During covid I was thrown out of church for not taking the jab or masking, and my beliefs have me completely isolated from other Christians.
Ironically, this is all written in their Book, if they would just read it.
You know who had my back through covid? Muslems. I tell these 'loving Christians' that and their heads spin off their pious little shoulders. The arrogance is incredible.
Keep writing Kathleen. We need you now more than ever.
It is rather shocking that the church would behave like this, but no more shocking than so much else that is happening now. I'm sure part of the process by which we are increasingly all being obliged to create our own direct relationship with the divine. God bless. (And keep resisting the jabs!)
I will not spend one second of my life hating anyone else for their religion or skin colour because that is what The Monster wants us to do. While we hate and kill, The Monster feeds and becomes stronger.
At the protests in Australia I saw Serbs and Croatians embracing - an impossibility before the tyranny. This is The Way.
Australia is where the Aborigines story of our present day dilemma is so profound. “ we walk in the Dreamtime owing this all to the Rainbow Serpent” that Dreamtime is dualistic and is threatened when humanity awakens and is not controlled by the dynamics of Dreamtime. “Nothing to live or die for and no religion too” Lennon/Ono.
And same with Old Testament - as the author of The Naked Bible tells us. He's interpreted the text in its original language - Aramaic - and discovered it wasn't about God. Oh my. He was working for the Vatican and when he went public, was promptly fired.
Long article with disturbing images written by my friend, Jim Perloff. Jim reviews/dissects the "Scofield Reference Bible" and its current use as basis for the "third return," something that before Scofield was unheard of in Scripture. https://jamesperloff.com/tag/scofield-reference-bible/
Thankyou for your interesting comment. I enjoy reading your posts although have never commented. I live in Victoria.I refused the vaccine,lost my job as a nurse,and many of my 'friends',and my 30 yr marriage ended.
I have however had a very different experience when it comes to other Christians. My experiences have bought me back to my beliefs and I have found great encouragement and support in Christians around me..
When the leaders of all the different religions all told us that the Covid vaccines were a gift from God, and the atheists hailed them as a gift from the god of technology.... I suddenly realized there is now a One World Religion with a universal requirement to believe that Evil is Good.
True enough. Though in my neck o'the woods - the few anti-jabbers are more aware about the extent of the deception overall and anti-human plan. But I do get your point. I've been sadly surprised by how many have gotten pulled on Israel-Gaza which is OBVIOUSLY same players or cult behind it, pulling their usual strings.
Rudolf Steiner, who was Christian in orientation, nonetheless said that in future every human being would be their own religion. That could sound anarchistic, but really it is a reference to how the divine spark (the same one) must be uniquely lit up and comprehended in each equally divine and unique soul - that is, not according to any formula, not subject to anybody else's confirmation or approval.
Thanks, Michael. Yes, Steiner keyed in on that - and so much more. As we know, he predicted even the vaccine as a way to disconnect people from their source.
I'd say definitely a great intensification of Ahrimanic influence, which was building all through the 20th century (look what happened in 1914 -1918 when machines first arrived on the battlefield) and is of course hugely intensifying again now. I think we must keep in mind the reason that this must happen, which is to give humanity the opportunity to resist, to overcome (and of course to invite higher powers to assist in that, without which it cannot be done).... however long it takes and however much sufferiing it involves. We should put plenty of attention on the great extent of awakening and engagement that is i already in progress, in response to the mounting horrors. Which takes us back to the orignial point of Kathleen's article. I especially love the anthroposophical persepective which says that to the extent of our struggle to understand what is going on, we are already giving higher powers permiission to get involved - just because we show that we do not surrender, do not passively accept, do not want to continue on that road.
Oh, brilliant, Kathleen! I’d like to read that book, if you ever write it. What a terrific critique on religion and done with such gentle touch.
Btw, I thought I was the only one who knew Billy Carson and here you are linking to his interview. Just a further testament that our spirits somewhere are dancing to a similar tune. Appreciate you so much.
I'm pretty sure I'll never write that book.😊 Been nearly 20 years in outline form and generally speaking, the subject is not as interesting to me anymore. (I think my subscribers are lucky to get this truncated version.)
