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This week I both read something very interesting about religion
and was questioned about religion, all within a few days of each
other. Those who follow this ministry are well aware that I am
not religious, nor do I have much good to say about religion in
general.
But,
anything that I have said or written about religion is probably
not as harsh as what the Master Mind Jesus said about religion.
This is from the Gospel of Matthew 23:13-15
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of
heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will
you let those enter who are trying to.
Woe to
you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you
have succeeded you make them twice as much a child of hell as
you are."
I
didn't make this up. Check your Bibles and you can read it, or
if you don't have one, go online and read it on biblegateway.com
or some similar Bible site. The reason I looked this up is
because I learned decades ago that the Master Mind Jesus
rejected religion. He was born as a Jew and lived as a Jew until
he experienced enlightenment. From that point forward, he
rejected religion, though his apostles definitely didn't by and
large. This brings me to what I read this week. It was an
article in the Washington Post titled "The Emerging Jews of
Columbia - Why are so many Christians in this South American
country converting to Orthodox Judaism?" The simplest
explanation given in the article was that these people believe
Jesus was Jewish and therefore they want to be like him. And I
cannot fault what touches someone's soul, but I feel their
reasoning is misguided. If indeed they wanted to be more like
Jesus, they would learn to meditate, study all the ancient
religious and spiritual wisdoms, and like him, come away from
that knowledge and insight knowing that religion is a prison
that keeps us from the "kingdom of G-d within us."
Orthodox Jews
believe that all of the practices in the Torah which it is
practical to obey must be obeyed without question. Does this
sound like something the zealot Jesus of Nazareth would follow?
If in doubt, look up and re-read Matthew 23:13-15. Jesus in
simple terms was a "soul man." The words "soul" and
"consciousness" are synonymous. He was spiritually enlightened,
not enlightened by religion. The Master Mind Jesus was teaching
spirituality, freedom from religious dogma. Even the seemingly
good religious dogma takes our freedom away from discovering our
own path to enlightenment. He knew this. I know this. And you
know this.
The other thing that
happened was the question I received about religion. I was in
the checkout at Ralph's and the checker said to me, "you're
Catholic, aren't you?" I was amazed at the question as I don't
wear anything religious; i.e. cross, pope hat, etc. I replied,
"I am an ex-Catholic. Are you Catholic?" Then she replied, "yes,
I was away from the church for awhile but then I have gone
back." At which I replied, "I haven't been Catholic since 1992."
She changed the subject. As I walked to my pickup truck with my
groceries I wondered why she thought I was Catholic. Was she
proselytizing or did she think I looked like someone in her
church? I will probably never know. But I will have to say, I
felt good reaffirming that I was no longer Catholic.
Keep the Faith!
Rev-Bates
(Reverend Dr. Henry Lee Bates)
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