It is all the same

A longtime reader said she liked the way I gave an assignment every Friday. It was usually something to think about,and sometimes things to try. She misses that (and I think mostly that was just taking time off for holidays and papers). So she has asked me to come up with a weekend "assignment" for her. hmmmmmmmm The papers are finished, so get ready. The daily blog is back.

I was going to write today how the root to every major belief system is the same. It is the man made dogma that gets people in arguments that escalate to wars.Now how do I make a homework assignment out of that?

Every belief system tells you to be a good person, to not harm others, and that there is a reward for that behavior. That is it, every major religion in a nutshell. Then we get all tangled up in who said what, when they said it, who's book is THE book, and all that dogma.

There is no "The" book, or religion. Those are man made objects meant to teach you lessons. My English book when I was in school is different from the kid's books today. They both teach English and you don't see anyone stupid enough to get in a fight or war about that, but bring into it a genre that is SUPPOSED to be about peace and love, and we get war.

Who cares who your savior is??? Really? I could care less if you worship Jesus, or Buddah, as long as you are a good person, who does good things; is respectful to yourself, your friends, family and people around you; harms none. It should NEVER matter what a person's belief system is. When you are leading a good life, doing the right things, for the right reasons, God really doesn't give a crap if you go to church or not. As a matter of fact, there were no churches when people started believing in a higher power, they were thousands of years in the future. There was no Bible, no censure, no anything. Yet these are the exact things that get people's blood boiling.

Some of the WORST people I have ever met in my life have been "church people". Let me be clear, not everyone that goes to church is a bad person, however, not everyone that goes to church is a good person either. Some people wield church like a battle ax. You aren't a good person if you don't go to church; you are evil if you are a Pagan, Jew, Christian, whatever; you are a bad person if you haven't found God (found him? I didn't know he was lost!).

The Highest Power is in each of us, and we all need to cherish and celebrate that in our own way. Pagans were here before just about anyone else. The church gave them that moniker "pagan" to say they weren't one of the enlightened ones. PULEEZE....first, and they sure have a beautiful nature based religion. Buddhists, Taoists, and many other Eastern religions are the most peaceful bunch of folks. We need to learn about other religions and accept them. Many think Islam is a hateful religion, not true at all. We are unduly influenced by all the crazies who happen to be Islamic (and that seems to be more by geographical accident than choice).

People are people, good and bad, their religion does not make them a good person, and their religion does not make them a bad person.

So, the homework of the weekend, should you choose to accept it, is read up on the basis of another religion. Try Islam, you may like what you find! Read a Native American creation story like "Sons of the Wind". Take a book out of the library on comparative religion and read the synopsis of each one. Read the book of Tao and see how it relaxes you.It is simply a little instruction book for life. Read about the Hopis and how we came out of the center of the earth, or how the Jews believe the savior is coming. Read it, as much as you can, and you will see that the dates, names and the places change, but the theme of all of it is the same. There is a higher power, and if you do the right thing for the right reasons, and reap the rewards.

Simple. Nothing there to fight about.

Who will read something this weekend that inspires them , or changes their life? Maybe someone will, at least we will all be a little smarter, more tolerant (hopefully) of other people's religions, and get some Brownie points from the Universe.

Have a wonderful weekend.



Peshaui Wequashimese






(C)2011 Triple Moon Goddess Gina, May not be used, copied or reproduced without prior written permission.