Spirituality vs. Religiousness

In today's world we see many anti-religious sentiments, like Bill Maher's "Religulous" amongst many others, and as much as those on the receiving end like to bitch about it, can anyone really blame the detractors of (so-called) Organized Religion? Religion, by definition, is about "re-linking with God/Deity/Source" and becoming better people for it, but most seem to use it as a justification of their general antisocial behavior to anyone or anything differing with their way of doing things.

I ran across this on Facebook and thought it was an excellent example of why I am perceived as tough on organized religion. Sadly, this is not limited to Christianity, I see similar trends in Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, etc.

Pastor Jeremiah Steepek (pictured above) transformed himself into a homeless person and went to the 10,000 member church that he was to be introduced as the head pastor at that morning. He walked around his soon to be church for 30 minutes while it was filling with people for service, only 3 people out of the 7-10,000 people said hello to him. He asked people for change to buy food, NO ONE in the church gave him change. He went into the sanctuary to sit down in the front of the church and was asked by the ushers if he would please sit in the back. He greeted people to be greeted back with stares and dirty looks, with people looking down on him and judging him.

As he sat in the back of the church, he listened to the church announcements and such. When all that was done, the elders went up and were excited to introduce the new pastor of the church to the congregation, "We would like to introduce to you Pastor Jeremiah Steepek." The congregation looked around clapping with joy and anticipation. The homeless man sitting in the back stood up and started walking down the aisle, the clapping stopped with ALL eyes on him, he walked up the altar and took the microphone from the elders (who were in on this) and paused for a moment, then he recited:

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ [editor: Matt 25:34-40]

After he recited this, he looked towards the congregation and told them all what he had experienced that morning...many began to cry and many heads were bowed in shame.... he then said....Today I see a gathering of people......not a church of Jesus Christ. The world has enough people, but not enough disciples...when will YOU decide to become disciples? He then dismissed service until next week.......Being a Christian is more than something you claim. It's something you live by and share with others.

Notes:

Highlighting, color and italics are mine

According to Snopes.com this is likely a fabrication and I remember a similar story about Thomas Jefferson and a hotel before and during his presidency, but the point is still valid.

To make matters worse, this lack of real spiritual growth in religion has become infused with politics, not only here, but also several  places around the world. Here is just one example of how this pseudo-religiousness is poised to destroy a country.

Since "God is on their side," freedom seems to have lost its meaning in the United States. "American Freedom" is slowly becoming the enforcement of one groups ideas overall and if the whole doesn't like it, well tough; or, we call it a "War on Christianity."

"Christian Sharia - The Dangers of an American Theocracy" (unpublished essay)
Robert Burgener
Freedom is about making one's own choices, taking responsibility, and dealing with the resultant repercussions and consequences.

If you believe that:
Same-Sex Marriage is wrong, then you should marry the opposite sex
Abortion is wrong, then you should not have one
Premarital sex is a sin, then you should live in abstinence till you marry
etc...
Point to ponder:

Many people think that morality is following a set of rules and regulations, if this is really the case, then lawyers are the most moral people on the planet (When you finish swallowing what just came up, give it a good thinking).

Science vs. Religion

There has recently been a resurgence of the argument between those of a Religious bent and those who are more Secularist.  When I was a kid it was purely a Science vs. Religion argument of Evolution vs Creationism, in recent years, the moderate religionists have re-framed the argument as Evolution vs Intelligent Design.

As far as I can tell, Intelligent Design is basically Creationism expressed in such a way as not to refer to a specific religious character, the God of Abraham, Jesus and Mohammed.

This is hardly a new concept in the ongoing battle of Science vs Religion.  In the Christian world, this has been going on since the Second Century with Tertullian vs. Origen.  At some point it was decided; that which could be seen or studied would be in the realm of Science and that which could not would be the realm of Spirit and by default the Church.

As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Abrahamic creation narrative.

Wikipedia: Creationism
We could go on and on with the history of the observed conflicting with the beliefs in many cultures and religions throughout history, not really what I want to do, but Wikipedia offers a good place to start here.

A Different Perspective

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I look at this "battle" and cannot help but giggle since I see the need for one or the other to be right and the other to be wrong to be nothing more than an expression of the Ego.  What if there was a way for both to be right?

When I read Moses' creation story in Genesis I am truly impressed with just how close his history is with what Science says in the Theory of Evolution, not bad for someone who lived 3200 years ago.

Science and Religion are not really in conflict, because in fact their true subjects of study are completely different and not at odds.

Science is the study of how the Universe is put together, the laws that apparently underline those structures and how they interact with one another.  Science is the realm of actual history, what actually physically happened and how it occurred.  If you want to insert the concept of God into Science, it only would be "How he did it."

