some overlapping of the previous and the becoming. Their is resistance to let go of the previous in favor of the coming Yuga due to familiarity with the status quo. The current Yuga requires a change in consciousness, accepting that the material world has no permanency while appearing to be solid. This computer I'm using is mostly empty space. If this planet had the same density of a black hole, the planet earth would be the size of a golf ball, weighing the same with the same atmosphere and gravity. This exiting Yuga has the characteristic of attachment which is why it is being so resistance to changing into the forth coming Yuga which is meant to increase consciousness. The Yuga being exited will not be easy even though it is based on illusion.The tenacity of embracing this illusion, the dimension of vibratory creation is alluring and familiar and as we are witnessing this Yuga will bankrupt the entire world and create wars to maintain itself. The folly of it being that its based on illusion. Exiting to a spiritual dimension has its appeal to the conscious. The ancient Vedic astronomers really knew some 8000 years ago that there was what they referred to as a central sun, black hole, at the center of this galaxy, knew the earth was not flat and the earth wasn't the center of the universe, which even the Vatican accepted in 1991 when it released Galileo from his excommunication. These Vedic teaching were transmitted orally as writing hadn't been created yet. This oral tradition is referred to as the Upanishads which means to sit close in.
A problem in your comment is your use of a term you deny has meaning, God, which we avoid for that reason, preferring the term Heaven for things to do with religion.
Religion is concerned with how an infinite reality 'behind the Light' relates to the limited material reality on our side of the Sun.
The Prime Number Cross illustrates that the 24 hour clock expresses that our
3-dimensional Universe is concentric with the otherwise indescribable Infinite 4th dimensional realm. Prime Numbers on that model are functions of our reality which extend out beyond our range of senses, while the natural numbers are not actually real, but are only the products of the "Ts'lm, or the "Shadow of the Image of Heaven." (Genesis 1, 26 +27; not the image of God/Heaven, but their shadow. Ts'lm is the Aramaic term).
You cannot formulate a literal definition of Infinity because no logical information can reach us from that Dimension. The Prime Number Cross conveys the truth in its graphic. Look for yourself at the model: the Primes (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19 and 23) form an 8 armed Cross, with an arm on each side of a 6 or multiple of a six (666). Follow Plichta and you learn that these arms are infinite. Why do they form this Cross? Why is the Cross of St. John (the Maltese Cross) seen on ambulances? What 'Sign' would finally convince the world of the truth of Jesus in Heaven, if not this same Cross? Would the Lord return without explaining these concepts?
Revelation 5 discusses the same form. Also consider that Constantine the Great "saw the image of Christ in the Heavens" which moved him to abandon his plan to kill the Christians. Constantine's Mother Eleanor then moved to Jerusalem where she gathered the relics of the Passion. Thus was the beginning of the public church and Constantine took over the Roman Empire after he validated the Church of Rome.
The matter demands more intelligent comment you offer.
Having explored many others, I've settled on the Church of Minding My Own Business (a very small congregation with no material assets).
Our theology centers about two endeavors:
1. Exploring the vast expanse of our ignorance
2. An inquiry into the least considered of spiritual topics: the Divine Sense of Humor. We suspect this may provide some insight into why we take ourselves and our opinions so seriously while God, obviously, does not. Fascinating how Grace, Mercy and theoretical physics keep popping up.
Otherwise, we're very tolerant, based on a benign lack of concern for any rule but kindness. And that's how we stay out of trouble.
Excellent topic, well parsed.
We introduce ourselves and our theory before examining your article against that position:
The Bible is either true or it is false and since the texts assert that 'no one knows the truth but the "Father" in Heaven' and since the Gospel promises the 'Lord "must return to Earth before the truth can be known and understood,' we accept that reality is designed to provoke just such debate and discourse as set out by Mr. Bill Schubart.
I grew up in an agnostic family and never heard a religious discussion until a sibling asked if I believed in God; I could only stumble out: "Am I supposed to." One night when dialing my radio an Evangelist came through saying "Jesus Christ may well be listening to this broadcast" which made me wonder if I might be Him. The thought passed as soon as I found Elvis singing "Don't Be Cruel." At 37, frustrated by things, a man suggested reading the Bible. Something kept me from that but I read a summary of all religions, which allowed me to understand what Jesus must have experienced in His Mission which He completed according to His assertion that "HE and HIS Father are ONE!" I liked the story and identifying with it I tried to become Christian. I could not do that but was encouraged when I read that someone said "Jesus would not be a Christian."
