It's something I feel the need to share once in a while, so now it will be here.
Hopefully, my reflections may help others find their own freedom.
IN SHORT
IN SHORT
I believe in a lot of stuff. I also believe religious organisations should be relieved of their power and privilege, mostly by people deciding not to follow their insanity anymore. And laws have to be changed to reflect that. Governments should be non-religious. People should still be free to practice their religion in peace, but without imposing it on others. Religions should not hold people, especially kids, hostage with their doctrine. There should be easier ways for them to get out. And I'm hoping for people to outgrow religion entirely, eventually. I also believe we should not persecute or force religions out. That increases the damage on the world and spirit.
We must fight this ignorance-based-slavery with knowledge, understanding & empathy.
We need to see past the tricks, so we can see life as it is and how it could be, if we just worked together to build ourselves up, instead of tearing each other down. Some believe we NEED religion to do that, or at LEAST to keep a lot of people in check, preventing from roaming free and destroying everything. That is the kind of fear that keeps Religion in power.
WHAT ABOUT RESPECT FOR OTHER BELIEFS?
Stories can be powerful teaching guides, but they should be able to sustain scrutiny and questioning if they are to become our main or only chosen guides. For example, in the Judeo-Christian story, God is all powerful and can create spirits, PLANETS, species(!), yet is unable or unwilling to save humanity on one planet from the influence of hell without destroying the whole damn place with disasters like floods. WHAT? That makes no sense! It's like burning your whole property in Napalm because you found a few ants in the kitchen, when a bit of corn meal, borax, or diatomaceous earth would have taken care of the problem. I used to be a fervent religious person when I was younger. I was borderline a fanatic, and today I shudder at the thought of what I could have become, had I not been somehow inspired enough in the direction of questioning things, and reading more into them. You can grow spiritually, and hold WILD beliefs, hopefully based on personal experience and observation, and hopefully open to reevaluation, without being TOLD how to do it, and how NOT to do other things, OR ELSE. Promises of rewards and threats if not obeyed, those are the main religious weapons. Belittle the people and train them to keep doing that to themselves and others, so they'll be easier to control.
IS MY RELIGION TRYING TO CONTROL ME?Once you see the manipulation and start deciding for yourself, taking responsibility for your actions and their impacts on the world, it's difficult for them to keep controlling you. Want to know if your religious organisation is trying to control you? Just ask them questions, doubt the established "facts", test their arguments, see if they encourage dialogue, or just resort to calling you an unbeliever, or threaten you with punishment. Blindly following religious groups has caused much destruction on this world. See if they practice what they preach, or if they have one set of rules for others and one for themselves. See if they are arrogant and pretend to be better than others. See if they call their group the Chosen one, and all others are doomed, "and good riddance!". See how much they want to control your thoughts, beliefs, words, actions and ASSETS. See how much they belittle you, and how they get you to belittle yourself: enjoying food is a sin, believing any other system is a sin, sex is dirty, your kind of orientation is an abomination, you should be ashamed for even having those feelings! BOW DOWN and ask God for forgiveness, ask him to CHANGE you into something less foul, you unworthy piece of shit! But remember, God loves you! Just obey blindly. And keep the fear alive. OR ELSE.
WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO CONTROL THE MASSES LIKE THIS?
POWER. That's what it seems to come down to, after distillation. Those in control in any religious corporation probably don't truly believe in the stuff they preach, they just want your labor and your belongings/money. They want power, plain and simple. And they have armies of true believers to make that happen, and it keeps happening. The majority of their flocks are probably truly good folks who do what they are told and through that, do great good deeds, but that still doesn't take away all the mad manipulation, and disguised spiritual and physical slavery. I wonder how much work it takes for an elite to reprogram a brainwashed believer once they deem them worthy to be part of the inner circle that knows the strategies? We need to stop them controlling us. I'm pointing fingers at ALL religious organisations. For too long, they have TOLD people what to do, using varying dosage of encouragements and all flavors of fear, and when that doesn't work, people disappear, or lynching or crusades or genocides occur. I am not part of that crap. I am part of the change for an ever better life for all. I'm not recruiting for a specific group. I'm hoping you will consider NOT being part of a group that has the symptoms described above. Think and feel for yourself. Act and consume responsibly, for the benefit and alleviation of suffering for all.
That doesn't mean I don't have beliefs. I actually hold CRAZY WEIRD ones. But they are positive, flexible, subject to change from my exposure to life and people. I don't try to force them onto anybody. It's a life more comfortable, more serene, when I don't have to feel guilty and small for whom and what I am; when I can change my mind about who might have created what, and a God won't smite me for daring such a thing; when I don't have an obligation to preach or convince anyone, though I strongly encourage people to question and think for themselves; when the sharing of beliefs with others can teach us much; when I can live with the consequences of my actions, and correct my mistakes, learn from them, and keep growing; when my belief system elps me thing of myself as part of others, instead of "us against them".
BUT...I'LL BE LOST WITHOUT MY FAITH!