I love Billy Carlson - came across him years ago on Gaia and since have kept an eye out - which is easy lately, since he's very busy. I like how much he holds in his head and how easily he can weave subjects, not to mention the matter of fact tone he uses when dropping reality-shattering bombs. Plus he's pretty cute.
Well, I’m glad I got the truncated version. It’s an important distinction between faith and religion and as often as the two get conflated, I wouldn’t be surprised if a book like that would do well.
I also have a subscription to Gaia, but I haven’t watched anything. I think Crawford is about to bust the new age piñata and Gaia is all wrapped up in it. I stumbled into Billy (and his gorgeous wife, le sigh) on IG. But I might have to take advantage of that subscription before it expires to get some more Carson wisdom.
Gaia is def a mixed bag - dropped it a few years ago. Think they have some serious con artists and malarky makers. Still, some good info too.(isn't that always the way?) A doc with Naseem Harriman I remember really liking and Open Minds has a wide-spectrum of mostly good guests.
Re Crawford - he's doing great work.
And of course BC has a gorgeous wife! Why wouldn't he? I am assuming IG is Instagram?
Yes, Instagram. Yes, lots of malarkey in the new age sphere. I wonder if the space was infiltrated by bad actors once it was established or if it was created by bad actors and sucked good actors in it.
I listened to an American Indian lawyer - while back and can't recall his name - who claimed it was an operation from the start, but that most people involved didn't know. A way of corralling the burgeoning new-agers and shaping their expectations and of course leading them down dead-ends. Made sense to me. Jay Weidner on the other hand, who was an early producer there, doesn't think so. But he could easily be clueless and sincere. (Like most of us!) Who knows?
I dropped Gaia, too, years ago; I followed David Wilcock for a while as a source of knowledge until I heard him interviewed one day and he kept breaking into tears and sobbing because he had just received a death threat; I thought, "you f--king wimp, grow a pair." That's when I knew he was a charlatan, which was confirmed later with his promotion of another charlatan, Corey Goode, and my foolishly buying Wilcock's book "The Ascension Mysteries," which was nothing more than his biography as a feckless stoner in the early 90s! The title was a complete falsity. That said, I did think Regina Meredith was an excellent interviewer on Gaia.
It's an interesting point you make that many Christians will say that anyone not following their particular beliefs is "doomed in the after life" when the very essence of Christian belief, the Apostle's creed, is perfectly clear on this point: Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty and from there shall come to judge the living and the dead. Yet it is often the case that people espousing other Christian beliefs refuse to leave it to Jesus Christ to judge the living and the dead. Instead, they will rush at you in a store (as I have been rushed) to insist that you read a particular Bible passage and know that your salvation depends on you right now doing what they say.
Yes, I do believe that the Bible is God's word, and I believe my friend who experienced a dream in which God told him that the Bible is the truth, but that it is not all of the truth. I also believe that there are many people who would be greatly relieved by and assisted by being baptised in water and in the Holy Spirit. I also believe that it is not agreeable to God, in God's own words, to force anyone else to believe, or pretend to believe, a particular set of things. God loves free will, He made so much of it. God's will be done. Praise God. Amen.
Nov 27, 2023·edited Nov 27, 2023Liked by Kathleen Devanney. A human.
Another good reason to abandon all man-made religious nonsense!
Bill Gates recently warned us the next viral illness was coming by stating "The next one will really get their attention"! How can so much evil be part of one man's character?
Example; A new spate of Chinese kids with mysterious sudden and often serious illnesses occurring.
The WHO is stalling on the matter - probably because they don't want us to know these kids were unnecessarily decimated with DEADLY Covid injections which destroy natural immunity FOREVER!
Bill Gates is the biggest benefactor of the WHO and he now controls their agenda and policies to further his own financial gain and implement his insane theories of how the planet should function under his 'rule'.
The UN has joined the list of now corrupted organisations we need to beware of!
Free speech is in real danger! I now regard the UN as obsolete and terminated.
