Tag: religion

New Creed

Love is true doctrine.

Kindness is the Sacrament.

Earth can be Heaven.

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In Spirit

Beneath the Cross, I find my home.

Yet wherever you may roam,

I hope you find the peace you need,

That you may be from mis’ry freed.

You may not share my home with me,

And find some other family.

But on the day we all return,

We’ll find we all have much to learn.

Yet if we seek, while we are here,

To love and help and lend an ear

To live with kindness openly,

Kin in Spirit we will be.

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I Believe

It’s not that I’ve left faith behind

I’ve simply cleared my space to find

That I’ve no room for doctrine’s press

Or creeds that cause my mind to stress

‘Bout whether I belong or not

I can’t abide that kind of thought

To me the Spirit’s ever-near

To anyone with ears to hear

Without regard to mosque or mountain

Church or temple, Spirit’s fountain

Waters any willing ground

In whom desire for truth is found

Even those that don’t believe

Can the blessedness receive

God only needs a gentle heart

Willing to do its own part

To make this world a better place

Regardless of the worship space

Now there are those who’d call me lost

A heathen, desperate doubter tossed

Among the waves of modern times

Dressing heresy in rhymes

And that’s just fine, think what you might

I’m only trying to spread light

And love and life as I know how

The rest just doesn’t matter now

But I must say before I go

God’s more than what we think we know.

Politics & Religion

Much better this whole world would be

If everyone were just like me!

Why can’t the scattered masses see

That I alone possess the key?

It cannot be that there is space

That there is peace, that there is grace

Enough for all just as they are

For everybody, near and far

I must be right, it must be true

If it’s for me, then it’s for you

For if we all can coexist

I can’t on my own way insist

That’s why I can’t let difference go

Truth be told, it scares me so.

Forced Religion: A Change in My Thinking

So normally, I’d advocate for voting according to one’s religious values. Recently, though, I have been making a distinction between voting with love and compassion as opposed to “this or that” spiritual inclination. As I’ve reflected on this change, here’s the reason that came to me:

Theocracies are always oppressive.

Whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or any other historically theocratic society, governments based on religious principles always fail their people. At best, the majority of citizens fall under the correct religious umbrella and a minority are persecuted. At worst you have the Taliban, who don’t care about religion so much as control with a religious flavor.

The United States was established by mostly Christian/Deist men. This should not be confused with the idea that the U.S. was supposed to be a Christian nation. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have protections of varied religious practices and protection against the establishment of a state religion.

I bring this up because I realized more explicitly that there is something very unspiritual about voting for a government that would force one’s spirituality on other people. Both liberals and conservatives do this, and it is quite unnerving.

Anti-abortion advocates are heavily driven by religious ideology, usually Christian. The same goes for those who are pro and anti-marriage equality or immigration reform.To force such views on each other via the vote is actually one of the most un-American, unconstitutional, and unkind things we could ever do.

Our nation was designed with a secular bent, not because the founders thought religion was stupid or going away, but because they recognized the danger in government enforcement of religious doctrine. The citizens of this country were expected to vote according to secular principles, using education, reason, and logic to make national decisions. While I would and compassion and neighborly love to this list, I otherwise agree wholeheartedly with this approach.

Now we only vote every four years in terms of the presidency, but how often do we judge or criticize others because they don’t adhere to our religious or spiritual values? Far too often, I’d say. This is, in and of itself, an unspiritual, impious tendency that needs to be eliminated. The world is too big and too diverse for one religious clan or the other to go around constantly bitching at each other, as it only results in violence, whether physical or ideological.

Now I am a Quaker. I have principles that I will adhere to in my everyday life, and those principles may get me into conflict. I, however, should not attempt to shape the rest of the world according to my views. I should simply act in accordance with the principles of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, and Equality; the rest will work itself out.

If we were more focused on individually living our own spiritualities rather than trying to force others to do so, this world might be a better place. So I have made a vow to try and do just that. I pray you’ll join me so that maybe this country can fully become the diverse, beneficial, and tolerant nation it was designed to be.

Peace be with you!