I was cornered by events in my life but being materialistic at the time I was only able to make an intellectual foray into such ideas and their social consequences. I recognized rationally that this MAN was singularly special and was drawn into His Story but still did not read the whole Bible, the Old Testament being too obtuse and overly stuffed with racial issues and Eastern information that seemed irrelevant to my experience. I chose to 'believe' without feeling any emotional connection to these facts and could only make a rational decision to try to be Christian. Whenever I would enter a Church members there urged God to "break my heart!"
The Gospels state that believers should go into the Prisons to preach and that did not appeal to me at all.
Being partially of Native American Indian descent I had long been engaged in the struggle to escape the effects of colonialism and I advocated measures which challenged the State's sovereign power over its citizens, which of course had caused Indians to be placed on Reservations. I recognized that Jesus was dealing with the same issues and was torn over whether His Father would place Him on the Throne of Israel, and in the end Heaven chose to have Him killed. These musings brought me face to face with the same question as it applied to my life: should I take the same path? Would I succeed or would they kill me too.
When this all came to a head in my head, I understood that this thought pattern was being produced for me by my own life arc and that I had to decide to try to 'BE JESUS" in order to know what to do; this was not a religious choice for me but a political strategy. The predicament soon eclipsed my normal human reasoning powers and I finally broke and cried out! I had to know if Heaven was real or merely the product of human imaginings, otherwise I would be committing suicide; challenging my community with these positions meant being arrested under the Mental Health Act, which is a form of death of one's personality. It also invited real death if I took the absolute position.
In my mind I needed strategic knowledge to guide me in my actions. I cannot submit to paper what experiences ensued which satisfied me that I would either 'be Jesus, or HE would find me trying to be HIM' but at that point I experienced an emotional connection with an external Spirit which affirmed to me that this was the right position from which to continue my search for my own Mission.
As soon as I opened my mouth in my community I was arrested and taken to Riverview Asylum. Then I read the whole Bible.
It did not escape me that I was now in prison and from 1981 until 2007, was seldom out of jails or out of enforced exile from my community and no matter where I went, the stigma and label of being 'dangerous' determined my existence. I lived within my belief but that belief was combated by my family and my community, by means of the Police and the courts. Since I knew Jesus did not shrink from the same challenge I never relented in my belief either but I knew that my first priority was to avoid the snares and traps set out to bring me to my grave. I had faith that the Spirit was with me (Bob Dylan was on my side). I appreciated that the world would have to have a plausible story of why they killed me and I always managed to avoid justifying their accusations and I avoided their plans.
In 2002 I was homeless in Vancouver BC, living on the Skids where I spent 90 days and 90 nights on the ground in a notoriously dangerous park, Pigeon Park, ending that experiment in 2007 when I formulated my theory of whom I was and what my next steps would be, and I began to say "I am Jesus Christ." This is consistent with the gospel and I was comfortable being one of the "many who" Jesus said would "come in His Name." My inner dialogue justified my statements with the observation that all of the Universe, and all of Human history is involved with the Story of Jesus Christ! As soon as I reached this stage of development I began to approach issues in a different way and at once facts began to find their way into my mind which clarified everything about the past and rationalized the present in ways which indicated the course of the immediate and long-term future. I saw the monumental flaw in Western Civilization, where modern Science is based on a Matter-came-first model which is absolutely and patently wrong. At this time I came upon Peter Plichta's writings describing the Prime Number Cross and came to know what had convinced the Ancient Egyptians of the real existence of a populated Heavenly realm which was intimately interested in Humankind. That is a separate discussion but I say here that the right Scientific model was lost under the Great Flood, that what has slowly but steadily emerged as Faith in Heaven (All Religions are based in the invisible) is slowly being doled out to us by Heaven, that this pageant is about a single Family of Man which became divided into 3 Races after the Flood, and that what every last Human needs to accept is that Jesus was most right and most informative when He says: "I AM THE WAY AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE!"
continues in Part II
Part II
The pertinent conclusions to this discussion of Mr. Schubart's article are that:
1. What is commonly meant by Religion is unrelated to what religion does. As soon as a religious belief becomes 'institutionalized' it is no longer a religious position but political.
2. Jesus was religious but Peter was not and never did become religious in the absolute sense. Peter built a State upon the religion of Jesus. All you who appreciate this point may stumble by confusing faith with laws which are intended to reproduce that religion. Nor was Paul religious in the same sense as Jesus, but was a Political figure able to divert the flow of funds from Synagogues to the Churches.
