5. April 2010 by admin.
Spiritual Prejudice, Compassion, Love and the Mirror of Self
One of the hardest things a person can come across in life is dealing with ideas that differ from and challenge the core beliefs we have constructed for ourselves and that have inadvertently been constructed for us. The usual knee-jerk reaction to a challenge to our belief system is to name any challenger as being prejudiced towards our beliefs. That simple judgment releases us from having to listen to or pay any attention to any more criticisms to our belief. The arguments posited by many against the various world religions come in two forms; the truly prejudiced and the statements made based upon historical and presently visible evidence.
When stating that the Abrahamic religions have overall been responsible for untold suffering, intolerance and the deaths of countless people in various holy wars and persecutions, such a statement is a fact of history and cannot be gotten around by rhetorical banter. On the other hand, casting a negative judgment upon an individual based purely on their religious choice is beneath contempt. Every person has an inherent right to choose their spiritual beliefs and criticisms against a religious ideology based upon their historical actions are exactly that, criticisms against the ideology in general for not staying true to its professed ideals.
To put criticisms against the institutions of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and others in a different light, we can draw a parallel with another situation. It is a historical and present day fact that the military of the communist Chinese regime have committed terrible atrocities against the people of Tibet. If someone agrees with this fact,believes it is a terrible thing and criticizes it, does that automatically make that person prejudiced against every single citizen of China, because the Chinese government holds responsibility for the actions against the Tibetans? Of course it does not. Only a few of the Chinese military and their commanders can be held responsible. The same holds true for criticism against the Christians for perpetrating the Crusades and Inquisition and various present day ‘just wars’ and against Islam for its jihads. Some are responsible, many are not. The gray area occurs when supposedly peace loving members of the Abrahamic religions fully support warfare against another group of people, even going as far as inscribing biblical references on M-16 machine guns. When the Bible tells its followers to love their neighbors and enemies, how many truly believe that love is best spread from the barrel of an M-16? And to the Christians who are against war, why do you allow it to continue?
So stating facts based upon historical evidence does not equal prejudice, it is merely information and an argument. When prejudice is called out for stating historical facts, that is when the ideas of compassion, love and the Mirror of Self may be called upon.
Compassion for everyone, unconditional love and respect for life are tenets most of us could agree should be practiced much more than they are, but unfortunately intolerance and hate has become a way of life for many because of the lack of use given to the Mirror of Self. Seeing hate, intolerance and prejudice in another is oftentimes simply a reflection of unresolved issues within ourselves. When we see those negative thoughts in our perceptions of others, we should look into the Mirror of Self and see where such thoughts and feelings originate from. Are we passing judgment on others, or on ourselves? Are we threatened by ideas and factual arguments and so defend ourselves by seeing intolerance and prejudice in those ideas?
The more we look into the mirror of our own souls, the more we are released from making judgments. It is not others that make us hate or make us prejudiced, it is only ourselves. Why should we be intimidated by anyone or any ideas or beliefs and why should we see anyone as better or worse than ourselves? If we believe someone is better or worse than we are, or believe someone else believes they are better or worse than us, it is only because we have chosen to put ourselves above or beneath them. We truly are all spirituality equal, but only if we choose to see ourselves as such. Compassion, unconditional love and respect for others and freedom from judgment are the keys to such vision.
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28. March 2010 by admin.
Looking to the East
Diverting our attention away from the Abrahamic religions for awhile, we will begin an analysis of the knowledge and personal experience - based Eastern religions of Hinduism and Buddhism. These two religions are much older than the Christian and Islamic traditions, Buddhism by 600 or so years and Hinduism by several thousand years.
