What’s in Your Bible?

Some of my relatives are/were very religious. I’ve been around the ‘holy rollers’ all my life and at times, it hasn’t been pleasant.  One thing NOT to do around me is start spouting off that, unless I believe as YOU DO, I am condemned to someplace called ‘hell.’  Another thing NOT to do is assume that I need or want to read any Christian literature.  I don’t.

I live in the south.  This is the Bible belt.  I am very careful not to get into conversations with the Jesus people because they    just    don’t    get    that   their way  ISN’T the only way!

Over the years I have studied many different faiths.  There is beauty in all of them.  Most of these religions pre-date Christianity so I get a kick out if it when Christians say that their religion is THE ONE.  It isn’t.

Because so many Christians take the Bible literally as written, to me, it’s a big game of ‘post office.’  Why?  Well, first off, it is hearsay, passed down through recollections of human beings whose memories can be selective. It is also again subject to human interpretation.

Doesn’t anyone wonder WHY God is endowed with human emotions such as vengeance and rage? That’s because HUMANS interpreted this into the ancient writings from their own feelings and rules.  If God truly has these characteristics, then why aren’t we all dead?  WHY hasn’t the world been annihilated?   This makes no sense to me…. but it obviously does to millions of people worldwide!

Then there’s the ‘saved’ part.  The erroneous belief that we have to be ‘saved’ from something.  Saved from WHAT?  The ‘devil’?  That’s another human concoction;  another way to keep us in line.  WATCH OUT!  The ‘devil’ is lurking in the shadows ready to make you DO something which will send you to hell.  The ‘devil’ is the evil tendencies in us;  our darker side. It is too easy, however, for devout Christians to blame everything different or threatening on the oft used phrase…, “It MUST be the DEVIL.”

The belief is, if we don’t put our trust into the hands of one man, Jesus, then we cannot be saved. Back to the literal interpretation of ‘I am the life, the way’ or whatever. No, it was never his intent TO be made into a man to be worshiped but only to set an example. In modern theology and translations or Aramaic text, there are many examples of this… but still millions of people put their faith in him, instead of the divine nature of themselves.

This is balderdash  b e c a u s e   there have been many other enlightened ones:  Buddha, Mohammad and others:  Mother Teresa and down to the common person, who all receive guidance and are teachers. We can be teachers to one another but in the Christian world, few believe that God speaks to man;  that God only did that 2000 years ago and has since gotten laryngitis.

Many don’t know that Jesus’ native tongue was Aramaic, an ancient language still spoken in the Middle East. The speech was filled with metaphors, parables and meanings which did not stand up in translation.  The difference in the language from which it originated to various translations into Latin and on down makes for many questionable mis-translations.  The real meanings behind it, as spoken, are misconstrued.

Add to this, the early church leaders rewrote and omitted parts to their liking. It is well documented that popes, kings and other church leaders added & subtracted at will to serve their agendas. Take for example the quote:  “Thou  shalt not suffer a witch to live. ” Doesn’t that sound just a little too much 12th century when witches were being burned and tormented?  Isn’t that justification enough to kill witches because the Bible’ said so?

I will add, however, that The Bible does contain much beautiful wisdom and tenets on living a good, just life. All religions have wonderful teachings.

Many interesting points have been brought forth in recent years.  One of the best – and I can hear all of you groaning – is Neale Donald Walsh’s series,  “Conversations With God.” For years I put off reading it saying, ‘Yeah riiiiiight – this guy talked to God.”

Whether or not you actually believe he did - just reading what is written – the questions it poses to Christian beliefs, certainly punch holes in them.  Of course, I know that when this text is read by ‘Bible thumpers’, they’ll immediately go to the Bible and point out text (again misconstrued and mistranslated) saying the devil made him do it!

Recommendations:   “Friendship With God”  “New Revelations”  and “What God Wants”

There are many other publications out there which give pause to the whole ‘vengeful God’ thing. The above books are a fascinating read, that is, if you JFs are brave enough to do it. Now, go on to the post below:  “Why Can’t We Get Along” for other questions of what God wants.

