I wrote this post quite a while ago, and decided to post it again. I think it still applies to how I feel and think about "religion".
There are two possible sources of error stemming from traditional "true" religions. The first is simply misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the specific teachings of the original great teacher. Because the original listeners, or followers , were not themselves enlightened, the original teachings could have been contaminated by their egos. This then became magnified by subsequent translators and scribes down through the generations. The error often is due to the fact that the ego has a tendency to be literal in its hearing of the word rather than the spirit or essence of a teaching. Any translation that teaches anything other than peace or love just may be in error.
The second and more prevalent gross distortions are spiritual teachings which arise from what is usually referred to as "church doctrine". These regulations, often in the form of guilt-provoking prohibitions, were actually made up by church officials and supposed authorities who, in reality, had little or no claim to authority at all but instead had acquired political power in the structure of the institutions at the time.
There is no authentic or plausible reason to modify the precise teaching of an original great teacher for some ostensible gain. As obvious as it may seem, it has not been clear through the centuries that to be a Christian, for example, means simply to follow Christ’s teachings.
All the great teachers, Christ included of course, teach nonviolence, noncondemnation, and unconditional love. It is hard to see how alleged ecclesiastic authority could violate these basic truisms supposedly for "the good of the faith", or "the good of the church", or the "elimination of infidelities", or just wars.
There are many subjects not addressed in original spiritual teachings, thus creating the opportunity for fallacious religious elaborations. All kinds of ’sins’ have been invented over the centuries , with elaborate explanations and rationalizations which can only be described as sick manipulations of natural human affairs. Of course, if you believe in the "fall of man", that becomes a further justification for those ’sin’ creations. The harm that resulted was not only spiritual error but also psychological cruelty and the ’blanket’ guilt of humanity. This focus on guilt and sin further condemns human consciousness by reinforcing the dilemma of the opposites and the duality of perception. This latter destructive effect on human consciousness takes man farther away from God and creates a barrier that is transcended only by the very few who have to be almost spiritual geniuses in order to succeed in escaping the coercive trap of elaborate fallacies.
A further destructive effect of the pushing of some religious doctrines on the faithful is that it creates the very basis for terrible wars and persecutions. These are always based on religious differences which are exaggerated in importance in order to justify religiously sanctioned mayhem. These misinterpretations and deviations are especially noticable in the murky religious meddlings with sexuality, procreation, child-rearing, diet, details of daily living, customs, dress, and political power.
Wearing different kinds of clothing, hats, or facial hair is enough to fuel religious persecution or war. Circumcision, not eating meat on Fridays, saying grace before meals, and dates and details of religious holidays all become ammunition. Whether the Sabbath is Saturday or Sunday becomes more important than the truth. whether wearing a hat or no hat shows respect for God becomes the issue. By exploiting trivialities at the cost of ignoring the main thrust of spiritual truth, religions contribute to their own downfall and that of all humanity. Much that is revered as church doctrine is really the product of the ego. Those who see sin and evil everywhere are themselves the problem.
Much of what has traditionally been described as sin is really the guilt-ridden exaggerations held in the mind of some "emotionally disturbed" church authority. Adherence to the admonition. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," would silence all the misappropriations of spiritual truth.
Collectively, these distortions of spiritual truth have paradoxically condemned both God and human nature in the name of "divinity". To usurp that authority and make pronouncements in the name of God seems rather delusional. No one who ever experienced the absolute reality of the presence of God could ever make such distorted statements.
*Thanks to Dr. David Hawkins for the inspiration for this post.
I’m back from vacation. I really had a great time with the folks in West Texas. I love my in-laws. I even got an opportunity to share the "real" good news with two wonderful ladies. Freedom is amazing! I shouldn’t be but I’m still surprised how willing people are to listen when you have such good news to share. The most wonderful part is that there’s no hurry. "We are led to the truths for which we are ready". I have to keep reminding myself of that fact.