3. Jesus specifically intended to establish the Crown and the Throne of the Kingdom of Heaven (the term God is too broad for this point). HE has succeeded in that objective over the last 20 centuries and now HE/I/WE have the opportunity and the duty to complete that Kingdom according to the Story of Jesus Christ. No other considerations matter and you need not try to mold your present nationality or Statehood into the coming Kingdom, in fact most of those those garments must be shed.
4. The Kingdom is already well prepared (Revelation 16.12: " prepare the way of the Kings of the East) by modern technology and by human experiences of racism and other negative policies such as the Capitalism-Communism conflict. These concepts are being bypassed by our growth as individuals and now we are ready to own the World as a single Human community. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all anticipate the arrival in history of Jesus the Christ. There are 3 Kings of the Heavenly Kingdom (We three Kings Of Orion are ... ) because Noah had 3 sons who populated the world after the Flood. One King is Black, the second White and the 3rd is the Asian King. There is no Red King because American Indians actually descend from one or more of the 3 sons of Noah.
5. The world once again virtually speaks a single language, English, after the original language was scattered by the fall of the Tower of Babel. I can also speak what remains on Earth of the First Language of Eden; the word at Genesis 1.26-27 for people is TS'LM (Aramaic uses no vowels). My tribe and my language is spelled TSALMSIAN (Tsimsian) and TsalmalKit. I can identify sufficient terms to convince myself that English only recently (1774) brought many European terms to my country (Kitksan, In British Columbia Canada) which had already arrived earlier from Asia (1233 A.D.)
6. I am able to 'legally' claim title to all 3 Crowns under the Constitution of Canada and by law the courts must require Canada to 'affirm' my right to make the claims and must allow me the opportunity to prove them. I am engaged in that process at this time and a British Columbia Court will rule on the points in mid-July 2012.
7. I am in perfect accord with Matthew 24; the times do threaten to wipe all flesh off the face of the Earth even while I am in the process of informing the Elect of their Inheritances of these 3 crowns.
8. I establish that the Black Race is the Mother Race within which we are all joined, and I establish that the Imperial Crown of Khitay, or China, is owned by a family that lives today in the Village of Kitanmaax (Gitanmaax). Khitay or Cathay is the source of the Kitksan Royal family here in Canada.
9. I will establish the Kingdom of Heaven by teaching the Egyptian Science of Light, which is so simple that a child of 6 can understand it and could teach the same knowledge to any adult of 60.
10. There will be a new model of Land holding which dispenses with the need to enforce possession with force, because the model does not resort to a State, but relies on the natural feelings all humans have for the place where they were born and now sleep at night. The only boundaries that will distinguish land ownership will be those around ones residence; every individual will have knowledge of how they own their land, from one's residential land to the rest of the entire Planet, and an ecologically sound system of economics will enable the world population to stabilize and reproduce itself at a level in harmony with the Earth.
In closing this I refer readers to the huge study of history undertaken by Arnold J. Toynbee. He found that history is entirely devoted to a limited series of religious developments which have evolved into the set of world faiths now in play. Humans are a religious product which has allowed us to become free of the basic conditions in which we are born. What is thought to be a particular Democratic culture designed by Man is actually a product of this single strain of religious truth. Remember that one's ideas can be correct on a scale of time which eclipses the present while being wrong in the present. The Nation-State cannot condone the degrees of freedom demanded by mystics and seers and so, you should consider that the Nation-State has grown to be an evil form of society.
The fact that we live simultaneously in a good and an evil world is proof that we are not ruled by any other power or mind than our own but doing so we risk being wrong. We must be able to choose to be wrong, and even evil, if we are to be free to choose the good. Erich Fromme asserts that it is under the influence of the invisible spirits that we can rise to the highest levels of goodness, but also may plunge to the deepest depths of evil. Jesus Himself reminded Peter that only the "Spirit in Heaven is Good" and He, Jesus could not yet claim to be perfect.
All you who discuss these topics are blessed by your interest in the truth. It is not possible to solve a riddle that has no solution unless the solution can be created out of new information. And any riddle can be solved with the right information at the right time by the right people.
This is the time and this world is the place and you are the chosen and the Elect (if you do so choose).
Christ is inherent in history and so, each of you that knows His name, has HIM within you, in your most sensitive and "meek" personality. Other personalities can be in you too, which are there because you have chosen them and not chosen to follow the ONE.