First off, I should offer some disclaimers, I don’t profess to be an expert on religion. These are my opinions and could feel confrontational. Good! That’s the point. With that out of the way.
Religions establish some of there most rigid sets of rules that one must abide by in order to be considered good, godly, worthy, holy, etc etc.
And here we are talking about religion, not spirituality. There’s a difference, a BIG difference. I’ve always liked the David Bowie saying, “Religion is for people who fear hell, spirituality is for people who have been there.”
I don’t want to pick on any religion in particular so I’ll talk about what I see in all religions which is the spiritual aspects meant to bring us closer to god and the phone it in style of basically check out, follow the rules, and be compliant to gain the keys to the kingdom.
Most of religion was built with the intent (or has evolved to be intended) to control people. I told you this might get spicy. Controlling people to me means having power over them. Spirituality has and will always be about bringing us all closer to god. And I believe that the closer we are to our god, whoever that may be, will provide us a tremendous amount of power, maybe even invincibility!?! Two very different things (although they shouldn’t be).
A couple of these rules include: only spend time with other people that also subscribe to the same set of rules because everyone else is misguided and may guide you astray. Art that contains nudity or violence is evil because sex has more rules around it than anything else in the world that I can think of. And violence is, well, not supposed to be a part of us. But it is and if we deny it we can’t get to know how to regulate it in ourselves and actually choose to be a good and peaceful person.
How are we supposed to engage with reality through a religious framework that is so far from what it’s supposed to be achieving? Can we practice those things that bring benefits to the world, make our own life more beautiful, and bring us closer to god? I think so. But it takes breaking some of the rules that we have been imprinted with.
We choose to break some of the rules the have been ingrained in us for so long. It is definitely time to start questioning these rules. What are they intended to create or prevent? Are they successful in the intent?
The Opportunity:
What is one core religious/spiritual belief that you have accepted in your life that may not serve the purpose you thought?
How is that belief impacting opportunities for love, beauty, true peace, and connection with the world and god?
Thanks for your time, have a great day!