I had a great visit with my brother-in-law, who is coming to an understanding of the truth of the "real" good news. He really enjoys listening to a wonderful speaker, Robert Rutherford. I have given him all the "sermons" I have from Robert. If you’re interested in hearing what this "good news" is all about, here is the link to Robert’s website. There you can download many of his "sermons"
http://www.rockfellowship.com/rock_home.htm
Here’s a good post from Ernie at LRC Houston, on Quantum Physics. You’ll enjoy the connections he makes.
http://www.lrchouston.com/archive/quantum-physics.php#more-1450
Have a great week!
Jim, over at "Jim’s Blog", "Divine Nobodies", has written a post on what it means to leave organized religion. I highlly recommend it. Here’s the link:
http://www.divinenobodies.com/
Thanks, Jim, for speaking from the heart.
I’m still on vacation in Friona, Texas, thank God for laptops!.
My wife and I are taking a vacation this week. She really needs to get away from work and responsibilities. It will do us both a world of good. We see each other only two or three times a month for a couple of days. We are going to see her Mom and celebrate her 89 birthday! It will be good to see everyone out in West Texas. See you all next week. Blessings to all!
*Please take the time to leave a comment on Jim’s latest post (Zebra Crossing), at "Jim’s Blog"(Divine Nobodies). It asks some great questions which he wishes us to answer. Here’s the link:
http://www.divinenobodies.com/
"We live our lives based on what we believe about our world, ourselves, our capabilities, and our limits.
A miracle that is possible for anyone is possible for everyone."
* from: "The Spontaneous Healing of Belief…Shattering the Paradigm of False Limits", By Gregg Braden
Thanks to Dr. Richard Beck for the idea for this post…….
Every swan you have ever seen, read, or heard about is white. Thus, you conclude that "All swans are white." This form of reasoning is called induction. You reason from particulars to a general conclusion. But are you truly justified in this conclusion? The conclusion seems reasonable. All the data point to the truth of the conclusion. And yet this conclusion is very fragile. All it takes is one black swan to immediately falsify your claim. And here’s the thing, how do you know you’ve checked thoroughly for the black swan? Just because YOU haven’t seen or heard of one doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Dr. Beck has helped me see the reason I began my journey in earnest back in the summer of 2004. Throughout my "religious" life I had been told, "all swans are white". This statement equates to: "Theologically speaking, this IS the way it is. There are no other choices for you. If you wish to go to heaven, if you wish to be with God when you die, if you wish to be happy, this IS the way things are."
I found out back in 2001 that ‘black swans" do exist. That discovery rocked my world. For quite a while, almost three years to be exact, I did not know what to think about that discovery. My faith, my belief waffled. I was in a state of turmoil, but really didn’t recognize it. Finally, I told God that I was going to see if there were more "black swans". My journey is now in it’s fourth year. I could never have imagined that I would be where I am today. I do not regret one minute of the trip. I feel closer to the Source than I have ever been. Am I free of concerns. No. I have reduced my stress level significantly. I am content. I am at peace………..the journey continues.
Have you been told that there are only "white swans"? Are you sure that you’ve been told the truth? what happens if suddenly a "black swan" appears in front of you? Will it change your perspective?
I hope you make provision for "black swans".
Peace and blessings to each of you……………….
32They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."
35Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36"Abba,[a] Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."
These verses have bothered me for quite a while. Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to wait for him while we went into the garden to pray. Several times he returned to find them asleep. So we know none of them quietly went with him deeper into the garden to hear what he prayed. My question is how do we know what was said by Jesus as he prayed to God? I don’t believe he had the occasion to tell the disciples what he prayed about. It was almost immediately that he was arrested and taken before Caiaphas, then to Pilate. According to the Gospels, he never spoke to the disciples, more than a few recorded words before his crucifixion, if at all.
The record of Jesus’ temptation in the desert (at the beginning of his ministry) doesn’t bother me as much because there was ample time for Jesus, himself, to relate this story to the disciples.
In a similar vein, how do we know what was said during his hearing before Caiaphas and before Pilate as these events are recorded in the gospels?Are we to believe that he told the disciples all this information after his resurrection?
Perplexing questions for me if I am to find the NT to be a true presentation of the life of Jesus.
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matthew 28:19-20). What a remarkable turn-around this is: just eighteen chapters earlier, in Matthew 10.5, Jesus was telling his disciples, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles."!
