Thursday, May 31, 2007
Religion Should Be a Guide Not a Prison
It is said that one of the most dangerous subjects to talk about is religion. So here we are about to discuss a most controversial subject. So what exactly is the role of religion? For most of us it is a set of rules for living, guidelines for behavior that will net us a reward when we die. The down side is that there is a threat of punishment if we do not follow those guidelines. It is about the after life; if we follow the rules we go to a good place when we die, and if we don’t we go to a bad place when we die…
So it seems that the focus is more about death, reward and punishment for our life. The focus should be more on what we do when we are alive. The focus should be on how we live and love. What good does it do for humanity if we live like cruel heartless beasts, then the minute before death we accept “salvation” and so we still go to the good place when we die. According to the rules set by some religions as long as you “repent” you get to go to the nice place when you die.
So what happens if you “repent” earlier in life and not just at deaths door? You get to lead a life of repression, following rules that tell you what not to do, causing you to have less happiness, less joy from life. Following draconian rules and practices; being taught to hate others who do not have the same religion as you. Having to lose things that we like, sacrifice activities, and give up certain behaviors that are actually fun. Then after all that; you get to go to the good place when you die.
Seems like a complete waste of life to me. Going by the rules of those religions you can live like a total monster, just plan to repent as soon as you know you’re dying and hope that you do not suffer sudden death…
These rules and regulations that religion tries to push upon us are mostly dogma. Dogma is a set of beliefs that a certain group holds to be true. These tenets more often than not are man made rules and not actual divine guidance. There are people in this world who will feel like they have power when they can make a rule that takes something away from other people. The worse kind of religion is the ones that remove free choice, telling you how to dress, defining a social pecking order, and so on. Again there is no divine guidance, just rules from some sicko that got to feel powerful because he got to force people to lose something.
You can force a person to accept the rules regulations and dogma of a religion. You can threaten them with torture and death to compel them to believe the way you do. However a person coerced is not convinced. You can not be forced to believe a certain way. You can be forced to say you do to avoid further pain and punishment, but inside you will harbor secret beliefs that you can not state as you will then no longer be in compliance. This sort of thing eventually leads into insanity, and then acts of nastiness and spitefulness causing both you and those around you to be miserable.
So what is the good news? I am glad you asked. First let me start out by saying that there is indeed a God, a supreme being, the Great Spirit, the all, the source. You can give the one a name, or not but the existence of this force is still there whether you “believe” in it or not. What does this force desire from us mere mortals? Only our love, and that only if it is voluntary and sincere. We can not have our love directed by another; it can only come from us.
So what are all these religions trying to do? Many of these religions started out by having a certain enlightened individual attempt to show the rest of us the truth. Then along came other individuals who saw a chance to feel power by creating rules that stole people’s freedom of choice. These rules were introduced slowly and so the mass of people did not rebel and change religions. As these people procreated they passed down the rules and so on through the generations. After a while the rules became traditions and nobody questions the why of the rules. For to question these rules, is to risk being called a heretic, or worse, and then being punished.
Do you think that the Supreme Being actually spoke and told us to dress in a certain way, or to oppress other people? NO! This did not happen; these rules were made from and of man.
All gods are one God, just different apparitions of the one. Did you ever hear the story of the three blind men who touched an elephant? One found the beast to be large and rough skinned, one found it to be long and flexible; the other found it to be hard and smooth. Each one touched a different part of the animal and so formed a different opinion of it. They all had indeed touched the elephant but each came away with an opinion that differed from the other. Then three men argued about what is truly an elephant. Instead of comparing notes and working on discovering the overall view, each took his small part of knowledge, knowing it to be true, and told the others they were wrong. Instead of a great discovery and sharing of knowledge, each became enemies of the other.
So it is with us and the One. The One is too great for us to comprehend, much less to understand. If we try to learn the universe we will understand nothing. If we try to learn about our selves we will understand everything. So what should we be doing? We should be working on ourselves and working on understanding each other.
If you have a religion; look for the wisdom that is there. People have discovered small parts of the whole and while trying to explain it to others developed a religion. So seek the truth that is hidden there. Ignore the rules that are obvious fabrication such as dress code, etc. Find the part of the One that was discovered and add it to the other parts you have discovered. Share the knowledge as you can but be prepared for the people who are convinced they are right and you are wrong. You can not force others to see it your way. You do not want others to force you, so do not use force yourself. Some people are not ready to understand what you do. Others understand more than you do so always be prepared to learn more.
