A Chronic Moral Dilemma: Religion and Our Own Conscience, Part 4
Jesus’s True Contribution
Jesus was a man devoid of pretense. He had the mark of genius so rare in any time—someone who had reached full volitional consciousness—yet he had to depend on average minds to record and carry his message. Had he lived longer, I’m sure he would have taken his work to the next level. He would have resolved its existential contradictions, clarified the true essence of evil, and made what he preached more palatable for all. Instead, given the unexplained implications in his word, interpretation was left to those also lacking a proper standard of value from which to extract sound meaning. They relied on that period’s cultural standard, with the Submission/Domination Axis as their only reference and key moral conflict. Their solution was to turn the tables and become the dominant, and sacrifice was therefore perpetuated.
Jesus was at odds with the law and at odds with the church. He didn’t think the law was helping the people. He didn’t think the church was guarding their faith. They were envious. They wanted the love of those he drew voluntarily, and they still want it. Like Judas attempting to exploit his following, they were eager to silence him in order to put words in his mouth. Diminishing the power of the church by fostering independent spirituality was a massive threat to them. The message in his death was “Don’t give up your morality. Die for it if necessary, knowing it is a question of life or death.” By standing mute and adding nothing of his own, he showed what the rulers were all about. Challenging the trust of one divine leader for interpretation versus God being in every man—this was Jesus’ revelation, and one step closer to the truth of moral empowerment. For a power seeker, there is no greater threat. If morality was to be an attribute of the individual, next to follow would be self-government and they would be dethroned. They were.
The Medieval Truth
“My karma ran over your dogma.” —bumper sticker
Religions have been used through time as a license to torture. There isn’t a moral action they don’t have a penalty for; there isn’t a moral violation they are not guilty of. Whether purported now or 2000 years ago, a Spirit Murderer is behind every choice against the flow of natural life. Their job is to stop, condemn, sentence, and drag people to their deaths—their historic constant. Give them control even now, and their intentions would have the same medieval end.
I suffered their doctrines as a child, and the unbelievable violence. We had to memorize what we were expected to believe. Like learning to smoke, we had to ignore the convulsions and pretend we loved it. Only those who used lies to pursue plunder were good at it. To them, evasions came natural; from generation to generation it was the continual rebirth of the Socratic Method; of Apartheid; of the Spanish Inquisition. “Kill your body to free your soul. Accept your own worthlessness. Obey us because only we are privileged to interpret the unknowable. Trust no outsider. Damn enjoyment, damn progress, damn ability. Our perfect world of peace is a cemetery. We will never run out of victims, because someone will always want to live.”
I submit to you, that it was not a god who told you to violate your own nature—who said you can’t think, that you can’t protect yourself, that you must allow your life and happiness to be sacrificed and that you are guilty when you have done nothing wrong. It was not a god that told you to spit in your own face, but fear-based men.
Warrior Note: The good determined by any standard other than life will achieve its opposite.
The infamy is that if your guardians could start a new world from scratch, this is what they would teach that world with the cross as their symbol; as if to say, “Blood sacrifice: that is all you need to know.” Trust no dogma whose symbol is death! Only when their actions reflect their savior, not his killers, can we take them seriously. It is not so important how Jesus died. What is important is how he lived. When they return such a great man to the proper setting of life and worship that, we will know they are on the right path.
At this point in our history, I can’t help but feel that the morally-devoted of all faiths are starting down the path to life and freedom for all. I sense this is the result of good people pursuing healthy guidance, who have approached the building of their highest self with the most innocent of motives, yet have been betrayed by immense and all-pervading financial and political corruption worldwide. They know something has to change. They are learning that the faith they grant to their god cannot be transposed to our leaders, whose actions must pass the deepest and clearest scrutiny. Paraphrasing Bram Stoker, “We must not let our eyes see nor our ears hear, that which we cannot account for.”
Man’s Savior
Imagine going to confession and knowing you have no sins to confess. That state of guiltless purity is quite a sensation and quite a worthy goal, but the price is full volitional awareness—the lifelong commitment to stand naked before the truth of cognitive evidence. I won’t tell you that you can practice the opposite just by claiming it is right for you, and prosper with an approach that is contrary to life. Follow the rational process of cognition and you will not be confused. You will not be taken advantage of, and you will not be immoral. Instead, you will generate the most profound and lasting pride, never to be surrendered again. Face the world alone. Look to existence for the answers you seek, and as He said, “Turn over a stone, and you will find me.”