The highlights of these religions in comparison to the Abrahamic faiths are the historically non – violent nature of them, Buddhism much more so than Hinduism. In fact, Buddhism is the only current large religion in terms of the number of its followers that has never engaged in extreme large scale military aggression against another group of people. Also, the Eastern spiritual paths place an exponentially larger emphasis on personal knowledge and personal experience of spiritual matters than the Abrahamic faiths. Followers are encouraged to question all teachings and directly experience spirituality for themselves in the form of meditation, yoga, chi kung, martial arts, contemplation of koans and and engaging in acts of compassion, peace, humility and altruism. Hinduism and Buddhism are different in nearly every way from the general ‘have faith and do as the book says’ mentality of the Abrahamic faiths. These drastically different views on spiritual matters account for much of the division and distrust between the cultures of the East and West.
The two main teachings of the Eastern religions that are looked upon as heresy by the Abrahamic faiths and the cause of the greatest confusion to the Western world-view are reincarnation and karma.
Reincarnation, or samsara, is the idea that after the death of the physical body and if spiritual enlightenment is not attained before death, the soul moves on into another incarnation and begins another life in the physical universe. Of course, this is a very different view of looking at the progression of the soul when compared to the Abrahamic faiths view that the soul has a ‘one time only’ chance to get it right and ends up in either Heaven or Hell based upon one lifetime of experience. Which idea seems more uplifting, inspiring, hopeful and reasonable to you? Reincarnation, and how if differs between Hinduism and Buddhism, will be discussed in greater detail in separate articles as it is an extremely important concept.
Karma can be seen as a very difficult idea to grasp, or a very simple one depending on an individuals knowledge base and the extent to how much intellectualizing one does on the subject. Basically, the idea behind karma is that every thought, action or spoken word by any individual produces a positive or negative energetic effect upon ones soul. The more positive karma that is built up, the more positive things happen until enough positive karma is accumulated that the result is spiritual enlightenment and becoming free from the cycle of reincarnation. The opposite effect occurs if negative karma is continually generated, meaning negative karma traps an individual in the ever-revolving wheel of reincarnation and possibly leading to reincarnation in a hell-like existence. Ultimately, karma is a form of pre-destination that takes away any concept of free will as everyone is subject to the karmic effects of their past lives, somewhat similar to the Abrahamic belief that their god knows what everyone will do and are fated to act in a certain. A regressive teaching in either case. Karma will be also be discussed in more detail in future articles.
Speaking plainly, the religions of the East have much to teach the Western mind concerning tolerance, unity and personal spirituality. As many of the people in the West are drowning in materialism, consumerism and constant images of violence, it is not any surprise that the holistic and historically peaceful spiritual paths of Hinduism and Buddhism are looked upon with derision, suspicion and even fear. Most of us in the West have essentially been brainwashed that violence is acceptable and that the Eastern religions are ’sissy’ by our media and entertainment outlets. This is a great tragedy of the world, as who but the delusional and hate – filled would like to see war, violence, prejudice and intolerance continued unabated in its present form?
“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conductive to the good, the benefit, the welfare all beings – that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” Buddha
“You can explore the universe looking for somebody who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and you will not find that person anywhere.” Buddhist saying
“Your own enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.” Buddha
“Develop the mind of equilibrium. You will always be getting praise and blame, but do not let either affect the poise of the mind: follow the calmness, the absence of pride.” Buddha
“A man in this world without learning is as a beast of the field.” Hindu proverb
“Illness is not cure by saying the word ‘medicine,’ but by taking medicine. Enlightenment is not achieved by repeating the word ‘God’ but by directly experiencing God.” Sankara
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15. March 2010 by admin.
The Apocalyptic Faiths
There is one disturbingly common aspect that the Abrahamic religions all share. The prophecy that when their ‘messiah’ returns to the Earth, a world-wide apocalypse will ensue. The faithful will take their place in Heaven and all the unbelievers will be smited all the way to Hell in a sickening ‘righteous’ display of ‘peace’, ‘love’ and power. Those of us who can think clearly about such prophecies realize they are nothing more than war-mongering insanity.
