THINKING ABOUT RELIGION

Once upon a time, religion was primarily about God
But, today, young people want nothing more to do with any such “religion” –
Pointing out that, in many cases, it’s been transmuted into raw politics –
That is, into fields of strife and hate in a variety of forms and forums –
Including racial, class, and culture.

One prime example is the Russian atheist KGB kind of guy
Who got control of an entire national religion (the Russian Orthodox Church)
And has been using it as a tool to assist in unleashing death like a dark blanket
Over the heads of a neighboring Slavic state
As the first step in re-establishing the “Mongol Empire.”

And then, there’s our own American QAnon clown blaring: “You’re so fired!”
On his way to establishing himself as a cult leader and wannabe tyrant –
Along the way, subverting a primitive Christian religion – Evangelicalism –
Into a ready willingness to trade in its past spiritual wealth for political hard-wired power –
Saying: “If you give me your votes, I’ll ensure abortion becomes unconstitutional”
By sprinkling “conservative” justices and judges like anti-feminist dust through the land –
Requesting his “Evangelical” followers, in fair return, to give him the American “throne!”

Following all this, clever peripheral guys have come flooding in – seeking open opportunities
To cynically work their game of manipulating hard hearted fools –
(Ones who think violence is “cool”) –
(Ones infected with fascism through a nightly Fox punditry dosage) –
All, in exchange for money, power, and cheap notoriety.

After God was sold out by many of the current Christian Evangelical leaders –
Young people saw through it all
Discovering that Christian “God” wasn’t necessarily “Good” –
Yet failing to understand they weren’t rejecting the “real” God
But only a “puppet” God promoted (from the beginning) by Satan
Who, it looks like, may, temporarily, be winning.

Yet, I promise that the real God is alive and on the way –
Armed with Truth, Love, Beauty, and Justice –
You’ve probably never seen nor experienced all those elemental powers of God at once –
Who, as the “true” God, will, of course, emerge victorious
Over all these recent tin-plated political/media online “gods.”

DISCOVERING WHAT GOD WANTS US TO ACTUALLY DO

“Each of our lives is a part of the lengthy process
of the universe gradually waking up and becoming
aware of itself.” Thomas Nagel

Given that enlightenment, by itself, turns out not to be enough,
The next question is: what does God want human beings to actually do?

Since human beings have all the potential mental and emotional “firepower” they’ll ever need,
how can they gain access to it?

The number of processing units within our mind/brain exceeds 100 trillion (1015) neural connections –
(which may be greater than the number of galaxies in the universe.)

Each one of us has this same potential.

But this “power” is not needed for literally everything – in fact, we’ll only encounter a limited number of critical moments in our lives when a “right” decision is necessary. When we reach such a crossroads, that is, when we find ourselves attempting to figure out what God would do if God were a human being – just like us – that’s when we’ll require access to this almost astral “mind.”

To achieve it, at a specific time and place, we first need to relinquish our “ego” or “false self” (even though a “shadow” ego might still be hanging around) and become a “nobody.”

This can be done!

Of course, to gain access to all this mental and emotional “firepower” – after our ego has once been set aside (even if only temporarily) – one also needs to get past our normal everyday human “appetites” for money, sex, food and status, as well as escape all the “stories,” socially-created and individually accepted, that have provided us with acceptable quotidian identities – whether national, racial, or religious.

So, to successfully become “nobody” is not such an easy task. We’ll need to acquire the innocence of a small child who accepts the “natural world” created by God – “thinking” and “feeling” in an open and natural way – to make the kind of decision God hopes we can make.

Each one of us has the necessary mental and emotional capacity to make a “right” decision for one’s self.

First, however, we have to want to get there – to that place of freedom and clarity. As I’ve said, this can be easy – even though usually considered almost impossible – but we are able to do it if that’s what we truly desire.

Our minds possess this almost “stellar” capacity to address essential life questions –  using our thoughts and feelings to discern the right answer – the same answer as God’s answer would be.

It’s the love of God that makes this possible.