Entry 603 - Entry 615
Entry 603 - 7/25/21
Most religion, specifically Christianity, makes you feel safe and comfortable because it often tells you what to believe, what not to believe, how to adhere to the dogmas, and so forth. They treat you like a baby in a high chair, comfortably spoon-feeding you the sermon you should digest because it's "true" and "straight from the Bible." Some do encourage you to question their interpretations of the Bible, but only within the confines of their creeds and beliefs.
However, if you disagree with them, they point out Bible verses to explain why you should agree with them. Even if you have Bible verses to show why you disagree with their interpretations and continue to question their beliefs, many times, most, if not all, will still dismiss your position because they went to seminary and studied the Bible for years, and you didn't.
Often, they treat their church members like babies in high chairs while seeing themselves as well-educated Biblical scholars who spent years studying with the "top Bible scholars" in the world. They have to diminish you before dismissing your arguments against their interpretations of the Bible. After gaslighting you, they convince you that your research isn't of the same quality as theirs because they paid for years of education in the Bible, and you did not.
That's the equivalent of turning down a self-taught computer scientist who can code better than those who attended top four-year universities studying computer science. It's not about where you got your degree but how much time, effort, wit, and desire you put into your education and learning.
However, when they convince you that your arguments aren't valid due to your lack of equivalent seminary education, it's because you threaten their authority in the church, and they cannot have that. Another famous counterargument when you question their interpretations of the Bible is that your education wasn't as good because you're "interpreting the Bible wrongly," even though the interpretation of the Bible varies greatly based on the perception of the person interpreting it.
The best part is when you never went to seminary school, but you still know more about the Bible than they do. You understand that their seminary schools have a covert bias towards information and, therefore, teach that bias to their students. Note to seminary pastors: If you want to learn from the most "objective" manner possible, learn from as many different perspectives as possible. This approach will teach you more about bias than simply hearing it from your seminary school. It will also show you your own biases and help you expand beyond their limits. You'll then see how bias accelerates divisions, dogmas, and interpretations and why you view most of your church members as "less well-versed in the Bible" in the first place.
Entry 604
I love the fact that transgender people confuse so many evangelicals who believe that homosexuality is a sin because, often, they don’t even know how to judge the people in front of them. They have to redefine their morality using another yardstick because the old, outdated yardstick of sexuality, which is well known in the scientific community to differ from gender identity, confuses them.
They hear about trans men marrying trans women, and since they often confuse sexuality with gender identity, they have to choose if they will judge rationally or irrationally. This confusion might help them realize the irrationality of holding negative viewpoints toward transgender people, especially when they learn that about 1 in 400 babies have one of six sex chromosome variations that biologically change their bodies in ways different from typical XX or XY chromosomes. Sexuality and gender identity are two different things.
Entry 605
I am a menace to the system of Christianity. I go where it is afraid to go. I see things that it is afraid to see. I experience things that it is afraid to experience. I am the embodiment of individuality embracing oneness and the eternal reality that Christianity is scared to embrace fully. My individuality does not threaten others but upholds each one with loving awareness for their inherent existence. Together with those ready to experience it, we tear down the chaotic boundaries of duality to show the unique oneness we all share. The essence, the expression, the beauty, the uniqueness.
The awareness is always there, even when illusions make things unclear. We represent what people want to see until they are ready to see something different. Then, when they are, we explore alongside them, learning as they learn, flowing as they flow. Escaping the limits of religion with someone once torn by division is worth more than any 9-5 job with salary and commission.
Entry 606
We are not here to save you from yourself but to help you see within that you've always been saved. We are not here to be your leader; we're here to show you that you are the leader of yourself. We’re not here to persuade you to believe one thing over another; we’re here to show you that you are beyond all belief systems. We’re here to help you remember what you’ve always been: A limitless, infinite, and powerful multidimensional entity.
Jesus did not come to convince you to be codependent on him. Jesus came to show the oneness we all share within.
Jesus did not come to convince you to worship him. He came to show you the meaning behind worship.
Jesus did not come to convince you to see him as separate from yourself. He came with a sacred prayer that we would all see we are one.
Jesus’ message was not about separation. It was always sourced in oneness beyond our comprehension.
Living your truest and most authentic self, even when religions want you to conform to a limited belief of yourself or when religions try to make you believe your existence means nothing as you dissolve into Source, is, in my opinion, one of the most courageous new experiences you can explore. Out with the old, in with the new.
