If there is any consistent trend in the history of organized religion, it is that of prejudice. Hinduism has had its cruel caste system; Old Testament Jews, with the full support of Jehovah, committed acts of genocide against the residents of their so-called "Promised Land." Even today, Muslim-dominated nations sanction prejudice against their own women, denying girls an education to keep them subject to men. Can't forget fascism (which had the full support of Roman Catholic Church in Italy and Spain) and communism, the twin sides of totalitarianism. Two of the biggest scams in world history. But how about Christianity? To be fair, much good in the world, past and present, has been done by Christians. Take slavery, for instance. Although slavery was abolished primarily because it became economically unprofitable, many Christians became active in abolition. William Wilberforce was the most well-known, but there were many others. As a whole, however, Christianity has done much to advance intolerance, prejudice, and bigotry. Consider this list: The Crusades The many anti-heresy campaigns by the Roman Catholic Church Thousands of Jews murdered by Christians who thought they were the cause of the Black Death The thousands of women (and men) who were accused of witchcraft and were tortured and/or executed The Reformation. Catholics slaughtering Protestants. Protestants slaughtering Catholics. Protestants persecuting radical Protestants. Everyone discriminating against the Jews The Edict of Nantes The Roman Catholic Church's refusal to criticize the transatlantic slave trade during its earlier days The Thirty Years War Specific verses in the Bible was often cited to support these heinous activities. The Curse of Ham in Genesis 9 "defended" first slavery, and then segregation. I Timothy and other verses from Paul's letters are still cited today to support keeping women out of the pulpit. Romans 1 is STILL cited to support homophobia and discrimination against homosexuals. Anti-Semitism was also based on the New Testament. It was not until the Enlightenment that the virtues of tolerance, religious freedom, church and state separation, and other beliefs that touch on freedom, that the world started to change. The French Revolution was a key event in the promotion of the Enlightenment, yet church authorities did all they could to snuff out the ideals of the Revolution throughout the nineteenth century. Much of what is good in the world came from sources other than Scripture. And yet the naive still feel--not think, but feel--that one must be religious and "talk about faith" in order to become president of the United States. People never learn, do they?
Eventually. There is a threshold of pain, beyond which the Son is willing to go. Must take a long term view...millions of years...for full and total enlightenment. Meanwhile, your enlightenment is not dependent so much on time as on willingness. It is also achievable without anyone elses permission. Technically, the Son returns together. But once you are no longer subject to time and space, a million years is not really a delay to your return. Jesus
The world could only understand so much, 2000 years ago. Today, even though the world is just as insane as it was back then, its in a position to learn much more. Pop orthodoxy backed by sword-wielding politicians, became what is called Christianity. This was a continuation of old ways of thinking. You will notice that the idea of separating from the 'unclean' is the world's idea of holiness...a very old idea which predates time. This is exactly backwards from the all-encompassing nature of holiness. The power of holiness comes from it's all-inclusivness...it's wholeness. But the world is all about division from its very foundation. Prejudice kick-starts it and keeps it going. And because the world is feverishly believed in, you could say that prejudice is it's religion. The world is attempting to establish holiness by making others the guilty ones. This leads to clubs, cliques, 'holy lands', and 'holy places'. Pop Christianity believes that God will preserve His own holiness by separating himself from _______ (fill in the blank). The more people you can shove into that blank space, the cleaner you must be. This is the psychology of the world, which is insane, backwards and upside down. The superstitious believe that God is about to attack, and willing to dispense collective punishment. Attack upon 'unbelievers' is a way of surviving an attack by God, just in case he can be appeased by efforts to enforce this ancient idea of holiness. This psychosis calls for healing, and will eventually be healed. Religion ought to be the separation of truth from illusion in the mind, beginning with the concept of self, without regard to what anyone else is thinking at the moment. Religion, then, would be total tolerance about 'others', and total intolerance for false thoughts in one's own mind. Holiness is a way of thinking that sees no difference between anything, including everything as one. The power of this thought will "prevail against the gates of hell", which is the idea of holiness-by-separation. It's traceable to the fear of God which predates the Big Bang and runs the world to this day. The fear covers over something that feels even worse...a sense of guilt which derives from prejudice, which is a reaction to the idea of separation. The world is a reaction. So it is filled with reactionaries which are full of fear. Fear is an anxiety driven defense mechanism. In a state of fear, elaborate defenses are built. It inspires ingeniousness. But everything built in a state of fear ends up a miscreation, and ingeniousness is a waste of time and effort. Such is this world. Jesus
Whether it's study groups, churches, or anywhere else in this world, it appears there are multiple teachers and learners. But there is really only one Teacher, and one student. Learning was not necessary before this world began. Before learning, there was knowledge. The denial of knowledge forced ignorance and experience upon the mind. The world is learned. So it must be unlearned. It is learned through prejudice. It is unlearned by facing the world's most feared questions with "I don't know" as an unprejudiced answer: What am I? I don't know. What am I doing? I don't know. Where am I? I don't know. How should I look at the world? I don't know. How should I look at myself? I don't know. "I don't know" opens a non-prejudiced door in the mind so that What you are may enter and tell you of Itself. This is the birth of salvation. But if prejudice is your religion, that won't happen for a while. Jesus