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I was once at a party where the host asked me not to mention God. I’m not sure why I even showed up at their home. Today I wouldn’t, under those circumstances. At that party, guests used the “F” word, talked about nutrition, politics, hiking, their beach vacation homes, how difficult it is to get good help in Santa Fe, and various other topics, but no one mentioned the word “God”, except as part of a curse word. I suppose they felt comfortable mentioning God in their curses, but that’s another post for another day. This thread is about how I think that every person, whether they think so or not, has a God.
Before we go any further, I suppose I need to say that this culture has become quite simply, an open-air insane asylum. What’s even worse, the inmates are in charge. If you think things are bad, let me assure you that they’re much worse than you imagine, and will get worse than that! It’s not popular to point this out, as the prevailing mentality seems to be that everything is beautiful in its own way. You don’t believe me? Well, how would you describe a culture where the “F” word is perfectly acceptable, yet if you mention God, there’s something terribly wrong with you?
Everyone worships a God. For many people in early 21st Century America, it is the God of money, or materialism. These people realize that in this material world, money is power. As they say, it’s all about the Golden Rule: Those with the gold make the rules. The false God of materialism fools people into thinking that if they can make enough money, or accumulate enough possessions, or get comfortable enough, then they can relax and enjoy life. The catch is, they never get enough. Materialism gets everything backwards, for material comfort can come only when there is a measure of peace inside. The immortal Ascended Spiritual Master Jesus taught that if we seek first the things of Spirit, then everything else we need will be provided. He didn’t promise vacation homes, or a gold Rolex, or designer clothes., but He did assure us that our needs would be met….needs, not material world desires.
Many people worship a particular philosophy. In the US, Canada and Western Europe, the philosophy of multiculturalism has become a civil religion. Its tenets cannot be questioned any more than Catholicism could be questioned when it was in power three hundred years ago. The problem is that multiculturalism says one thing and does another. It claims to respect all cultures and belief systems, yet in fact, it attacks and belittles certain cultures and types of people. It is based upon a deep hatred of Western Civilization, and those who created it. It is, in fact, culturally nothing more than recycled Marxism. It is predicated upon continual racial and ethnic conflict. In today’s culture, you cannot question multiculturalism with risking loss of your job, your family or your home. It has become a religion, as fundamentalist in nature as any other form of fundamentalism. Do you want to see how tolerant they really are, how much diversity they truly celebrate? Disagree with them, and they will try to rip out your throat. Their God is conformity. You’d better conform, or else.
There are some who worship a book, and a particular interpretation of their book. The most visible of these are some of the evangelical Protestants. They literally worship a book. Their God is the Bible. If you watch the TV preachers, you’ll notice how they wave the book back and forth over their heads. They hold it up for all to adore. They don’t so much pay attention to the teachings, as to the bound pages of the book. I find that difficult to understand, as each Protestant sect has its own interpretation of the book, many of them conflicting, and each claiming to be right! Obviously, they can’t all be right with such conflicting beliefs. It is ironic that one of the 10 Commandments of their book says, “You shall have no other God but me”. Their book forbids idolatry, yet they idolize a book, bound pages of paper and ink. This is astounding, isn’t it? What’s even more astounding is the political power they have amassed over us.
Some people call themselves "atheists," claiming not to believe in any God, yet they do. Some believe in the God of scientific, rational materialism. Some believe in the God of democracy, and have turned the US into a missionary organization, intent upon imposing their belief system upon the entire world. How can anyone claim this is not a religion? It obviously is, and a dangerous one, at that-perhaps even more dangerous than the religionof Communism proved to be. Incidentally, I've met very few true atheists-with a few of the notable exceptions being here on the internet. I’ve had many conversations with atheists, and I discovered that most had been painfully abused by religion, or raised by people who were abused by religion. They disbelieve in the God they were taught about, not necessarily the Creator. They tell us that the universe was created by a Big Bang. I have this to say about big bangs. To claim that the beauty and complexity of the universe merely resulted from a big bang is like saying that the Encyclopedia Britannica resulted from an explosion in a print shop.
Some people worship another person as God. This is quite common in the guru system of India. I’ve never been able to understand that. I share so many of the spiritual beliefs of Hinduism. I believe in reincarnation, and I find much inspiration in the ancient Vedic literature, yet I’ve never been able to appreciate worshipping the guru as God. There are just too many cheaters who set themselves up as gurus. It is dangerous to acknowledge divinity in someone else without seeing divinity in yourself. Too many people are running around looking for false Gods to worship. Even with as much beauty as I find in the traditional spirituality of India, I continue to be dismayed by the insistence of gurus that they be worshipped. At the same time, there are certain teachers who are obviously highly advanced souls. I can simply look at a picture of Paramahansa Yogananda, and I see God. His divinity shines through the physical. Paramahansaji always pointed away from himself and toward the Creator. One of my teachers helped a lot of people with the ceremonies he ran, and he always made a point of asking them to thank the Creator, and not him.This is the sign of a true guru.
Many people worship the State as God. They depend upon the God of government to regulate every aspect of their lives, just as surely as 11th Century Christians depended upon the Church to regulate their lives. Many people worship the God of the nation. These people are nationalists. They are not patriots, they are nationalists. There is a huge difference between the two. Nationalists are aggressive and belligerent. They attack other nations, for they see others as less than themselves. They offer up their sons to be sacrificed upon the altar of militarism, another false God.