If you need more convincing of how religious organisations try to control people, just study any of them. See what tools they use, and ask yourself and others WHY they do anything you find suspicious.
So, I think we can all have different beliefs, but willfully and blindly serving despots in order to feel somehow safer from the threats they actually imagined is a great obstacle to our spiritual evolution.
PROPAGANDA
Don't fall for religious propaganda! It's often clumsy, but still clever enough for many people to fall for it. The Bible is one example I'm more familiar with, because that's what I grew up with.
Despite its contradictions, insanely cruel values, mentality of division, major flaws of logic, and the FACT that it was written and frequently re-edited over centuries by human popes and others to suit their needs and agenda at the time, that bound book of confusion is what an insane number of people are claiming to base their life on, are claiming to be the unaltered WORD of God. WHAT?
I'm pretty an all-powerful being wouldn't need to dictate to humans if he wanted a book of his WORD made. I'm also pretty sure that an all-powerful God would be able to handle it when people insult him/her/they. They wouldn't need mortals to take up a cause, or take up arms to defend that god's honor. I think it's so presumptuous to claim to know what a god wants!
Do the Gods even care? Are we even on their radars anymore? Have we ever been?
Or are we just the equivalent of intestinal bacteria in a much larger organism that was the ACTUAL intended beloved creation? Who knows? Why should it matter?
I think what matters is improving the world we live in, by improving ourselves, for everyone's benefit. Except for games, why would we need to compete and destroy each other, when we can share and be healthier, happier? What we do as a group is often greater than what a single person can accomplish. Does that mean we have to be a group under the control of power-mad control-freaks?
I used to fall for religious propaganda, so I recognize the flavor when I witness it. In elementary school, they used songs to teach religious values and stories. I still have some of them clearly in memory, even though I wish I could delete them. They are invasive ear worms of stories I don't believe in! Powerful brainwashing! I was emotionally manipulated to participate in the ceremony of Confirmation: "It would please your Grandmother, do it for her!" I fell into a vicious circle of guilt because I didn't believe enough, didn't pray enough, didn't do enough. I was a child, I should have been show the light and beauty of life, not the darkness of guilt and feeling unworthy!
In my most intense moments of "Faith" I once briefly believed I just might be the next incarnation of Christ, if I proved worthy. If I became a priest. Nobody told me this, but I deducted this from what I was exposed to and how I felt. How screwed up an aspiration is that, for a kid of twelve?
Some more recent religious/spiritual movements/organizations are coming up with strategies to convert the contemporary masses. Video, whole movies (see link below), camps and retreats.
One strategy I see more and more is mixing different religions to claim more legitimacy and inclusiveness. It still doesn't make it the only Truth. Here's a tip to help us resist being manipulated by stuff like this: ANY message claiming to be the TRUTH about existence above all other claims, is arrogant and limiting. Life is so complex in all its forms down here on earth, we only understand a small fraction of it. Why would a human-made story explain all existence during and after life so simply and in just one version? Will we ever understand the nature of the universe? Perhaps in a few thousands of years, or dimensions, but I'm OK with not gaining that in this lifetime, if I can grow and CHOOSE ways for myself to live better and help others live better. BY SHARING.
WHAT ABOUT RESPECT FOR OTHER BELIEFS?
Stories can be powerful teaching guides, but they should be able to sustain scrutiny and questioning if they are to become our main or only chosen guides. For example, in the Judeo-Christian story, God is all powerful and can create spirits, PLANETS, species(!), yet is unable or unwilling to save humanity on one planet from the influence of hell without destroying the whole damn place with disasters like floods. WHAT? That makes no sense! It's like burning your whole property in Napalm because you found a few ants in the kitchen, when a bit of corn meal, borax, or diatomaceous earth would have taken care of the problem. I used to be a fervent religious person when I was younger. I was borderline a fanatic, and today I shudder at the thought of what I could have become, had I not been somehow inspired enough in the direction of questioning things, and reading more into them. You can grow spiritually, and hold WILD beliefs, hopefully based on personal experience and observation, and hopefully open to reevaluation, without being TOLD how to do it, and how NOT to do other things, OR ELSE. Promises of rewards and threats if not obeyed, those are the main religious weapons. Belittle the people and train them to keep doing that to themselves and others, so they'll be easier to control.
IS MY RELIGION TRYING TO CONTROL ME?Once you see the manipulation and start deciding for yourself, taking responsibility for your actions and their impacts on the world, it's difficult for them to keep controlling you. Want to know if your religious organisation is trying to control you? Just ask them questions, doubt the established "facts", test their arguments, see if they encourage dialogue, or just resort to calling you an unbeliever, or threaten you with punishment. Blindly following religious groups has caused much destruction on this world. See if they practice what they preach, or if they have one set of rules for others and one for themselves. See if they are arrogant and pretend to be better than others. See if they call their group the Chosen one, and all others are doomed, "and good riddance!". See how much they want to control your thoughts, beliefs, words, actions and ASSETS. See how much they belittle you, and how they get you to belittle yourself: enjoying food is a sin, believing any other system is a sin, sex is dirty, your kind of orientation is an abomination, you should be ashamed for even having those feelings! BOW DOWN and ask God for forgiveness, ask him to CHANGE you into something less foul, you unworthy piece of shit! But remember, God loves you! Just obey blindly. And keep the fear alive. OR ELSE.