It's now the most likely assumption, that the useless and DEADLY Covid jabs cause most new illnesses, but nobody wants to discuss it! Covid and other illnesses are attributable to useless but dangerous Vaxxes which cause numerous vulnerabilities to human illnesses.
The WHO and UN are therefore unanimously terminated by the world's population.
Re the Chinese illness - Jon Rappoport did stack on the link to increase in pollution too. Just more poisoning, in addiction to jab. That won't be reported of course, either.
I'm with you on the UN and WHO needing to be obsolete immediately. Best.
I read Jon's Substack, too, and he shows how the air pollution in Chinese cities is off the charts and lung diseases rampant there, so to judge a virus by how many Chinese are afflicted does not compare to how other people around the world might respond; something never mentioned.
"How can so much evil be part of one man's character?" Mick, recall the story of the man possessed by "Legion" ("there are hundreds of us") in the gospels; Jesus cast them out into a herd of pigs; from there they went on until finally finding a home in Bill Gates; that's how!
Kathleen, You and I are aligned on this article and many other points you mention in this post. Thank you for this.
This quote stuck out to me the most: "Do you suspect that manipulation and deceit - becoming more obvious by the day - made its way into our religious traditions?" And yes, 100% agree. As a Christian, I had to confront the "dark side of the faith" and I discuss those aspects in the following podcast: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/the-eternal-empire-how-the-roman#details
Thank you for this comment. I'd like to invite you to check out my Esoteric Wisdom section on my substack. There I dive into topics like these and focus on the Divine, rather than the religious dogma that attempt to explain the Divine: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/s/esoteric-wisdom
Thanks again for this work and looking forward to more deep philosophical insights like these.
You 'unpacked' it well. I couldn't agree more. Denominations bring division in the world of faith. And this...."Which brings us to an essential point: When faith is cloaked in religion, it’s like you joined a team. Suddenly there is something to protect or defend. When faith is simply a spark of recognition - there is nothing to defend or protect." Thanks for bringing into the light this oh-so-sensitive subject.
Just a later note: Clif High (on Substack as Aetherium Pirates of the Matterium) just did a podcast titled "Sister Christian" on how he's been corresponding with a fundamentalist Christian woman who first contacted him to tell him he was a damned blasphemer etc etc., and how their continuing correspondence has led her to research her religion and the Bible herself and she is coming around to see more of the truth about religion; Clif believes that she and many others (perhaps in this group of commenters of Kathleen's letter) are being prepared to move the culture forward and help others free themselves by sharing their experiences. Worth a listen.
A beautiful, sensitive, clear demarcation. Can't help but think about the architectural "form follows function" dictum, which really just mimics Nature; any person of/with faith who puts dogma ahead of that divine instinct is running afoul of Natural order.
And another thought, only because there are a number of comments about how the Christian church failed many during covid. I know this to be true, and... In my experience in 2021 NYS, the only place where large groups were gathering to share information about the jabs, our constitutional rights, and how to resist oppression were a few Christian churches. They were the rarities, the outliers, but they were there. Not that I disagree that the Christian religion was co-opted a long, long time ago -- I just want to share the relief I felt when I finally was in a room with 150 people who were not deceived. I will always be grateful for that.
So true on running afoul of Natural order. It's almost as if there's an attempt to do just that with just about everything. 😊
I love you had that experience in NY. So good to hear. And one of the more compelling reasons to be part of a religion is surely, is the community. Glad you have that memory.
Reality is more simple than we take it to be. All our forms of understanding are socially constructed, usually by the strong hands at any one time throughout history. ( I assume) that Roman bureaucrats were called on to pay some wise guys to collect wisdom writings to make a one god holy book that might keep folk from fighting on the trade routes quite so much. It's psy-ops all the way down but some substance must be included for a psy-op to work. We are obliged to find that substance, the truth behind the lies. This is how the divine acts in us, -and can take us beyond the limits of our perceptions and current understanding. We have become oriented toward kleptocrats fantasy conceptions of reality, whereas we hardly touch actual reality because of our crude split model of reality. This will only change when we collectively adopt a continuum model of reality where the subtle and the gross are recognized to interpenetrate and shape each other. Then we be will more likely too cultivate and enjoy our divine connections.