Our lives here are short compared to the overall picture of the world. Our goal, our mission for life is to discover the truth of whom and what we are. We have to find the pieces of knowledge and wisdom; then put them together to form understanding. The Supreme Being created a puzzle for us to put together.
So why did the One make a big puzzle for us? So we would have the enjoyment of solving it.
Be Blessed
So it seems that the focus is more about death, reward and punishment for our life. The focus should be more on what we do when we are alive. The focus should be on how we live and love. What good does it do for humanity if we live like cruel heartless beasts, then the minute before death we accept “salvation” and so we still go to the good place when we die. According to the rules set by some religions as long as you “repent” you get to go to the nice place when you die.
So what happens if you “repent” earlier in life and not just at deaths door? You get to lead a life of repression, following rules that tell you what not to do, causing you to have less happiness, less joy from life. Following draconian rules and practices; being taught to hate others who do not have the same religion as you. Having to lose things that we like, sacrifice activities, and give up certain behaviors that are actually fun. Then after all that; you get to go to the good place when you die.
Seems like a complete waste of life to me. Going by the rules of those religions you can live like a total monster, just plan to repent as soon as you know you’re dying and hope that you do not suffer sudden death…
These rules and regulations that religion tries to push upon us are mostly dogma. Dogma is a set of beliefs that a certain group holds to be true. These tenets more often than not are man made rules and not actual divine guidance. There are people in this world who will feel like they have power when they can make a rule that takes something away from other people. The worse kind of religion is the ones that remove free choice, telling you how to dress, defining a social pecking order, and so on. Again there is no divine guidance, just rules from some sicko that got to feel powerful because he got to force people to lose something.
You can force a person to accept the rules regulations and dogma of a religion. You can threaten them with torture and death to compel them to believe the way you do. However a person coerced is not convinced. You can not be forced to believe a certain way. You can be forced to say you do to avoid further pain and punishment, but inside you will harbor secret beliefs that you can not state as you will then no longer be in compliance. This sort of thing eventually leads into insanity, and then acts of nastiness and spitefulness causing both you and those around you to be miserable.
So what is the good news? I am glad you asked. First let me start out by saying that there is indeed a God, a supreme being, the Great Spirit, the all, the source. You can give the one a name, or not but the existence of this force is still there whether you “believe” in it or not. What does this force desire from us mere mortals? Only our love, and that only if it is voluntary and sincere. We can not have our love directed by another; it can only come from us.
So what are all these religions trying to do? Many of these religions started out by having a certain enlightened individual attempt to show the rest of us the truth. Then along came other individuals who saw a chance to feel power by creating rules that stole people’s freedom of choice. These rules were introduced slowly and so the mass of people did not rebel and change religions. As these people procreated they passed down the rules and so on through the generations. After a while the rules became traditions and nobody questions the why of the rules. For to question these rules, is to risk being called a heretic, or worse, and then being punished.
Do you think that the Supreme Being actually spoke and told us to dress in a certain way, or to oppress other people? NO! This did not happen; these rules were made from and of man.
All gods are one God, just different apparitions of the one. Did you ever hear the story of the three blind men who touched an elephant? One found the beast to be large and rough skinned, one found it to be long and flexible; the other found it to be hard and smooth. Each one touched a different part of the animal and so formed a different opinion of it. They all had indeed touched the elephant but each came away with an opinion that differed from the other. Then three men argued about what is truly an elephant. Instead of comparing notes and working on discovering the overall view, each took his small part of knowledge, knowing it to be true, and told the others they were wrong. Instead of a great discovery and sharing of knowledge, each became enemies of the other.
So it is with us and the One. The One is too great for us to comprehend, much less to understand. If we try to learn the universe we will understand nothing. If we try to learn about our selves we will understand everything. So what should we be doing? We should be working on ourselves and working on understanding each other.
If you have a religion; look for the wisdom that is there. People have discovered small parts of the whole and while trying to explain it to others developed a religion. So seek the truth that is hidden there. Ignore the rules that are obvious fabrication such as dress code, etc. Find the part of the One that was discovered and add it to the other parts you have discovered. Share the knowledge as you can but be prepared for the people who are convinced they are right and you are wrong. You can not force others to see it your way. You do not want others to force you, so do not use force yourself. Some people are not ready to understand what you do. Others understand more than you do so always be prepared to learn more.
Our lives here are short compared to the overall picture of the world. Our goal, our mission for life is to discover the truth of whom and what we are. We have to find the pieces of knowledge and wisdom; then put them together to form understanding. The Supreme Being created a puzzle for us to put together.
So why did the One make a big puzzle for us? So we would have the enjoyment of solving it.
Be Blessed
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