Can any reasonable person associate a world-wide purge of anyone who is not a believer in a certain faith with a god of peace and love? Perhaps we should tell it like it is. Any god who must bring death and destruction to those who do not follow him is a god that is terrified of being revealed as false and delusional enough to believe that destroying all non-believers will give him more credibility. The 50% or so of the world’s population who do not believe in such a frightening god probably shake their heads in bewildered amazement mixed with slight disgust and sorrow when they hear talk of Armageddon, the Apocalypse or the Rapture. The only frightening thing about the Abrahamic religions prophecy of the end-times is the real possibility of fundamentalist Christians, Jews and Muslims praying for and working toward the self-fulfillment of their prophecies.
Why haven’t the Abrahamic religions discarded their teachings about the Apocalypse? If they were serious about making the world a better place for all shouldn’t they instead be striving toward an evolution of the human community based on ideas of unity, love, compassion and tolerance instead of preaching that most of us will be doomed when their messiah reappears?
And what happens if their messiah does return? Will he/she be a Christian, a Jew or a Muslim? None of the above? If he/she is a Christian will he/she lead the other Christians in a slaughter of Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists? Will he/she unite the Abrahamic religions against the other spiritual paths in a ‘righteous’ holy war? Do the followers of the Abrahamic religions understand these concepts and how hateful and delusional they are? Are they so desperate to be ’saved’ that they will willingly go along with attempting to exterminate anyone who says “No” to their god of war? Will their Rapture and Armageddon simply be different names for the Crusades, Inquisition and Holocaust?
Let us all hope the Abrahamic religions get rid of their ideas of the Apocalypse soon and seek to unite as spiritual human beings with the other half of the worlds people who wish to end foolish wars and intolerances. The Age of the dogma and division brought upon the world by the Abrahamic religions needs to be laid to rest. The reasonable progressive people of this planet seek unity and peace and we are growing weary of regressive ‘Christian just wars’, the extremes of Zionism and the terror caused by Muslim fundamentalists.
More than enough blood has been spilled for the god of the ‘book’ to last him to eternity. It is nearing the time to end the foolishness once and for all. We do not need an Apocalypse. We need progress and an evolution of the human community and the human spirit.
“Remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall – think of it, Always.” Mahatma Ghandi
“Everything’s fine today, that is our illusion.” Voltaire
“A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us.” Friedrich Nietzsche
“Force does not constitute right… obedience is due only to legitimate powers.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“You never know what is enough unless you know more than enough.” William Blake
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13. March 2010 by admin.
Strong Points of the Abrahamic Religions
Despite all the criticism that myself and countless others have laid upon the Abrahamic religions over the past several thousand years, there are several positive aspects to them that should be recognized. The bringing together of like – minded people within a community and the promise of something better waiting after death for those who live a decent life are the strongest points of the Abrahamic faiths. These two ideas are essential to humanity as a whole and will likely play a key role in bringing people together once the religions of Abraham are finally laid to rest in the pages of history.
The followers of Judaism have suffered much persecution throughout their fated history and today are bonded together in a tight community. This nearly impenetrable community helps each other survive in an increasingly hostile world and this is to be expected considered the hardships their religion has faced over the centuries. The Jews do not seek out others in an attempt to convert them to Judaism and while this is admirable it also shows the underlying arrogance inherent in a group of people who believe they are the “Chosen People” of their god. Is a Gentile not good enough to become a “Chosen Person” of Yahweh? Is it required that a person be of Semitic blood in order to be “Chosen” by Yahweh? Could that be why Judaism has only 12 million followers, a pittance compared to the other four major religions? A strong sense of community can also be extremely detrimental if that community is more concerned with excluding others than helping uplift humanity as a whole.