This is one of several contradictions I have discovered recently. If someone can explain the discrepancy here, within the same gospel, I would appreciate the explanation, for I have none.
*(An article on Beliefnet.com)
The People’s Bible Goes to Washington
Thomas Jefferson’s edited version of the New Testament again makes its way into the hands of members of Congress.
By Holly Lebowitz Rossi
After 50 years, a controversial version of the Bible is again making its way through the halls of Congress. The individual sending it is not a minister, but an economist named Judd W. Patton. He is, by his own description, a "traditional values" Christian, not an evangelical. But in 1997, Patton was moved to do something that observers might think went against his grain: He mailed copies of the Bible to every member of Congress.
This wasn’t your standard, "traditional" Bible, however. Patton sent copies of The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, the so-called "Jefferson Bible," to the politicians. And he has continued to do so in alternate years, including 2005, when he mailed out 50 copies around the time of President Bush’s second inauguration.
What is the Jefferson Bible? In 1820, just six years before his death, Thomas Jefferson set about editing the New Testament, physically removing with scissors all verses that pertained to miracles, resurrection, and anything supernatural, and pasting the rest together. What he was left with was, he believed, a purely moral document.
Almost two centuries later, Patton was doing some research in the library at Bellevue University in Nebraska, where he is a professor of economics. On the shelf, he discovered a 1904 edition of Jefferson’s work. In that year, Patton later learned, 9,000 copies of the 80-page volume were printed-by Congress itself.
Patton looked into it and found a bit of a mystery. It seems that distributing the Jefferson Bible to new members of Congress every other year was a tradition from 1904 until 1957, when the practice quietly stopped. But in a spirit of entrepreneurship, Patton set about publishing a new edition of the volume, with Jesus’ words printed in red for easier reading as well as emphasis. He has sent a total of 753 copies to members of Congress since 1997.
How does Jefferson’s endeavor, which eliminates some of the most profound testaments to Christian faith including Jesus’ miracles and his resurrection, square with Patton’s own conservative theology as a member of the United Church of God?
"I don’t take it that he was making a statement of Christian theology," Patton said in an interview. "He wasn’t into doctrinal matters. It is a statement of Christian morality." Jefferson, Patton said, was searching for a "pure Christianity" that elevated the moral principles contained in Jesus’ life and the parables he told.
(to read the rest of this article, click here)
NOTE: Until 1957, when a new member of Congress was sworn in, they were given a copy of Jefferson’s Bible: otherwise known as, "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth". The book is thusly called the “Congressional Bible“. Pat Robertson and other right wing Christian leaders and groups mention it’s prominence in the governmental process. What they fail to say is how opposite it is from the Christianity that they proclaim and preach. Hmmmm….
I have been reading a little about our founding fathers and have found some interesting things to which I, as a former history teacher, had never been exposed. Thomas Paine was an American patriot, who authored "Common Sense", a series of pamphlets advocating the independence of the American colonies. "Common Sense" was one of the most influential writings of the revolutionary period.
Theologically speaking, Paine was very skeptical of the inerrancy of the Bible. In fact, he sounds as if he is very skeptical of the value of a document that has numerous errors in it. However, this does not affect his belief in a just God. Here is a quote from his letter to a Christian friend:
"When you have examined the Bible with the attention that I have done (for I do not think you know much about it), and permit yourself to have just ideas of God, you will most probably believe as I do. But I wish you to know that this answer to your letter is not written for the purpose of changing your opinion. It is written to satisfy you, and some other friends whom I esteem, that my disbelief of the Bible is founded on a pure and religious belief in God; for in my opinion the Bible is a gross libel against the justice and goodness of God, in almost every part of it."
First of all, let me say that I still find value in the pages of the Bible. But, I feel that each person has to decide for him/herself in his/her heart the validity of the stories, passages, and verses of this venerable document. How does the average person accomplish this. Research, study, know the history, both positive and negative, of a book that has dictated the face of religion for thousands of years. Your dedication to the truth of it’s pages will prescribe what you do with the Bible. Will you turn a blind eye to its obvious errors, thrusting "faith" in the face of its detractors or will you earnestly seek to know all you can know about this invaluable source of faith, knowing that finding errors is not the end to of its service?
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