I love this distinction between faith as individually-accessed "essential intuition" versus outward religious expression.
I remember in the show The Last Kingdom, the main character Uhtred is getting flak from the devout king for never attending church services, and Uhtred says: "God created everything that surrounds me, the fields, rivers, the forests. The land is my church."
Amen.
Why can't someone practice faith in meditation, for example, or on a hike overlooking a gorgeous mountain vista? Outward religious practice may be one pathway of accessing authentic faith, but certainly not the only way, and, as you point out, it also happens to function as a manipulation (mainly through false identity-beliefs) by dishonest actors and authorities to make you follow their plan for you. (Like causing you to wage "holy war", or to inject yourself with an unquestionable pharma product delivered from the (false) gods.)
No one can discern the mind of God. If we could, with our little three-pound lumps of flesh in our head, he probably wouldn't be worthy.
We do the best we can with the tools we are given - the aforementioned pea-brain, a God-shaped hole in our hearts, evidence of His glory in all creation and the Bible. Not insubstantial, but not enough to claim any full understanding of existence.
Great post! I have been reckoning with such matters for a while here in small town Indiana. It is very difficult to state things as clearly as you have here by parsing out religion and faith.
The hardest thing to get down to is that most of mainstream Christianity is rooted in trinitarian doctrine. The passage John 14:6 expresses how clearly this points toward demeaning others' faiths (as you define this). It is a slippery slope from there to dehumanizing others and justifying their slaughter.
But you just can't talk about this in even the most liberal of churches.
Religion has created a lot of fog I think. When I realized the two aspects to faith it cleared up a lot for me.
And yes, so many slippery slopes once you pin faith to a particular religion. I think - I hope - we've all had enough of that.
Always a red flag for me, when my questions aren't received well.
I know religions have created a lot of great communities, so sometimes it's a matter of enjoying the benefits of that while maintaining your own ideas at the same time. Not always easy to navigate.
Bravo.
During covid I was thrown out of church for not taking the jab or masking, and my beliefs have me completely isolated from other Christians.
Ironically, this is all written in their Book, if they would just read it.
You know who had my back through covid? Muslems. I tell these 'loving Christians' that and their heads spin off their pious little shoulders. The arrogance is incredible.
Keep writing Kathleen. We need you now more than ever.
Thank you, Excess.
Many religious institutions revealed their fraudulent status during Covid.
So much is up for re-examination. Good.
Appreciate you, Excess. Best.
It is rather shocking that the church would behave like this, but no more shocking than so much else that is happening now. I'm sure part of the process by which we are increasingly all being obliged to create our own direct relationship with the divine. God bless. (And keep resisting the jabs!)
Yeah that kinda showed their cards. We're on to them now! Blessing back!
A touching story.
I will not spend one second of my life hating anyone else for their religion or skin colour because that is what The Monster wants us to do. While we hate and kill, The Monster feeds and becomes stronger.
At the protests in Australia I saw Serbs and Croatians embracing - an impossibility before the tyranny. This is The Way.
🎯
Exactly right, Excess. WE are so much better and bigger than that.
Isn't it funny then, how I am one of the most banned people in Australia?
They are really, really afraid of this message.
Definitely! They are afraid of 'us' unifying.
Australia is where the Aborigines story of our present day dilemma is so profound. “ we walk in the Dreamtime owing this all to the Rainbow Serpent” that Dreamtime is dualistic and is threatened when humanity awakens and is not controlled by the dynamics of Dreamtime. “Nothing to live or die for and no religion too” Lennon/Ono.
Good for you!
"Imagine' is my favorite Lennon song. Ahead of its time. Thank you.
That basically is what Jesus showed us in Gethsemane (sp). “Not in my name”
Christians do not read the Bible any more, or when they do, prefer to cherry pick and use it as a weapon to control others.
And same with Old Testament - as the author of The Naked Bible tells us. He's interpreted the text in its original language - Aramaic - and discovered it wasn't about God. Oh my. He was working for the Vatican and when he went public, was promptly fired.
The OT is a very good instruction manual on how not to behave.
