I have told you before that we are in a new age, one of greater spiritual responsibility. The dangers of that new paradigm are crystallizing before us.
In the “west”, you have a hedonistic society, based upon freedom, but which seems to have been corrupted by that very freedom. Western capitalism sponsors more steps down the slippery slope of moral decay. Businesses justify each step as their right to widen markets, for example, by identifying teenagers as a demographic to be exploited. Madison Avenue firms use marketing ploys that appeal to teen’s undeveloped morals, hormonally induced sense of alienation and their need to belong, to convince them that they need more and more risque fashions, expensive toys, and “Bling” jewelry. While parents try to steer kids clear of sex, sexiness is being marketed to them. Meanwhile every attempt to reign in on unhealthy excess seems to be met by Hedonists who use cries of freedom to prevent limiting access to their personal medication of choice (drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, food, religion, etc.)
Meanwhile in the Middle-East, you have Islamic extremists who point out these very same failings as proof that we of the “West” either in league with Satan or at best under his influence.
Christianity is based upon the ministry of Jesus, roughly a three year span, cut short by his sacrifice upon the cross. He barely had time to set out rules for living the “Christed” life, he had no real political power in his day. Contrast that to a religion based on a much larger legacy. Islam is based in part upon a book, the Koran (written entirely by one author/prophet “directly dictated from God”) and part upon the Hadiths or written examples of how the Seal of the Prophets (Muhammad, the Last Prophet of God) ran a nation based on one religion. This is why fundamentalist Muslims do not believe in democracy, because they believe God wants his faithful to run a government as a religious state, in the example set by Muhammad.
In capitalist western nations, slavery is outlawed in name, but credit and debt is used to, in effect, enslave us to keep working at unhappy jobs, to pay for the goods we were seduced into buying. I’ve heard eloquent lecturers speak of how the “financial ruling class” wants the working class to be sufficiently occupied by our jobs and our diversions (self medication and recreation) to be unwilling to rally against the “system”. If western conspiracy theorists see this as evil it plays even more into the Islamic Extremist’s view.
In the Muslim faith, credit debt is immoral. So disenfranchised, angry Muslims see the western industrial complex as this great Satan, seducing the young and undisciplined into lives of materialism and hedonism, while enslaving them and even entire nations with debt. Why do you think the “World Trade Center” was such a target.
Freedom with out self-discipline is dangerous. It’s why we don’t let children wander around “free” in the streets. To use an analogy, a river flows best within its banks, without which it becomes a wide stagnant swamp. But, blind obedience to religious dogma stifles and destroys as well. Think of that same river now in a concrete canal: no sweet meanders, no eddies and tidal pools, no wild life or vegetation along its edge. Such is the risk of enforced religion especially when Clergymen are allowed to “translate and interpret” God’s plans for the masses, then enforce their views with guns and bombs.
GOD DOES NOT WANT YOUR BLIND OBEDIENCE TO ANY MAN OR BOOK! The only true words of God are written in your heart. EVERY organized religion is based on some truth, yet human interpretation and intention taint every one. Power corrupts and many still use religion for power even if they may be so self deluded as to believe they are right and doing God’s work. If we are to survive with our free will intact we must do right for right sake, looking inward to those divine words for guidance, and we must choose to avoid sin.
I define sin as any act that detracts from your highest and best path. If you think of the Universe as working on the basis of energy, with higher vibration being preferred, then any act that lowers the vibration (yours, or another person or entities) is against the highest and best growth.
But wait it’s not that simple! We are here to learn and grow, so sin must occur, being done to us and by us, that we can learn. This said, it takes a little of the sting out of calling ourselves “sinners”. Simply put anyone in the school of life is a sinner, just as every child in school makes some mistakes. That is not license to stop trying to avoid sin, merely a comfort that being human is not evil, and occasional failure is not such a bad thing.
Life, God’s path for you, is also like a river, flowing along in its divinely chosen course. Sin is like a snag in that river, small snags barely obstruct the flow, and are washed away in time, by the overwhelming flow of love. But, big snags can cause the river to leave its banks, and thus Gods planned flow for you, changes to meet the restrictions you place in the stream.
Bottom line, we can be either active participants in co-creating our world, or passive observers. Free will, expressed best by democratic freedom, demands a lot of self-discipline. This means you need to vote in the next election, even if for a third party that likely can’t win; thus you tell the Universe that you want change. Doing the work of light, means participating in democracy.
So, don’t be too dismayed by the impassioned expressions of extremists, their very way of life is in jeopardy (not a bad thing). I’m sure the dinosaurs fought for existence even as the environment changed to ultimately spell their extinction. Good news, mankind is evolving and growing, and though that can be a painful process, the pain is temporary. The growth is forever, and in the end, it’s all good.