Religion
Here you'll find my views on organized religion. I'll be adding more topics as time goes on, so check back often. So here we go, my views on ...
Organized Religion in General:
Religion. Now, here's a topic that everyone loves to hear your views on ... yeah, right. There have been many battles, even wars, started because of disagreements on this subject. When it comes to religion, people only seem to love discussing it when your views are 100% in line with theirs or, even better, when you're completely accepting what they preach as the "Truth". This is heavenly. There is nothing more satisfying to a religious zealot than to convert an outsider. This allows them to feel extremely righteous and proud. After all, this is "God's work" they are doing. If you don't agree totally with their point of view, you are considered unenlightened, ignorant, or even worse ... evil and/or dangerous.
Nevertheless, I feel compelled to put my two cents worth in on this subject even if it does alienate a large segment of the population or cause thousands to begin "praying for my soul". Let me say right up front that I believe in God. I love God with my entire being - heart, mind, body and soul. There is not a single major decision that I make without first consulting with God. The problem is that the God I believe in is very different from what most people envision God to be. But, more on that later. Right now, I want to keep the focus on "religion".
Christianity:
Let's start with Christianity because that's what I was taught as a child. I was raised Catholic, which everyone knows is the "one, true " religion. I even went to Catholic school my first 9 years. So, you know that I was indoctrinated well. I can even say that I am thankful for having been raised this way because it gave me a good sense of right and wrong and it gave me a foundation for building a spiritual life. I fell in love with the teachings of Jesus and used them to form my philosophy to live by. However, what I observed within the church did not often seem to "jive" with what Jesus taught about how to live.
I don't want to go into all of the details about why I left the Catholic Church at this time. That's for other discussions. What I want to focus on here is the fact that Christianity, as it is practiced today by all organized religions, is not really Christianity. It does not follow the teachings of Jesus and it makes no distinction between Jesus, the man and the Christ he realized himself to be. First of all, take a look at the opulent palaces that many congregations call churches. Many of these can be found in poor neighborhoods. Now, I ask you, how can the leaders of the church justify building these structures with the hard-earned money of people who obviously cannot afford to contribute so much? Their excuse is probably that the church is a monument to God, but I ask you, do you really think that God cares about how beautiful the physical structure is? Jesus, in fact, preached against this very practice.
Next, take a look at the behavior of the people who place themselves in positions of power within the church. In the Catholic schools, for example, nuns are famous for beating the children's hands with rulers or throwing chalk, erasers, or anything else handy at children who may not be paying strict attention to what is being said. The comedian George Carlin did a hilarious piece many years ago about what it was like to grow up in Catholic school. Did Jesus teach this? I don't think so. How about the priests, pastors, ministers and laymen (including the women) who preside over Sunday services in the various Christian sects? Often their sermons consist of nothing more than condemnation and threats concerning the actions of the people in their congregations. In other words, fear based teachings. Is this the way that Jesus got his message across? Again, I don't think so.
Most importantly, let's take a serious look at the actual "teachings" of organized Christianity. In the first place, why are there so many denominations? If all of these organized religions call themselves Christian, why the difference in the teachings? Is there more than one Christ? Absolutely not. Then why the differences? Simply because what is being taught as "Truth" is nothing more than the various interpretations of Jesus' teachings by the numerous denominations. And, unfortunately, what is being taught is twisted to manipulate and control the members of the congregation and to further the growth of each institution. It is all about control. It is all about controlling the masses, not furthering enlightenment.
Jesus did not teach these things. Jesus taught that we should look within to find God. That is the only place you can find God. The outer world, which we call "reality", is not what it seems to be. It is not "real". We will be discussing that topic at length throughout this web site as time goes on. I hope that you will join in our discussions.
Let me conclude this segment by stating that I don't intend to rip organized religion to shreds here. I just want to do what I can to help people see that things are not what they appear to be. I'll be sharing more views on Christianity and other religions in the days to come. But, at this point, I ask you to simply try to put aside your pre-conceived ideas about God and Religion and allow yourself to start questioning the true nature of God. The world is in the midst of transformation. You are needed to assist in this transformation. I hope you choose to join us in our attempt to awaken the masses and spread some light into the world. It will help ease the transition to a higher level of consciousness that is evolving on the planet.