Spiritual Self-Righteousness, Part 2

Another friend – by now, former friend, is a ‘self-proclaimed healer and psychic’.  To hear her talk, you’d almost expect to have seen her on Oprah!  Personally, I don’t see what’s so great.  She claims to be able to do everything from house clearings, past lives and everything a clairvoyant should.  She says that her ‘guides’ have told her that, she is a ‘Kick butt psychic and no one else does what you do and YOU do it the BEST.’

Puuhhh leeeeze!  (gag!)

Oh really?  All I see is some woman twirling around her keys as a pendulum and saying ‘I’m getting…..’ in a whining nasal tone.

She, too, likes to be the center of attention.  Because she has no car, I  fell into a brief period of being used as a taxi.  That didn’t last long.  After one afternoon of watching her hold court  on a couch with a screaming baby in the background, and   e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g   was about her – THAT was IT.  I was done.  No more.  She tried to con me into other ‘business lunches’ .., but the “Yellow Cab” company wasn’t gonna roll!

Jesus freaks are another rant for another day…..

Spiritual Self-righteousness

Some of my ‘acquaintances’ -rather than say ‘friends’, are into self improvement or the realization of their true divine selves.  This is a fine, worthwhile activity.  I was into it for awhile but I gave up chasing the dog’s tail.

I know a spiritual path is a journey but I got tired of walking.

I walk, then I sit it out for awhile.

One person comes to mind as being so ‘spiritually self-righteous’ it is disgusting.  She is a sham, a fake, disguising herself as ‘healed’ and a ‘healer’, she has done some of the most reprehensible things to her own family and  longtime friends. She will deny that there’s anything wrong with what she’s done, despite the fact that many around her can verify her vicious acts and totally condemn them.

It’s been a few years since the departure of the ‘Queen‘ of spiritual self-righteousness’, my former friend whom I will simply refer to as ‘C’.  She jumped on the New Age bandwagon early in the 80′s.  She became a Reiki master and then was made a ‘minister’ of some ‘Pyramid of Light’ or something like that, church.

As she became more ‘enlightened’, she also became more critical of her family and friends. Instead of accepting them for being on their own path, she  cast them out. Any activity or lifestyle which wasn’t acceptable to her she condemned vehemently:  smoking cigarettes, pot, drinking and the list goes on.  If they weren’t tossed out of her circle on their asses, many of them just walked away after witnessing her actions toward her own family and others.

I believe that in some respects, people are drawn to religion for a sense of superiority  and belonging because of psychological problems.

This woman, C, surely was a candidate.  She always had to be in the spotlight.  The more she ‘healed’ herself, the more vicious her unprovoked attacks on others became. What didn’t come to light until years later:  she had a coke habit, which probably had a lot to do with her erratic behavior.  Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

She  always hated her step-son.  When he graduated from college she refused to let him come home to live.  The kid  had no job and no place else to go.  My sister took him in.  That’s where things started to get ugly.

My sister was a recipient of a   ‘You’re not my friend anymore because of what you’ve done’   attack.  Totally unfounded was C’s belief that my sister was trying to steal her family.  Absurd claims against my sister regarding C’s son and step children championed her fight against my sister, who, stood dumbfounded asking, “WHAT did I DO?“

C literally walked away from her best friend of 20 years.

Her only son was sent to Iraq where he died in the fall of 2003.  Afterward she accused her step-son, who is gay,  of raping her son years before on the sole basis of a ‘channeling’ she’d received!   This added more fuel to the fires of C’s self-created hell.  Without actually confronting her step-son and asking if this was true, she launched full blast into him via other family members and to my sister.  Justice came around when her whole ‘step family’ barred her from ever seeing the grand kids again, or having anything to do with the family.  Serves the bitch right!

This isn’t just a case of ‘spiritual self-righteousness’ but one of cruelty and mental illness. This woman has used her blanket of ‘spirituality’ to spew hatred toward her family.  She is a sad, sad case.

Isn’t spirituality supposed to be acceptance?  Not everyone can be on the same path as you are.  We all have different beliefs, lives and situations and lessons to learn. To insist that you’ve done a lot of healing, then to turn around and be a hypocrite isn’t healed.

Have fun in your own private hell, girl!