Christianity, if you add up all the various sects, make up the largest percentage of the worlds population. Nearly one third of the worlds people claim to be Christian. The Christian community has always worked incredibly better on a small scale, in such settings as a town, rural community or church groups. If this small scale sense of community would have been put into the large scheme of the Christian religion, such as within the Catholic Church, the world would be drastically different than it is today. Christian ideology, when put on the world stage as a whole, has been the single largest destroyer of human lives and livelihoods in recorded history. No other community has brought more war and death to the world. The Christian community has shown to only work in the microcosm and when it decides to exert its influence in the macrocosm, pain and suffering almost always follow. Future generations will learn much of how to manage, and how not to manage, a unified human community by studying the small scale (mostly positive) and large scale (mostly negative) effects of the Christian faith.
The religion of Islam has a community that falls somewhere between Judaism and Christianity. All Muslims are brother and sister in a religious sense and entire national cultures are based around the Islamic faith. As might be guessed, non-Muslims are not included in this brother and sister ideology and that is where the sense of community falls apart. A non-Muslim must either be converted to Islam or suffer the pain of Hell after death. Not exactly a welcoming community and no matter how often you hear a Muslim preaching Allah is a god of peace and love, the Islamic faith dictates a person must either accept the Word of Allah or be doomed to hellfire. Judaism and Christianity preach the same thing, no matter how they may twist their teachings. It is as simple as that. At their core, the communities of the Abrahamic religions, while having small positive aspects, arrogantly and selfishly claim to be the only true path to salvation. It is no wonder that death, destruction and suffering have followed the Abrahamic faiths wherever they have spread in the world.
The bottom line here is that Judaism, Christianity or Islam will never succeed in bringing the world together in a unified community where we will actually progress forward as a species. “Never say never” the nay-sayers will cry. Well then, how would any of these faiths succeed in their endeavor to bring us all together? A world-wide holy war for their gods of peace? They have failed for thousands of years and the intolerances between them and other spiritual paths have only increased. Perhaps when the Christian’s “Second Coming of Christ” happens, or the Jewish messiah reveals him or herself or the Islamic Mahdi enters the world scene? Even if all three religions “savior” manifest in the same person, we can be assured none of those three religions will emerge victorious over the others. More likely, their “savior” will one way or another tear down the old institutions of the Abrahamic faiths. Considering their history, this could only be a good thing for the world. A new Age is fast approaching for humanity and with it, if the patterns of history hold true, a new spiritual path will present itself and supersede all the old ones. Let us hope the coming Age gives humanity a unified community, free from the intolerances and sufferings brought down on us by the old.
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2. March 2010 by admin.
Cognitive Dissonance and Projection
There is an interesting psychological phenomena that can be attributed to the very religious, particularly followers of the faith-based Abrahamic religions. Cognitive dissonance is a bizarre form of doublethink that occurs when someone’s beliefs concerning a certain topic, in this case religion, are questioned and refuted using rational and fact-based arguments resulting in the believer’s faith in the correctness of their views actually strengthening. More often than not, asking questions about and pointing out contradictions in a religious persons choice of faith merely serves to reinforce their belief. No matter what kind of proof is presented to contradict their beliefs, cognitive dissonance assures a deeper faith in the extremely religious. Reasonable questions and arguments are simply a test by God of the believer’s faith.
Has any follower of the Abrahamic religions really asked themselves what it would take, what kind of proof they would require in order to see that their “faiths” have always been about the division of humanity and that the books they regard as the word of their god may actually be mostly fiction? It can be assured that Christianity, Judaism or Islam will never succeed in converting everyone on Earth and unifying us as a species. Cognitive dissonance and faith will see to that. It really is that simple. Blind faith combined with cognitive dissonance produces one of the most dividing effects on humanity of all, that of the projection of unconscious and conscious fears onto others in the form of violence, intolerance and delusions of racial, religious or national superiority. People have projecting their insecurities and fears onto others since the beginning of history and most of us still have no understanding of the concept or deny that we do it at all.
Intolerance in the world, in all of its forms, is essentially when someone recognizes something in another, consciously or unconsciously, that they either lack, love, fear or admire and then project those emotions onto the other. Examples of this are if someone has something we like, be it a physical item or an idea, instead of being happy for them, we attack that person in various ways. Love for another can manifest itself as fear, and admiration for another can manifest itself as jealousy if our belief systems are threatened by that other.