Some religions seem to have a much gentler approach, but I think it can still have a negative and confusing impact, stunting people's growth in this world of tangible and intangible. Why should we deny either, if that's the stuff we are made of, and what we evolve in? "Oh, it's OK if you don't believe, you'll understand someday. You're just lost and confused right now. We're here to help. Just do as we say and all will be well. Give up your belongings and your attachment, and only then will you be ready to start evolving, according to what we say."
THE POWER OF PERSUASION
Many so-called scientists still decide to ignore facts or signs of flawed logic JUST because their religion makes them feel better, safer. It's so scary to admit that we do not understand as much as we initially thought we did! To me, it's scarier to see how far they'll go to convince themselves and others of false assumptions, and wild stories. I have a friend who's a member of the Church of Scientology. We cannot have an open conversation about how her religion is a cult, how it ruins people's live's; how the founder himself has declared he founded it for the money and power; how countless people have left that cult and lost so much, trying to warn people. She refuses to see the bad. She loves her community and feels safe in it. I wish her the kind of wisdom that will help her get herself out of there.
WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO CONTROL THE MASSES LIKE THIS?
POWER. That's what it seems to come down to, after distillation. Those in control in any religious corporation probably don't truly believe in the stuff they preach, they just want your labor and your belongings/money. They want power, plain and simple. And they have armies of true believers to make that happen, and it keeps happening. The majority of their flocks are probably truly good folks who do what they are told and through that, do great good deeds, but that still doesn't take away all the mad manipulation, and disguised spiritual and physical slavery. I wonder how much work it takes for an elite to reprogram a brainwashed believer once they deem them worthy to be part of the inner circle that knows the strategies? We need to stop them controlling us. I'm pointing fingers at ALL religious organisations. For too long, they have TOLD people what to do, using varying dosage of encouragements and all flavors of fear, and when that doesn't work, people disappear, or lynching or crusades or genocides occur. I am not part of that crap. I am part of the change for an ever better life for all. I'm not recruiting for a specific group. I'm hoping you will consider NOT being part of a group that has the symptoms described above. Think and feel for yourself. Act and consume responsibly, for the benefit and alleviation of suffering for all.
That doesn't mean I don't have beliefs. I actually hold CRAZY WEIRD ones. But they are positive, flexible, subject to change from my exposure to life and people. I don't try to force them onto anybody. It's a life more comfortable, more serene, when I don't have to feel guilty and small for whom and what I am; when I can change my mind about who might have created what, and a God won't smite me for daring such a thing; when I don't have an obligation to preach or convince anyone, though I strongly encourage people to question and think for themselves; when the sharing of beliefs with others can teach us much; when I can live with the consequences of my actions, and correct my mistakes, learn from them, and keep growing; when my belief system elps me thing of myself as part of others, instead of "us against them".
BUT...I'LL BE LOST WITHOUT MY FAITH!
Now, it's a MUCH more confusing world at first, when there are no set rules and explanation anymore from a book or doctrine. No more clear set of unchanging, black-and-white rules! The CHAOS of degrees and nuances is your realm now! Life is rich and full of uncertainty! How can a control-freak creature survive??? When I first left Catholicism, I was actively looking for a replacement religion. Typical addiction behavior, trying to find a substitute for the comfort we once knew. Once the withdrawals are over, one can start being energized by that unquenchable thirst for knowledge and understanding that may ultimately doom or save humanity. I'm not going to even try actively to understand the meaning of life at large. I'd rather try to understand my little world, my circles, my self. Some of it will come as I grow. Being Ok with that is one of the things that has set me freer.
FOR FURTHER REFLECTION
FOR FURTHER REFLECTION
Mythic Journey
I recommend this video. It helped me think and reflect on the importance of storytelling as a learning tool, and keeping an open mind. I had originally purchased it only because it featured stop motion puppets made by Brian and Wendy Froud, but the whole film was fascinating! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1204935/
PROPAGANDA EXAMPLES
The Laws of the Sun (an anime movie)
I'm sharing this as an example of propaganda as used by religious movements to manipulate people.
I wondered who paid for this to be made, because it feels exactly like other propaganda films (and other media) from different religious groups, including the larger religions.
A short online searched revealed the origin, another cult: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryuho_Okawa
Feel the hype, the manipulation, see the flaws in logic (and the bad storytelling!) See the signs, so you may avoid the influence!
Jesus Camp
Another scary one, where young kids are turned into fanatics. For some, it's not as scary because it's from kids, but I wonder how many of these kids got worse later in life.
If you need more convincing of how religious organisations try to control people, just study any of them. See what tools they use, and ask yourself and others WHY they do anything you find suspicious.
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