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by Ember Summerhawk
"Imagine no religion..."
- John Lennon
June 11th, 2002
Picture if you will the following
scenario: You are going on a trip. The desired route has been
carefully plotted, and you feel confident in reaching your destination
with minimal hassle. Casually, you mention your trip to your
neighbor. "But wait," says he, "I know a much
better way to go." He then proceeds to give you directions.
They sound complicated, but he's a smart fellow, maybe he knows
something you don't. The day of the trip, you take his advice.
You get where you are going just fine, but you realize that
your own directions would have done just as well. And so it
is with religion.
In this land of "religious freedom" there seems to
be a great deal of religious intolerance. Sure, we've come a
long way from inquisition style "conversions" and
burning "witches", but how tolerant are we really?
Everyone thinks they have the best, or only, way to the Divine,
and some make sure they take every opportunity to tell you this.
The problem is that people fail to see the difference between
religion and spirituality. If we could rise above the structured
view of religion, and focus on spirituality, perhaps we could
see that there are many paths that one could conceivably follow.
Somehow, they are all interconnected. Remember: Jesus was born
into a Jewish family.
A friend of mine once stated that religion is
simply an accident of birth. If one is born into a Catholic
family, they are raised as such, and therefore usually remain
Catholic. Even if they become disenchanted with their original
birth religion, most people never actively change it. Therefore,
religious intolerance is largely a matter of "The way I
was raised is better than the way you were raised". This
then becomes an excuse to attack people of different belief
systems on the basis of superiority.
Let us consider this: the root base for the most
"popular" religions is the same. The Old Testament
covers Judaism, Christianity and Islam. If we delve into most
world mythologies, we will find similarities, recurring themes
and morals. * The virgin birth, the sacrificed god, God/dess
as creator/trix, they are all present. For those of you who
may think many of the stories of the bible are unique to this
set of myths alone, I assure you this is not the case. Therefore,
all religions are not as far apart as people think.
All we really have to do is look to other cultures.
Unfortunately, when it comes to religion and spirituality, too
many of us are closed-minded. That is truly a loss, as there
is so much for us to learn from one another. For example, most
Native Americans have no word in their language for "religion".
Faith, or spirituality, is something you are supposed to experience
every day. What a beautiful idea! If we could learn to see the
Divine in every person, every animal, every tree, how different
might our treatment of these things be. Living our spirituality
every day, every minute would lend a new meaning to our lives.**
Instead, a great many of us go once a week to an enclosed structure
where we promise to lead kinder, better lives, only to forget
it the second we reach the parking lot. We are satisfying the
needs of our religion, but have not developed a true spirituality.
I know of several Catholic people who do not agree with many
of the restrictions of the Church (such as birth control). They
are not specifically following the teachings of the Catholic
religion but their faith in God is strong. They are more spiritual
than religious.
My own awareness of the difference between religion
and spirituality came upon me when I was around 15 years old.
I was born into a very religious family and going to church
on Sunday, at least, was a must. So, one beautiful Sunday morning
I got up and prepared for church. I walked to the building by
myself and it hit me; I didn't need to go into this structure
to find "God" (at least the version I was taught to
believe in at that time). I walked past the church and kept
going to a local park. There I sat, talking to the Divine, truly
feeling His/Her presence. After I left, the feeling stayed with
me. I was a better person that entire week - all I had to do
was recall the feeling of total peace I felt in that park. So,
I did not have a "religious" experience - I had a
"spiritual" one. Although I still followed my birth
religion, I never felt the same about it. I was only going through
the motions. It was not until many, many years later that I
found my true path and spiritual happiness.*** This is the restriction
we attempt to put on people because their idea of the Divine
might be a little different, especially in the case of nature
religions and other forms of paganism. We need to become more
aware of the fact that all people are unique - and so should
be their concept of the Divine. Education and tolerance are
our only hope.
I do not in any way mean to say that all religious
people are not spiritual or vice versa. Nor do I mean to suggest
that religion is bad and should be avoided at all costs. Whatever
brings you closer to the Divine in a life-affirming manner is
wonderful. All positive faiths or religions are valid. Anything
that leads us to be better people, to respect other beings and
ourselves, and make the world a better place for our interaction
cannot be evil. Whatever our beliefs - Christian, Jewish, Islamic,
Buddhist, Pagan - we should not force these beliefs on others.
The path that I follow may not be right for you, and your path
may be wrong for your neighbor. The point I wish to make is
that people should respect other people's beliefs and not use
religion as an excuse for war or hatred. I would love to see
the day when we become less religious and more spiritual.
May your trip, by whichever path you choose,
be filled with enlightenment and fulfillment.
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*I would refer those interested in the study of mythology
to any of Joseph Campbell's works, especially the Masks of God
series.
**This is the basis of most (in some cases horribly misunderstood)
nature religions and paganism (i.e., Native American spirituality,
Wicca, Druidism, etc.). These people do not worship the devil
or perform sacrifices involving humans or (in most cases) animals.
Such actions are considered repugnant. The word pagan originates
from paganus or pagani, meaning country-dwellers, and refers
to those who continued to worship in the old way even after
the "new" religion, Christianity, became widespread.
Knowledge defeats fear and ignorance! Please visit www.religioustolerance.org
for more on this subject.
***For those who want to know, I am a pagan. Anyone who wants
to know more can e-mail me care of Vikar.
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