Violence directed towards others is the most extreme form of psychological projection. A misunderstood threat to a belief system and a thinking of ‘us and them’ has led to the deaths of vast numbers of human lives by the clashing of religions whose cognitive dissonances reached the insane point of projecting violence onto each other. The Abrahamic faiths are particularly guilty of this and if the current state of affairs in the Middle-East is any guide, this psychotic projection of violence in order to prove whose book is correct is not likely to end anytime soon, or end peaceably.
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22. February 2010 by admin.
The Psychology of Submission
The Abrahamic religions all require their followers to submit to the will of their particular god. This submission comes joined at the hip with a fear of their god. Kneeling before a god and worshipping a god are acts of direct submission and indirect fear. In this case, god is an authoritarian figure, much like a dictator. Being a good follower and obeying god’s rules gets one a reward of heaven, while disobeying god’s rules gets one the punishment of hell. These same basic rules apply in a tyrannical dictatorship. Read about the state of affairs of the Jewish people under the Nazis, the Palestinians under the Israelis or the general population of the Chinese under its current communist regime and you will gain a good understanding of the reward and punishment system. A dictator is not limited to human beings and as the history of the Abrahamic religions show, reward and punishment are an unnatural and comman consequence of belief in their god.
Is it possible that the only one who judges our words and actions are ourselves? If human beings do possess free will, it stands to reason the only consequences of our activities, be they good, evil, moral, immoral or ammoral, are imposed on us by our own minds, even if this is done at an unconscious level. The Eastern religions and the pagans Mystery religions teach this, that we are all responsible for our own fate and our conscious decisions create our “destiny”.
Submission is a common theme throughout much of the worlds history. Sometimes it is an involuntary submission to an oppressive regime but more often the submission is voluntary. Involuntary submission occurs when fearing the consequences of not submitting to a certain form of religion or government is greater than the possible rewards of acting against a ruling power. Submission becomes voluntary in the case where greats rewards are promised if one submits to be ruled, such as in the Abrahamic religions, or when submission to a “Father” type of ruling government seems to be in the best interest of the people. Ultimately, religions and government that require submission of their followers are eventually thrown down and replaced by people who grow tired of being submissive. This will continue to happen until a system arises in that submission is no longer needed, it is an inevitalbe result of the dialectical process moving toward positive freedom using the methods best described in Nietzsche’s “Will to Power” (It is unfortunate that many uninformed people see the “Will to Power” in the negative connotation of the word ‘power’. In fact, ‘power’ in this sense means independent thought that is free from submission to the majority of outdated religious and political dogma and includes sublimation of the ego-power drive that consumes tyrants and dictators, in order to uplift humanity as a whole. “The Will to Power” is simply one of the better blueprints for human spiritual and intellectual evolution.)
Concerning submission and the existence of a divine presene called God, it may be of use for followers of the Abrahamic religions to ask themselves several questions about their “submission” (and indeed, Islam directly translates to “submission”), Is it possible that a True God wants us to take our eyes off the floor, to rise up off our knees and to stop our endless repetition of centuries old prayers of submission and instead speak to him as an intelligent, self-aware and reasoning human being? Could it be that the True God is looking for those who respect him and befriend him, rather than follow and worship him? Tyrants and dictators all throughout history desired to be followed, worshipped and feared. Should we really believe God is like Stalin, Hitler or the god-emperors of ancient China and Japan, someone who will punish us with eternal hellfire if we do not believe the writings in some old books that have been compelely discredited by historical and scientific findings (not to mention common sense)?
Being comfortable with one’s “faith” is no excuse for putting an end to the exercise of learning and reason, especially if one has never attempted to gain any knowledge about any other points of view. If the fate of our souls rest on our spiritual choices (and it does), then is it enough to simply accept the religion we were born into to the exclusion of all others or to continue to study what other views are out there and to gain an understanding of how others in the world think? So choose.
