The Failure of Organized Religion

Your soul is a part of God. What then is flesh and bone? It is only a container for the spirit.

Your body is a natural born pleasure-seeker. The more pleasurable a sensation, the more you will seek it.

To know God, to know bliss, or ecstasy, is our highest calling while alive.

Your brain is a natural born pleasure-seeker. The more pleasurable a sensation, the more you will seek it.

Religion is a way to find and experience personal ecstasy. Organized religion should teach us how to attain ecstasy. Organized religion fails in this duty. It has failed to teach the importance of, and implementation of, the golden rule in our lives.

Instead the emphasis has been on monument building. Or, growing lists of members. Or, growing collection plates. Or, any number of other divergent pathways.

Any organization that fails in its primary mission is by definition, a failure.

Implementation of the golden rule provides a richer, longer lasting experience of ecstasy.

Humans will seek the pleasures available. We seek the ability to be outside of ourselves in many diverse ways. We seek to be outside of ourselves through the substitution of the transient experiences of sex. We seek to be outside of ourselves through attendance of sports events. We seek to be outside of ourselves through participation in sports. We gamble. We go to music events. We dance. We appreciate the arts. We take drugs.

Religion has failed in this fundamental teaching role. The leaders of religion have taken their “eyes off the ball”. The leaders of religion have gone “off task”. The leaders of religion are “missing the boat”. The leaders of religion are “losing their audience”.

Obviously organized religion has been failing in this task for a long time. It takes a long period of continual failure for this many alternative activities to become strong parts of a culture. Why else are they organized? Perhaps it has been that less important issues have been emphasized?

Individuals need to be taught how to attain ecstasy through implementation of the golden rule. This is simply more important than teaching a specific rote prayer. It takes longer to learn. It is harder to teach. It requires more effort from priest and participant. For all of these diverse activities to be so emphasized in our modern culture is a clear signal. A clear signal that religions need to reemphasize people. People are more important than structures, costumes, rituals, and fat coffers.

You cannot substitute a gift of money for your time. Your time is much more valuable than money. You cannot buy your way into "Heaven". You can earn a higher value for your life when you arrive there.

How else does one achieve harmony with other human beings? How else does one achieve harmony with one’s environment? How else does one achieve harmony with God? “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.” ( Matt. 7: 12)

Simple, and so, so hard to do.

Jesus taught us to love our enemies. To turn the other cheek.

You must go beyond expectation of a personal return for your effort. You need to understand the value and importance of your efforts on behalf of someone who does not like you. Someone who does not know you. Someone who who does not care about you.

You cannot expect that if you attempt to feel as does someone else that that feeling will ever be returned in kind. This is especially true for someone you call your enemy,

Western civilization has suffered a gradual diminishment in our general social awareness. This is the main issue that relates to the long term, slow decline in membership in service organizations. Particularly the decline of participation by younger adults.

All too many people see and feel less and less of a connection with others. They have never been taught how to feel this connection. They have never learned it.

(c) Copyright 2006: George Wallace recently published a book on religion which lashes out at nearly all of the comfortable ideas about God, the trappings of organized religion, and the priesthood. His pithy comments and suggestions for a return to a God-centered personal religion will interest everyone. This article may be freely reprinted so long as all copyright attributions, and the full content of this resource box are included. www.OhGodIsThatYou.com

Article Source: http://www.writerspenarticledirectory.com

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated