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This
past week I came across these statements in the news:
"I KNEW that my God was bigger than
his," Lieutenant General William G. Boykin said of his Muslim
opponent. "I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an
idol."
The
good Lieutenant is speaking from his consciousness, so he is neither
right or wrong. This is the level of his spiritual awareness ...
and what it is ... is what it is. Unfortunately it is a
consciousness that hasn't evolved to understand that the God he is
referring to is the same God as his opponent's. There is only One.
The Lieutenant is like so many people who follow religion, they have
never truly studied their religion. Being of the Christian faith,
if the Lieutenant had studied the teachings of Jesus and prayed for
understanding, he would realize the error of his statement.
When we mix man-made
religion with man-made politics, it is difficult even for the most
intelligent of us to avoid confrontation or fear. Since much of
religion is politically motivated ... in other words self-serving ...
bringing it into the political arena is certain to bring discord of some
nature. The nature of God is self-less-ness ... not self-serving
.. so immediately we have created an opportunity for chaos when we
combine them.
So much of religion is based
on confusion. There are those who continue to believe that God
created Adam and Eve only ... yet when the scriptures stated that the
sons had wives ... where did they come from? Is this confusing or
... is their a more profound Truth offered in the scriptures than the
creation of a man and a woman? Of course, we know there is
something greater for us to understand than Adam and Eve in the Creation
story. But those who follow religion by and large still cling to
the literal text and ignore the obvious. These are the ones who
are still fighting the enemies of the Old Testament and who have created
"my god and your god."
Self-serving zealots have
used religion since its creation to destroy, malign, and hold
people in bondage to fear. Religion has been used to manipulate
the masses to embrace anti-Semitism, racism, nationalism, homophobia and
sexism, and politicians have capitalized on this fear. As we look
at the history of the world it is obvious that those with the greatest
fervor for religion have also been some of the most vicious characters
in history. Even today, in the Year 2003, we have religious and
political leaders with religious zeal, who, I am sure would make the
words of Jesus come alive again when he shouted, "you vile and
ruthless race .. do you not have eyes to see and ears to hear?"
Jesus knew that those who professed to have the greatest zeal for
religion often "... have no love in your hearts."
Religion and politics maintain their
status quo by maintaining false spiritual values ... by separating us
from God by separating us from each other. Both religion and
politics have been and continue to be guilty of using and manipulating
those who are naive enough to look to them for guidance instead of God.
In their "child-like" loyalty to a particular religion or
political group they have been used to further the self-serving
ambitions of those who, in their ignorance, have used them to deny God.
In the Book of Isaiah we
can read, "I, I Am the Lord, thou shall have no gods but me."
In other words, we must leave the false gods of religious leaders and
politicians and look to God and God alone for our peace and our
security. History has already shown us what they have done to the
Garden of Eden.
Religion and politics look to God to serve them
... when in Truth ... we are here to serve God.
And
So It Is!
Letting
Love Use Me In Its Own Good Way,
Henry
Lee Bates
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