Everyone worships a God. The question is not whether you believe in a God or not.
The question is, what "God" do you worship?
Before we go any further, I suppose I need to say that this culture has become quite simply, an open-air insane asylum. What’s even worse, the inmates are in charge. If you think things are bad, let me assure you that they’re much worse than you imagine, and will get worse than that! It’s not popular to point this out, as the prevailing mentality seems to be that everything is beautiful in its own way. You don’t believe me? Well, how would you describe a culture where the “F” word is perfectly acceptable, yet if you mention God, there’s something terribly wrong with you?
Everyone worships a God. For many people in early 21st Century America, it is the God of money, or materialism. These people realize that in this material world, money is power. As they say, it’s all about the Golden Rule: Those with the gold make the rules. The false God of materialism fools people into thinking that if they can make enough money, or accumulate enough possessions, or get comfortable enough, then they can relax and enjoy life. The catch is, they never get enough. Materialism gets everything backwards, for material comfort can come only when there is a measure of peace inside. The immortal Ascended Spiritual Master Jesus taught that if we seek first the things of Spirit, then everything else we need will be provided. He didn’t promise vacation homes, or a gold Rolex, or designer clothes., but He did assure us that our needs would be met….needs, not material world desires.
Many people worship a particular philosophy. In the US, Canada and Western Europe, the philosophy of multiculturalism has become a civil religion. Its tenets cannot be questioned any more than Catholicism could be questioned when it was in power three hundred years ago. The problem is that multiculturalism says one thing and does another. It claims to respect all cultures and belief systems, yet in fact, it attacks and belittles certain cultures and types of people. It is based upon a deep hatred of Western Civilization, and those who created it. It is, in fact, culturally nothing more than recycled Marxism. It is predicated upon continual racial and ethnic conflict. In today’s culture, you cannot question multiculturalism with risking loss of your job, your family or your home. It has become a religion, as fundamentalist in nature as any other form of fundamentalism. Do you want to see how tolerant they really are, how much diversity they truly celebrate? Disagree with them, and they will try to rip out your throat. Their God is conformity. You’d better conform, or else.
There are some who worship a book, and a particular interpretation of their book. The most visible of these are some of the evangelical Protestants. They literally worship a book. Their God is the Bible. If you watch the TV preachers, you’ll notice how they wave the book back and forth over their heads. They hold it up for all to adore. They don’t so much pay attention to the teachings, as to the bound pages of the book. I find that difficult to understand, as each Protestant sect has its own interpretation of the book, many of them conflicting, and each claiming to be right! Obviously, they can’t all be right with such conflicting beliefs. It is ironic that one of the 10 Commandments of their book says, “You shall have no other God but me”. Their book forbids idolatry, yet they idolize a book, bound pages of paper and ink. This is astounding, isn’t it? What’s even more astounding is the political power they have amassed over us.
Some people call themselves "atheists," claiming not to believe in any God, yet they do. Some believe in the God of scientific, rational materialism. Some believe in the God of democracy, and have turned the US into a missionary organization, intent upon imposing their belief system upon the entire world. How can anyone claim this is not a religion? It obviously is, and a dangerous one, at that-perhaps even more dangerous than the religionof Communism proved to be. Incidentally, I've met very few true atheists-with a few of the notable exceptions being here on the internet. I’ve had many conversations with atheists, and I discovered that most had been painfully abused by religion, or raised by people who were abused by religion. They disbelieve in the God they were taught about, not necessarily the Creator. They tell us that the universe was created by a Big Bang. I have this to say about big bangs. To claim that the beauty and complexity of the universe merely resulted from a big bang is like saying that the Encyclopedia Britannica resulted from an explosion in a print shop.
Some people worship another person as God. This is quite common in the guru system of India. I’ve never been able to understand that. I share so many of the spiritual beliefs of Hinduism. I believe in reincarnation, and I find much inspiration in the ancient Vedic literature, yet I’ve never been able to appreciate worshipping the guru as God. There are just too many cheaters who set themselves up as gurus. It is dangerous to acknowledge divinity in someone else without seeing divinity in yourself. Too many people are running around looking for false Gods to worship. Even with as much beauty as I find in the traditional spirituality of India, I continue to be dismayed by the insistence of gurus that they be worshipped. At the same time, there are certain teachers who are obviously highly advanced souls. I can simply look at a picture of Paramahansa Yogananda, and I see God. His divinity shines through the physical. Paramahansaji always pointed away from himself and toward the Creator. One of my teachers helped a lot of people with the ceremonies he ran, and he always made a point of asking them to thank the Creator, and not him.This is the sign of a true guru.
Many people worship the State as God. They depend upon the God of government to regulate every aspect of their lives, just as surely as 11th Century Christians depended upon the Church to regulate their lives. Many people worship the God of the nation. These people are nationalists. They are not patriots, they are nationalists. There is a huge difference between the two. Nationalists are aggressive and belligerent. They attack other nations, for they see others as less than themselves. They offer up their sons to be sacrificed upon the altar of militarism, another false God.
Everyone worships a God. The question is not whether you believe in a God or not.
The question is, what "God" do you worship?