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11. February 2010 by admin.
Site Update
For those with interest, the sister site to this one is now up. You can find the link in the blogroll, The New Evolution of Mind.
That site is concerned with looking into the thoughts and ideas surrounding governments, psychology, economics and law, among others. As well as describing these things, there will be articles detailing the workings of a meritocracy, resource-based economics, applications of Jungian psychology and a basic outline of how modern science is actually proving many of the points made by spiritual groups such as the Mystery Religions, Gnosticism, paganism, Hinduism and Buddhism.
This site and its counterpart are connected at almost every level. Moving forward with spirituality will always cause the systems of modern society to adapt to forms that are more beneficial to humanity as whole. It is the dialectical process moving forward to its inevitable end-point, the evolution of humanity towards its full potential.
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5. February 2010 by admin.
Islam and Allah
Islam, more so than any other religion with the possible exception of Hinduism, is a faith that is deeply entwined within the social culture in the areas where it is prevalent. Many of the practices that were done in the seventh century are still done today and many Muslims still live much as they did 1,400 years ago in the areas where modernization has not reached. The Islamic faith reaches far into the political systems of Muslim nations and many laws and punishments are designed around interpretations of the Quaran, the holy book of Islam.
The warrior - prophet of Islam is Mohammad. And before continuing on to the basic tenets of Islam, let us understand that a warrior – prophet is exactly what Mohammad was. Mohammad was a warlord and spread his religion by the sword. Even in the seventh century doublethink and doublespeak were alive and well. While preaching that Allah was a God of peace and mercy, Mohammad brought his religion to others through the strength of arms and bloodshed.
The Quaran is considered to be the infallible word of Allah and cannot be questioned by the followers of Islam. The Old and New Testaments are held in high regard by Islam, though they are seen as having been corrupted to various degrees by the writer’s of scripture as time passed. Only the Quaran is free from the corruption of men as it is the word of Allah and is protected by him. Allah is the God of Islam and is regarded as the Absolute and Eternal Creator of everything in the universe.
Islam revolves around two basic tenets, those of Amaal (acts) and Emaan (faith). Acts of worship strengthen the faith of followers. The six doctrines of faith are the backbone of Islam. They are belief in Allah as the Supreme Creator, belief in the existence of angels (Mohammad received the tenets of Islam from a vision of the Archangel Gabriel), faith in the scriptures, belief in the words of the prophets beginning from Adam and ending with Mohammad, and faith in the Divine Creed (Allah knows everything that has happened and will happen, although humans have free will. This is a belief in fate or predestination and is a form of doublethink. After all, if Allah knows how everyone will act in the present and future, then how does anyone have free will? Christianity and Judaism share this doublethink tenet with Islam and is justified in many roundabout ways by the various sects of the Abrahamic religions).
The five pillars of faith in Islam are the acts Muslims are required to prove their faith in Allah. They are Kalima (Testimony of Faith) which is the rejection of All false gods (including the Christian and Jewish Gods, this is more doublethink because based on the historical actions of the followers of all three Abrahamic religions their three gods appear to be much the same), Salat (prayer) 5 times a day while facing the holy city of Mecca, Zakat (almsgiving) to charity, Sawn (fasting) during the month of Ramadan (this entails no drinking, eating or intercourse from sunrise to sunset) and Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House of Allah in Makkah at least once in a lifetime for those Muslims that are able.