Long article with disturbing images written by my friend, Jim Perloff. Jim reviews/dissects the "Scofield Reference Bible" and its current use as basis for the "third return," something that before Scofield was unheard of in Scripture. https://jamesperloff.com/tag/scofield-reference-bible/
Haven't read it all yet - very impressive. Thank you for sharing.
'Christian Zionism' is underpinned by genocide. It's quite a thing to behold.
I always say "point to where Christ says 'kill the children'."
(Crickets).
Same as the Truckers' Convoy, which saw Canadians of all races and ethnicities in a love fest, while Castreau called us racists.
Their spells are breaking. As soon as enough of us grok that and realize we don't need them, this planet gets better.
Thankyou for your interesting comment. I enjoy reading your posts although have never commented. I live in Victoria.I refused the vaccine,lost my job as a nurse,and many of my 'friends',and my 30 yr marriage ended.
I have however had a very different experience when it comes to other Christians. My experiences have bought me back to my beliefs and I have found great encouragement and support in Christians around me..
I am so, so glad to hear you found a community after such an awful experience.
I have found one online, but not in person.
When the leaders of all the different religions all told us that the Covid vaccines were a gift from God, and the atheists hailed them as a gift from the god of technology.... I suddenly realized there is now a One World Religion with a universal requirement to believe that Evil is Good.
🎯 Good for you! Thank you. Best.
Anti-jab pagan here to say, no single faction can be trusted to see through the ruse. Jabbers on all sides, thinkers few.
True enough. Though in my neck o'the woods - the few anti-jabbers are more aware about the extent of the deception overall and anti-human plan. But I do get your point. I've been sadly surprised by how many have gotten pulled on Israel-Gaza which is OBVIOUSLY same players or cult behind it, pulling their usual strings.
SIgh.
Appreciate the comment.
Yep. The turning of the screw known as “the perfect counterfeit “
So very well said Kathleen, I 'heartily' agree.
Rudolf Steiner, who was Christian in orientation, nonetheless said that in future every human being would be their own religion. That could sound anarchistic, but really it is a reference to how the divine spark (the same one) must be uniquely lit up and comprehended in each equally divine and unique soul - that is, not according to any formula, not subject to anybody else's confirmation or approval.
Thanks, Michael. Yes, Steiner keyed in on that - and so much more. As we know, he predicted even the vaccine as a way to disconnect people from their source.
Appreciate the comment. Best to you.
Yes, a vast and amazing body of work, including the prescient vaccine prediction. Best to you too - keep up the great work.
and today we can see coming to fruition Steiner's prediction of the establishment of the Ahrimanic 8th Sphere (called transhumanism today).
Oh, yeah. We're there.
Dark Journalist - you're probably familiar has covered a lot on the 8th Sphere.
Yep, that's where I've learned about it, as well as a lot about Steiner and Cayce et al. Gigi Young has a lot on that, too, on her YT channel.
I'd say definitely a great intensification of Ahrimanic influence, which was building all through the 20th century (look what happened in 1914 -1918 when machines first arrived on the battlefield) and is of course hugely intensifying again now. I think we must keep in mind the reason that this must happen, which is to give humanity the opportunity to resist, to overcome (and of course to invite higher powers to assist in that, without which it cannot be done).... however long it takes and however much sufferiing it involves. We should put plenty of attention on the great extent of awakening and engagement that is i already in progress, in response to the mounting horrors. Which takes us back to the orignial point of Kathleen's article. I especially love the anthroposophical persepective which says that to the extent of our struggle to understand what is going on, we are already giving higher powers permiission to get involved - just because we show that we do not surrender, do not passively accept, do not want to continue on that road.
Best.
Yes Steiner was an Initiate
Absolutely.
Oh, brilliant, Kathleen! I’d like to read that book, if you ever write it. What a terrific critique on religion and done with such gentle touch.
Btw, I thought I was the only one who knew Billy Carson and here you are linking to his interview. Just a further testament that our spirits somewhere are dancing to a similar tune. Appreciate you so much.