Religion is actually the study of why.  Why would a Benevolent Deity go to all this trouble, what is the point?  The historical questions that often get written about for these explanations most often are based on tribal mythology and allegorical explanation, not fact.  Now many Religionists are going to take offense at this, I have attacked the inerrancy or the infallibility of their Scripture.

So to me, and those like me, Science explores how this amazing thing we call reality is structured and put together, Religion explains the why and seeks to help me to re-engage with that higher part of myself called Spirit.

Oh no the Devil didn't

I was brought up with the idea that the Devil was out there in a spiritual war with God and that all people were the pawns in this cosmological warfare. Later I learned about how I would spend eternity in either Heaven or Hell based upon how I fared in the above battle. I also became aware that unless I turned into Linda Blair's character in "The Exorcist" that a comedic punchline of my youth was impossible, "the Devil made me do it."

Short of possession, the Devil, or any other spirit, cannot make you do anything, at best they can suggest, lure or tempt. Think about it for a moment, if you are possessed, you are not in control, so how can you be responsible for your actions, the possessor is.

The awkward fact is that we are responsible for our actions because, like it or not, conscious or not, we made the choice to do the act. This choice is why we are "damned" by our actions.

I cannot help but laugh at this idea of being damned, it is so like us to create our gods in our own image. Judgment and punishment are what we would do, so of course our gods have to do likewise.

Salvation comes from our learning of such things so we can make better choices. Grace comes from the simple idea that no matter how lost we get in the "illusion" of this reality, our true selves are unaffected, we remain a part and parcel of God's totality.

So awaken to your choices and by becoming aware, you will do better with each attempt. Just remember when you slip up, be kind to yourself, learn from it and remind yourself, "Oh no the Devil didn't."

The Meaning of Life

Introduction

Religion and Philosophy in truth have the same purpose, to try to answer the question of the meaning of life.

In philosophy the question is addressed through the “general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.”^[1]

In religion there is usually the discussion of deity or deities and the ways to appease them. Sadly, these ideas are not actually what religion is about when you read most of the founders. They usually refer to the idea of finding deity within ourselves and bringing it into manifestation.

In this context, religion takes on the Latin origin of re-ligare^[2] which means to relink or rejoin. I have always found it interesting that this definition for religion is nearly the same as the word "yoga" (Sanskrit, Pāli: योग yóga) which means to rejoin.^[3]

To relink or rejoin what?

I have mentioned on many occasions the amazement that I felt when I realized that every Religion agrees on the idea that we are eternal Spiritual or Energy beings that only inhabit these bodies and then continue after wards in some other existence.

Many would call this a return to the Source or, some would call, God (oh no, he used the "G" word). Call this whatever you may.

The Buddha talks about reaching the state of Nirvāna (Sanskrit: निर्वाण) which literally means “blowing out.” It is a state where the metaphorical “fires” of desire, hatred and delusion are blown out or cease to be the controlling forces in life.

In Hinduism the idea is expressed in many ways ranging from the Vedantist's “neti neti” (Sanskrit: नेति नेति) which is used to separate the real from the illusion and since everything the senses can recognize is illusion the idea is the translation of “Not this, not that.” Many other sects refer to it as rejoining their view of the ultimate aspect of God which can only happen through “Self-Realization” in one form or another.

The Abrahamic traditions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, have an often overlooked expression of this in the first book of Moses, Genesis (Greek: Γένεσις, "birth", "origin," from Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית, B'reishit, "in the beginning").

At the end of the second chapter we have a statement “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Gen 2:25). Immediately after this is the famous temptation and fall. The very first thing that happens is that they become aware of their nakedness and were so ashamed they covered themselves and hid from the presence of God when he came to visit. I cannot help giggling at the first question out of God's mouth after hearing of their awareness of their nakedness; “Who told thee that thou wast naked?” (Gen 3:11)^[4]

The Meaning of Life

The underlying idea in all these traditions are the same, restore knowledge of our true selves. This is the Meaning of Life; to reclaim our rightful existences as Spirit, energy beings and place the focus of our Life there.

This is my personal favorite quote about this:

“You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being immersed in a human experience.”

Teilhard de Chardin
When we stop looking for happiness in those things we find around us and reacquaint ourselves with this higher nature, my personal experience is that all things become a joy and sadness and hopelessness vanish.

So I place a challenge before you, start to look at your life from the perspective of that Spirit or Energy being and see what it does to your perspectives on Life. If you are anything like I am, in a surprisingly short time you will find those things that were SO important yesterday will make you wonder and laugh at their silliness today.

Try it and tell me what happens, I dare you!

Footnotes:
1 Wikipedia.org Article on Philosophy
2 Wikipedia.org Article on Religion, Section: Etymology
3 Wikipedia.org Article on Yoga
4 The complete example from the King James Bible