In the course of the last ten years, Western media has portrayed Islam in a negative light. On the reverse, Christianity and Judaism (the countries of Israel and America) have not been portrayed all that well in countries such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan. Both sides have valid points as American and Israeli foreign policy are more imperialist than those of the Muslim nations and there are real terrorist groups who wish to strike out at the West. (If any doubt this I suggest reading news articles coming out of the nations of Israel and Iran then reading the comments posted by readers) These points, of course, just prove the nature of the religions of Abraham. The “Christian” nation of America is embroiled in wars and covert operations around the globe and yes, there are fanatical Muslims who seek the destruction of America and Israel. What is unfortunate for most of the lay followers of the Abrahamic religions who wish to live in peace is that the leaders of their nations are in support of war and indeed many Christians, Jews and Muslims are happy to march off to kill and die in the wars their leaders deem necessary. It is geo-political and religious madness that show no signs of abating any time soon. The peaceful people of the world can only hope the hate between Zionist Jews, fanatical Muslims and doomsday fundamentalist Christians does not erupt in full blown holy war as is required to fulfill their end-times vision of Armageddon. What many do not understand is that when it comes to prophecy, events can be manufactured by those who wish to see their prophecies fulfilled. This is called self-fulfilling prophecy.
“Surely the ass who invented the first religion ought to be the first ass damned. Faith is believing in that which I know ain’t so.” Mark Twain
“It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God, but to create him.” Arthur C. Clarke
“The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.” Benjamin Franklin
“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” Voltaire
“Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“The death of dogma is the birth of morality.” Immanuel Kant
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21. January 2010 by admin.
Knowledge vs. Faith
Faith is at the core of most of the religions of the world, particularly the religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Faith that the words of certain books and preachers are infallible, unquestionable and the absolute truth. The simple truth is that faith in a particular religion is an offshoot of ones culture. If any particular Christain were to be born in a Muslim culture then that Christian would almost certainly be a Muslim today, and vice versa. Anyone who denies that statement would have to use the argument that “faith” would draw them back to the “one true religion”. Why is it that almost no one converts from Christianity to Islam or from Islam to Buddhism and so on? How many Christians or Jews have read and understand the teachings of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or Gnosticism? The answer is not many. Why? Because they have “faith” that they are following the “true religon”. Faith is in direct opposition to personal knowledge.
It cannot be denied that history of the religions of faith is one of violence, intolerance and death. Those who refute that fact are confused, to put it mildly, and have no knowledge of the history of their professed “faith”. To put faith and knowledge in perspective, take a look at the power structures of the world at present. The religions of faith (Judaism, Christianity and Islam, among others) have infinitely more physical power, wealth and influence (gained through war and persecution) than the religions of personal spiritual knowledge (Hinduism, Buddhism, Wiccanism and Gnosticism – some of these also use faith to varying degrees but personal knowledge and the questioning of teachings are encourged). What does this fact tell us? That power over human thinking and culture, the gaining of physical wealth and domination of a single minded way of thought are incredibly more important to the religons of “faith” than peace, tolerance and intellectual and spiritual knowledge. What would be more important to a True God, physical power and wealth or tolerance and knowledge? How many followers of faith-based religions do you know that hold grudges of intolerance if you question or refute their beliefs? Would they even attempt to gain knowledge about teachings that go against their “faith”?
To gain knowledge is to search for God inside oneselfs, not to blindly follow the words in an old book and accept them as literal truth. A True God has no desire to be worshipped by mumbling people on their knees and is disgusted by “holy warriors” who kill and commit suicide attacks to honor him. A True God looks for those who wish to walk next to him, not bow down before him. Faith is the stagnation of human spiritual evolution and the breeding ground of intolerance and violence. Faith is spirtual laziness and a form of delusion, a brainwashing done to those who fear to strive for understanding and knowledge. Only through personal experience and knowledge can one understand the truths of this reality. Do not fear to put aside the teachings of books and preachers and to search for the inner light inside of you. It may be the most amazing journey you have ever undertaken.
“When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow.” Anais Nin
“A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows.”
Mark Twain
“Faith means not wanting to know what is true.” Friedrich Nietzsche
“The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.” George Bernard Shaw
“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your hear. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” Carl Jung
“Go to your bosom: Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know.” William Shakespeare
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12. January 2010 by admin.