I'm pretty sure I'll never write that book.😊 Been nearly 20 years in outline form and generally speaking, the subject is not as interesting to me anymore. (I think my subscribers are lucky to get this truncated version.)
I love Billy Carlson - came across him years ago on Gaia and since have kept an eye out - which is easy lately, since he's very busy. I like how much he holds in his head and how easily he can weave subjects, not to mention the matter of fact tone he uses when dropping reality-shattering bombs. Plus he's pretty cute.
Good image, dancing partner. And I, you.
Yes, he is pretty easy on the eyes... 😂
Well, I’m glad I got the truncated version. It’s an important distinction between faith and religion and as often as the two get conflated, I wouldn’t be surprised if a book like that would do well.
I also have a subscription to Gaia, but I haven’t watched anything. I think Crawford is about to bust the new age piñata and Gaia is all wrapped up in it. I stumbled into Billy (and his gorgeous wife, le sigh) on IG. But I might have to take advantage of that subscription before it expires to get some more Carson wisdom.
Gaia is def a mixed bag - dropped it a few years ago. Think they have some serious con artists and malarky makers. Still, some good info too.(isn't that always the way?) A doc with Naseem Harriman I remember really liking and Open Minds has a wide-spectrum of mostly good guests.
Re Crawford - he's doing great work.
And of course BC has a gorgeous wife! Why wouldn't he? I am assuming IG is Instagram?
Yes, Instagram. Yes, lots of malarkey in the new age sphere. I wonder if the space was infiltrated by bad actors once it was established or if it was created by bad actors and sucked good actors in it.
I listened to an American Indian lawyer - while back and can't recall his name - who claimed it was an operation from the start, but that most people involved didn't know. A way of corralling the burgeoning new-agers and shaping their expectations and of course leading them down dead-ends. Made sense to me. Jay Weidner on the other hand, who was an early producer there, doesn't think so. But he could easily be clueless and sincere. (Like most of us!) Who knows?
I imagine, just like anything, kernels of truth are everywhere as long as you can discern them from the crap.
I dropped Gaia, too, years ago; I followed David Wilcock for a while as a source of knowledge until I heard him interviewed one day and he kept breaking into tears and sobbing because he had just received a death threat; I thought, "you f--king wimp, grow a pair." That's when I knew he was a charlatan, which was confirmed later with his promotion of another charlatan, Corey Goode, and my foolishly buying Wilcock's book "The Ascension Mysteries," which was nothing more than his biography as a feckless stoner in the early 90s! The title was a complete falsity. That said, I did think Regina Meredith was an excellent interviewer on Gaia.
It's an interesting point you make that many Christians will say that anyone not following their particular beliefs is "doomed in the after life" when the very essence of Christian belief, the Apostle's creed, is perfectly clear on this point: Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty and from there shall come to judge the living and the dead. Yet it is often the case that people espousing other Christian beliefs refuse to leave it to Jesus Christ to judge the living and the dead. Instead, they will rush at you in a store (as I have been rushed) to insist that you read a particular Bible passage and know that your salvation depends on you right now doing what they say.
Yes, I do believe that the Bible is God's word, and I believe my friend who experienced a dream in which God told him that the Bible is the truth, but that it is not all of the truth. I also believe that there are many people who would be greatly relieved by and assisted by being baptised in water and in the Holy Spirit. I also believe that it is not agreeable to God, in God's own words, to force anyone else to believe, or pretend to believe, a particular set of things. God loves free will, He made so much of it. God's will be done. Praise God. Amen.
Appreciate the thoughtful reply, Jim.
I respect faith and how it makes itself more known in such individual ways.
Thank you. Best.
God bless you. Amen.
Another good reason to abandon all man-made religious nonsense!
Bill Gates recently warned us the next viral illness was coming by stating "The next one will really get their attention"! How can so much evil be part of one man's character?
Example; A new spate of Chinese kids with mysterious sudden and often serious illnesses occurring.
The WHO is stalling on the matter - probably because they don't want us to know these kids were unnecessarily decimated with DEADLY Covid injections which destroy natural immunity FOREVER!