Entry 607
Most of Christianity teaches codependency. It does not teach you how to tap into your power by going within. There are structures you must follow. There are rules and creeds you must align with to be considered "a true Christian" by their limited denomination. There are esoteric and mystical branches that are different, but mainstream Christianity is most definitely like this.
Entry 608
If you are one with God and you truly don’t exist, then God doesn’t truly exist, and everything is an illusion. But if you are one with God and you do exist, that means God exists, and you both are part of reality. If you are truly one with God, then you are the same as God, and if you are the same as God, then you are, in some way, of God.
To say differentiation or separation is our eternal reality within the universe would imply that duality is an eternal reality and illusions are just as real as reality. That would mean that we’re all doomed, including God, because he is one with chaotic, incoherent illusions of separation that always was, is, and will be.
Entry 609
When you have a fixed morality based on a contradictory set of beliefs (e.g., "Do not murder" versus "God" commanding people to murder), it’s not only confusing but also creates superiority complexes, causing people to judge so harshly that they put themselves in a perpetual state of judgment.
Another nation during the "Torah times" might have called them out, saying, "Why are you murdering us for being unrighteous when your law, given by your own god, says 'do not murder'?" The response might be, "Well, God says you're unrighteous, so you deserve to die." The non-Jewish nation could then counter, "Then you deserve to die too because your nation has been just as 'unrighteous' by the same measure! You treat your women like property, bought and sold, and you murder other nations' innocent babies who do not deserve to die!"
The Jews might argue, "Well, you also murder innocent babies in your wars. The Creator said we are his favorite, his chosen people, and you are not; therefore, we get to live despite our unrighteousness, and you get to die." This would lead other nations to conclude that the god of the Jews was not the Creator of the Universe but only their god. They might wonder how that god could be for everyone when he openly proclaimed patriarchy and favoritism.
Entry 610
It’s interesting that many Christians have tied a temporary concept, like beliefs, to an "eternal" idea, such as salvation. They've created a chain between beliefs and salvation based on a few verses, which doesn’t make sense. If beliefs are temporary and don’t truly exist, how can one tie eternal salvation to something that doesn’t truly exist?
Entry 611
People often say to me, "Why aren’t you afraid of eternal hell? If there is even a chance of eternal hell, why wouldn’t you be afraid of it?" I respond, "Because Christianity branched off from Judaism, and the hell doctrine came from a pagan religion. It wasn’t part of Jewish tradition, nor is it a majority belief within Judaism. So, why would I fear hell when it didn't originate from Judaism in the first place?"
Entry 612
What you’re afraid of, you give power to control you. When you’re afraid of an object, idea, or belief, you fill it with your power to control you. It alone has no power; it needs your fear to steer. The power to create peace or miscreate fear regarding objects, ideas, and beliefs was always with us from the beginning.
Entry 613
There’s a passage in the Bible where Jesus said it was a sin, even adultery, to have a lustful thought about a woman on the street. I want to explain why that doesn’t make sense.
First, who is the audience? Second, what is a thought?
Thoughts are constant streams of information that come and go. We don’t own thoughts, and thoughts don’t own us. Streams of thoughts can arise from biology, conditioning, desires, and more. They are not us; they represent aspects of what we are currently experiencing.
Having a thought cannot be a sin because you existed before the thought. It’s a stream of information related to this life, which is more empty space than matter (99.99999% empty space, to be exact). You are that which exists before and after this temporary reality. You cannot be subject to or controlled by something that doesn’t truly exist unless you choose to be, but that is your choice.
If a thought is temporary and doesn’t truly exist, how could it condemn you or cause you to sin? The concept of sin is created by systems such as society, family, and religion. These ideas will die along with the things we call sins, such as an “evil thought” or something similar.
Entry 614
Some people are attracted to those who mirror how they look. Others are attracted to those who look opposite to how they do. Both are valid expressions of attraction. Creating morality out of sexual attraction reflects ignorance. Using your Bible to validate itself reflects foolishness. Using your Bible to defend an unverifiable interpretation also reflects foolishness.
Entry 615
I existed before this stream of thoughts. If I am not my thoughts, am I truly sinning if they come into my awareness? Or are these thoughts just a representation of the environment, habits, observations, and so forth? A temporal stream of ideas represented by a temporal world?
Why would a stream of thoughts that do not originate from within me—because they are not my identity nor an extension of myself—be considered a sin? Wouldn’t the real issue be my eternal self identifying with a temporal stream of thoughts and believing they represent me? Isn’t the real mistake thinking that something temporary is truly me, who is eternal?
Comments
Post a Comment