Peace Loving Christianity
The core doctrines of Christianity are taken from the teachings of Jesus Christ as told in the Biblical story called the New Testament. Christians believe God is an all-poweful and all-knowing force composed entirely of spirit and never taking physical properties. God is the creater of everything in the universe that is seen and unseen. Jesus Christ is the son of God, concieved by the Holy Spirit and given birth to by the Virgin Mary, and is also one with God. Jesus suffered on the cross, died for mankind’s sins, was buried and was resurrected three days later. Jesus will be born again on Earth to judge the living and the dead and anyone who confess their sins and believes in the resurrection of Jesus can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus preached that humans should love their neighbors and should turn the other cheek when faced with intolerance and violence. Christianity also accepts the Judaic doctrine of original sin.
Considering the literal bloodbath and metaphoric bloodbath of doublethink that is the history of the Christian religon it may lead one to wonder if Jesus’s words in Luke 19:27, “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.” and when he says he comes to bring the sword and to “set father against son and mother against daughter.” (Luke 12:53) are a more accurate description of what Jesus intended his followers to do in his name. If that is the case, the actions of the Christian religon throughout history should give Jesus every reason to smile. It is an exercise in futility to point out every war and conflict carried out in the name of the Christian God of War, but a few stand out for their “enlightening” nature.
The Crusades that pitted Christian against Muslim for ownership of the Holy Land (which we see shades of today in the modern Christian/Jewish/Islamic holy war, a war that will only get much worse in the future) saw an interesting practice come to prominence called indulgences. Basically an indulgence was giving wealth to the Church in order to be forgiven future sins, such as slaughtering innocents while Crusading. A very loving practice. If all Christians are forgiven their sins by accepting Jesus then why would they need to pay money to receive the same effect? Next, the Protestant Reformation was a series of civil wars between the Protestant and Catholic factions of Christians that raged throughout Europe for over one hundred years. This inter-faith clash, along with the Inquisition, killed over one third of the population of Germany alone and tens of thousands more in the rest of Europe. The Inquisition, after successfully destroying the civilizations of Central America and killing or “converting” the natives, finally ended its 350 year orgy of death in 1843, when the leaders of the Church had a moment of clarity.
Warfare in the Industrial Age toned down on the religous aspect of conflict, but leaders of waring nations gave the obligatory rhetoric of “God is on our side” to the people. Does God always bet on both sides in a conflict? In World War II, were the Japanese the “Godless heathens” as they were seen on the American side or were the Americans the “evil barbarians” as they were seen by the Japanese? One side had suicidal kamikazee bombers and cries of “bonzai!” while the other side dropped two nuclear bombs and killed over 200,000 people, mainly civilians. So if the Japanese are “godless” the Christian God and his son must have been giving each other high fives as the bombs exploded at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A God of Love or a God of War?
All the war and death on Christianitys plate aside, we must be aware that the average Christian does not want their leaders to be warmongers (even if their God does) and is generally peaceful. This, of course, does not forgive the fact that the masses of Christians do not take action to stop wars, hunger and widespread poverty. The leaders that tell the people that “God is on our side” while promoting war, torture and death are few in number while peace loving people are great in number. So why do 2 billion Christians do nothing as the holy wars increase in scope in the Middle-East, thousands die daily of starvation in Africa and poverty levels and homelessness continue to rise unchecked in the Americas and Europe? Perhaps because they are too busy with ideological in-fighting between their thousands of sects as to who gets salvation and who doesn’t. Or perhaps they fear the wrath of their God of Peace and Love. Looking at his track record, Christians and non – Christians alike have many reasons to fear this god.
“If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” Albert Einstein
“I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Ghandi
“It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.” Mark Twain
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” Epicurus
“Those who believe absurdities will commit atrocities.” Voltaire
“Lighhouses are more helpful than churches.” Benjamin Franklin
“In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
Posted in January | 1 Comment »