The last few weeks have been – in a word – strange. The awareness and acceptance that certain areas of my life are proving troublesome is among the top of a lengthy list. It is with little surprise that my reading during this time has included one very important aspect, namely that if a particular situation is causing anxiety then there is some lesson to be learned. One article I read recently was quite informative, but not in the way one might imagine at the outset. It seems the pope is now publicly condemning Amnesty International and urging people to stop any form of support for them. The church claims that A.I. is openly promoting birth control and abortion, while the defendant agency claims only that a woman has the right to choose and should not be imprisoned for exercising that right. For quite some time after reading this, I was close to livid and I had to step back and question why this bothered me as much as it did.

  Growing up in a “religious” home, it was drilled into me that one can not use christians as an example of the faith because we are only human - only Christ. Well, excuse me, but I don’t believe much of what the bible claims and I sure as heck didn’t know Christ. If I’m going to join an organization, you can be sure I’ll be doing the homework and closely regarding how this new lifestyle impacts on them. To walk into something like that without research is both irresponsible and unfair to us. In my experience, so-called christians are just as capable and willing to be deceptive, dishonest and malicious. I’ve seen more than my share of “Sunday Christians”. A person in my life right now claims to be one and has the attitude that was prevalent when I was growing up – the christian view of “how things are” and “how they should be” is the only view and everyone else is wrong.

  Another point that made little sense to me at one time is the relegation of women as being subservient to men. Hey, I’m a guy but this aspect especially about religion really steams my butt!!! Why is that? I’m certain one reason is that I have spent at least one lifetime as a woman but there has to be more. Why would any woman remain satisfied with a religious code that openly orders, “Women, obey your husbands…”???

  As I mentioned earlier, I recognize that, if this is causing me anxiety, there is a lesson to be learned somewhere. We are all here with a unique spiritual message to pass on and no two paths are identical. What I realized about myself, as I allowed the anger to simmer, was that I was just as guilty of being closed-minded. My opinion is that we have the right to choose our own spiritual path and nobody should be given the power to say or do otherwise. I sometimes forget that, within every religion, there is a kernel of truth and goodness. Directing my anger at the church, I understand how much my present displeasure is a reflection of my upbringing and what I considered – and still do – as hypocrisy.

  Ironically enough, it is because of their bible that I am a Pagan. One just has to read Genesis 1:26 to understand that the Creator is equally male and female. (It is the only verse in the entire bible where God refers to himself in the plural – “Let us make man in OUR image…”) If I were on a planet that was inhabited by only men, a vengeful and jealous male god, who we are supposed to both fear and love, might make sense but that is not the case. If the church’s claim that their bible is the word of God and factual, this verse is pretty difficult to explain away. And we won’t get started on the human conjecture of the so-called “Rapture”. Pasted together with verses taken out of context and from different books, it was postulated in the 1800’s and eventually, somehow, became fact, at least to christians. Even though, the term “The Rapture” appears no place in the entire bible.

  When all is said and done, however, I find myself back in the same place and doing exactly the same thing as them – dismissing their beliefs and assertions because of my own distrust and obstinate opinions. Perhaps that simple recognition is half of the lesson learned.

Hi Jayman. It does seem like this is a time of great flux in the universe, doesn't it? Well, we all have lessons to learn, and our karmic lives are such that we face these obstacles and challenges exactly when we're supposed to. About the only thing we can really do, I think, is to go with it, try to find the lesson, and then learn from it. I mean, we're all going through lessons every moment of every day; some are just more... what's the word?... in our faces, I guess, than others.

Don't lose sight of yourself while you're going through this process, my friend. I feel like you sometimes do that (I don't know why I'm saying that; it just kind of came to me... *hmm*)...

:-( Why can't we all just get along & realize everyone has their own religious/spiritual/whatever path to follow? It's distressing, to say the least.

This is why I'm not religious or spiritual at all.

Came over to read and also say hi ds, enjoy reading the mind game article, it remind me of the drones that people are witnessing, very interesting moments in history, have a great week

Ok, I know what I said about everyone getting along & all, but really, can't we just put the fundies from all religions on some island in the middle of nowhere or something? I found another one, & got so angry that I couldn't stop shaking, & now I feel physically sick. Kept trying to calm down, but it only worked a little. :p Argh.