Bill Gates is the biggest benefactor of the WHO and he now controls their agenda and policies to further his own financial gain and implement his insane theories of how the planet should function under his 'rule'.
The UN has joined the list of now corrupted organisations we need to beware of!
Free speech is in real danger! I now regard the UN as obsolete and terminated.
It's now the most likely assumption, that the useless and DEADLY Covid jabs cause most new illnesses, but nobody wants to discuss it! Covid and other illnesses are attributable to useless but dangerous Vaxxes which cause numerous vulnerabilities to human illnesses.
The WHO and UN are therefore unanimously terminated by the world's population.
Mick from Hooe (UK) Unjabbed to live longer.
Thank for comment, Mick.
Re the Chinese illness - Jon Rappoport did stack on the link to increase in pollution too. Just more poisoning, in addiction to jab. That won't be reported of course, either.
I'm with you on the UN and WHO needing to be obsolete immediately. Best.
I read Jon's Substack, too, and he shows how the air pollution in Chinese cities is off the charts and lung diseases rampant there, so to judge a virus by how many Chinese are afflicted does not compare to how other people around the world might respond; something never mentioned.
"How can so much evil be part of one man's character?" Mick, recall the story of the man possessed by "Legion" ("there are hundreds of us") in the gospels; Jesus cast them out into a herd of pigs; from there they went on until finally finding a home in Bill Gates; that's how!
I agree with you. For me the UN was always a future evil.
Kathleen, You and I are aligned on this article and many other points you mention in this post. Thank you for this.
This quote stuck out to me the most: "Do you suspect that manipulation and deceit - becoming more obvious by the day - made its way into our religious traditions?" And yes, 100% agree. As a Christian, I had to confront the "dark side of the faith" and I discuss those aspects in the following podcast: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/the-eternal-empire-how-the-roman#details
Thank you for this comment. I'd like to invite you to check out my Esoteric Wisdom section on my substack. There I dive into topics like these and focus on the Divine, rather than the religious dogma that attempt to explain the Divine: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/s/esoteric-wisdom
Thanks again for this work and looking forward to more deep philosophical insights like these.
Thanks so much, Franklin. I will definitely check out your links. I appreciate the comment.
And good for you and your willingness to confront that. Not easy. Best.
You 'unpacked' it well. I couldn't agree more. Denominations bring division in the world of faith. And this...."Which brings us to an essential point: When faith is cloaked in religion, it’s like you joined a team. Suddenly there is something to protect or defend. When faith is simply a spark of recognition - there is nothing to defend or protect." Thanks for bringing into the light this oh-so-sensitive subject.
Thanks, Sadie Jay. I so appreciate you and your big heart and mind.♥️
Thank you for your comment. Glorious sounds to me, and reminds me of a favorite Aunt who favored that word, along with 'marvelous.'
Blessing to you, church or no church!
Best.
Wonderful piece.
Thank you, Howard.
Just a later note: Clif High (on Substack as Aetherium Pirates of the Matterium) just did a podcast titled "Sister Christian" on how he's been corresponding with a fundamentalist Christian woman who first contacted him to tell him he was a damned blasphemer etc etc., and how their continuing correspondence has led her to research her religion and the Bible herself and she is coming around to see more of the truth about religion; Clif believes that she and many others (perhaps in this group of commenters of Kathleen's letter) are being prepared to move the culture forward and help others free themselves by sharing their experiences. Worth a listen.
https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=681568&post_id=139278491&play_audio=true&r=z0lii&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo1ODgxNDQ0MiwicG9zdF9pZCI6MTM5Mjc4NDkxLCJpYXQiOjE3MDEyOTEzNzcsImV4cCI6MTcwMzg4MzM3NywiaXNzIjoicHViLTY4MTU2OCIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.cRgxg_8pbyL5aP0BXgRZsbuMmy3qejQqWK59kqCptoE#play
Thanks for that. I am subscribed to his stack too, but haven't gotten to that yet. Appreciate your alert take care.
Sorry, but I can't accept the jesus bit! But everything else seems to be plausible! Mick.
