What Do You Believe?

When Was the Last Time You Asked Yourself This Question?

I’m aggravated. With myself, mostly. I came across an article the other day written by a “Biblical Worldview Christian” that slammed progressive Christian views, along with a lot of other people and ideas and proclaimed that her southern Baptist viewpoint was the only valid way to believe and worship, using quotations from the Bible as “proof” that she was right, and everyone else with a different point of view was wrong. I know better than to interact with closed minded people, but I just couldn’t help myself and commented, using my own quotes from the Bible including “judge not,” “love thy neighbor,” and “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

Unsurprisingly, she did not have an epiphany. Rather, she doubled down, and I reminded myself that I’d just expended time and effort for no good or productive reason. I neither needed the frustration nor did I have the time and energy to spare, hence the self-aggravation. What’s the point of debating something when neither side is going to consider the other side seriously?

Everyone has the right to believe in whatever they want, and if she believes the Bible – that is, her interpretation and translation of the Bible – is infallible, that’s her right, but freedom of religion does not mean you have the right to cram your religious beliefs down anyone else’s throat, which is exactly what is happening with the attempts to mandate the posting of the Ten Commandments and teaching the Bible in public school classrooms, or base and change civil laws such as personal choices including marital and medical rights, and limit personal freedoms.

Enough of that, though, and let’s get down to the nitty gritty and purpose of this article, which is meant to prompt personal reflection. What do you believe? Bringing religion into it is your choice, do or don’t, but when was the last time you challenged yourself to pin down your beliefs, to do a self-analysis and organize your thoughts? If it’s been a while, you owe it to yourself to find the time to do so, just so you’ll be in better touch with yourself.

WARNING: This can be uncomfortable if you realize that some of the things you were taught by people who love you no longer resonate or make any sense. I went through this quite some time ago. I’m no longer a traditionally religious person. I was raised a Christian, but the older I got, the less some aspects of the religion made sense to me. I just couldn’t reconcile the god described in the Bible with the god I felt in my heart. It all came to a head when I attended a photographic exhibit in Albuquerque, NM years ago depicting Tibetan monks and nuns who had been captured by the Chinese and tortured, who spent the rest of their lives praying for their captors and torturers. I thought to myself, “And these people are supposedly going to hell, because they worship differently? No way in hell (pun intended)!

Years later, I began to channel the Archangels and share their messages with others, and they confirmed what I already knew. There is no hell or devil, and we are all loved unconditionally. The lady whose article I objected to had a lot to say about hell and judgment, that because god is just, people like Hitler and Stalin would burn in hell eternally. I asked her if she thought the people who bombed abortion clinics, persecuted and killed other people they believed the Bible condemned in the name of God and Jesus, and wanted to wipe some people off the face of the Earth should also reside in hell, but she didn’t answer. I wonder if she thought Hitler and Stalin would be spared if they were also washed in the blood of Christ, as she was.

I digress. Back to what you believe. Sometimes, it’s easier to ask yourself what you don’t believe. I stopped believing that only Christians could gain access to Heaven, and that led to a lot of reflection and pinning down what I did and didn’t believe regarding my religion. Once I realized I didn’t have to forsake Jesus and Mary and the Angels and my belief in a higher power even if I left churches and religion behind, I quit Christianity (I hear a lot of gasps), and I’ve never felt closer to my higher power than I do now.

I’m not suggesting that anyone should leave behind their religion. If it still works for you, great, but it no longer works for me. That doesn’t mean I’m right and you’re wrong, or vice-versa. We just have different ideas, and that’s okay. I don’t have any horror stories as some people do, about religious abuse and trauma. I simply didn’t need a middleman anymore to connect with God, and I didn’t want to be around people who thought Jesus would condemn two thirds of the world’s population to eternal damnation simply because they didn’t worship Him. I still believe that Jesus is love. Having channeled Him also, I know this is true.

The Archangels say that if a religion brings the person who practices it joy, hope, love, and peace, and if it inspires kindness towards others, it is a good religion for that person to practice. However, they say there is something wrong when a religion inspires fear, anger, and persecution of others or tries to exert control over others. They further say that any religion that promotes these things in the name of God is absolutely in the wrong. It turns out that God really is a loving God, and He/She/It doesn’t favor any particular religion, much less exclude any people from that love.

It takes courage to reevaluate life-long beliefs, and if you have joy, hope, love, and peace in your heart and practice kindness, there’s really no need to make adjustments, whether you’re religious, or not. If you do decide you need to re-contemplate and possibly make some changes, you don’t have to worry about making God mad or getting zapped or anything. I was worried about that initially, but nope! Wrath, vengeance, jealousy, punishment, condemnation, etc. apply to human beings, not the source of all creation. The Creator is beyond and above such things. That’s hard for a lot of people to grasp, but there it is. No matter what we do, we are loved.

I’m still learning and growing and adjusting my views and beliefs about who I think of as God. I no longer view God as a man sitting in judgment on a throne in the sky with a white beard and long hair. I’m not sure I see Him/Her/It as a single being at all. Maybe God is an overall consciousness. I’m still figuring it out, and chances are, I may never know for sure. Can anyone really know for sure?

In the meantime, I’m content to go about my life, mindful of gathering in more joy, hope, love, and peace, and being kind to others as much as possible, which is a reminder to me to stop engaging with religious zealots who are too closed minded to listen anyway. The best thing I can do for those people is to send them loving energy, even as they say they’ll pray for me, assuming they’re not part of the group who condemns me to hell, as many have. They’re on their own path, just as I’m on mine. Their life is not my business.

I asked the Angels once what I should answer when people asked me what religion I practiced, as the question made me uncomfortable. They suggested answering that my religion was love. Not for just certain people, but for all people, which can be challenging sometimes, especially when it comes to those who do not exhibit or inspire love, but it’s something I can aspire to do.

So, I’ll wish that lady who wrote the article that aggravated me well, and I’ll try to remember that I can better use my time and energy in other endeavors, instead of sharing my opinions with her and others like her. Maybe she’ll “see the light” or as I think of it, get beyond “not seeing the forest for the trees,” and maybe she won’t. That’s not my problem or my responsibility. All I can do is wish her well, and I do.

Blessings to her and to all of you.