A beautiful, sensitive, clear demarcation. Can't help but think about the architectural "form follows function" dictum, which really just mimics Nature; any person of/with faith who puts dogma ahead of that divine instinct is running afoul of Natural order.
And another thought, only because there are a number of comments about how the Christian church failed many during covid. I know this to be true, and... In my experience in 2021 NYS, the only place where large groups were gathering to share information about the jabs, our constitutional rights, and how to resist oppression were a few Christian churches. They were the rarities, the outliers, but they were there. Not that I disagree that the Christian religion was co-opted a long, long time ago -- I just want to share the relief I felt when I finally was in a room with 150 people who were not deceived. I will always be grateful for that.
Great article as always, Kathleen.
Thanks so much, Mary!
So true on running afoul of Natural order. It's almost as if there's an attempt to do just that with just about everything. 😊
I love you had that experience in NY. So good to hear. And one of the more compelling reasons to be part of a religion is surely, is the community. Glad you have that memory.
Appreciate your comment - as always.
Reality is more simple than we take it to be. All our forms of understanding are socially constructed, usually by the strong hands at any one time throughout history. ( I assume) that Roman bureaucrats were called on to pay some wise guys to collect wisdom writings to make a one god holy book that might keep folk from fighting on the trade routes quite so much. It's psy-ops all the way down but some substance must be included for a psy-op to work. We are obliged to find that substance, the truth behind the lies. This is how the divine acts in us, -and can take us beyond the limits of our perceptions and current understanding. We have become oriented toward kleptocrats fantasy conceptions of reality, whereas we hardly touch actual reality because of our crude split model of reality. This will only change when we collectively adopt a continuum model of reality where the subtle and the gross are recognized to interpenetrate and shape each other. Then we be will more likely too cultivate and enjoy our divine connections.
"This is how the divine acts in us, -and can take us beyond the limits of our perceptions and current understanding."
Couldn't agree more!!
Beautiful comment - thank you, Sounder. Best.
I love this distinction between faith as individually-accessed "essential intuition" versus outward religious expression.
I remember in the show The Last Kingdom, the main character Uhtred is getting flak from the devout king for never attending church services, and Uhtred says: "God created everything that surrounds me, the fields, rivers, the forests. The land is my church."
Amen.
Why can't someone practice faith in meditation, for example, or on a hike overlooking a gorgeous mountain vista? Outward religious practice may be one pathway of accessing authentic faith, but certainly not the only way, and, as you point out, it also happens to function as a manipulation (mainly through false identity-beliefs) by dishonest actors and authorities to make you follow their plan for you. (Like causing you to wage "holy war", or to inject yourself with an unquestionable pharma product delivered from the (false) gods.)
Thanks, James.
"Why can't someone practice faith in meditation, for example, or on a hike overlooking a gorgeous mountain vista?"
Amen, is right. Appreciate the comment. Best to you.
No one can discern the mind of God. If we could, with our little three-pound lumps of flesh in our head, he probably wouldn't be worthy.
We do the best we can with the tools we are given - the aforementioned pea-brain, a God-shaped hole in our hearts, evidence of His glory in all creation and the Bible. Not insubstantial, but not enough to claim any full understanding of existence.
Indeed - our best with the tools given and a big dose of humility is always in order. Best.
Thanks, Bacon.
Great post! I have been reckoning with such matters for a while here in small town Indiana. It is very difficult to state things as clearly as you have here by parsing out religion and faith.
The hardest thing to get down to is that most of mainstream Christianity is rooted in trinitarian doctrine. The passage John 14:6 expresses how clearly this points toward demeaning others' faiths (as you define this). It is a slippery slope from there to dehumanizing others and justifying their slaughter.
But you just can't talk about this in even the most liberal of churches.
Thank you for that comment, Michael.
Religion has created a lot of fog I think. When I realized the two aspects to faith it cleared up a lot for me.
And yes, so many slippery slopes once you pin faith to a particular religion. I think - I hope - we've all had enough of that.
Always a red flag for me, when my questions aren't received well.
I know religions have created a lot of great communities, so sometimes it's a matter of enjoying the benefits of that while maintaining your own ideas at the same time. Not always easy to navigate.
Best to you.