About The Idea

The purpose of this website is to challenge you to look at your beliefs in a fresh new way. Think of yourself as a new born baby coming into a world where you had no choice of where your destination would be, but it is the time and place you must now live, You are not given any say about how you get to proceed with living in this new place! Now you have to navigate this new, beautiful, dangerous, confusing world that has been influenced by billions of former and current inhabitants... known as other humans.

You slowly discover that these other humans are quite a diverse lot! They are many different hues of colors, speak many interesting and complex languages and they all seem to have a different way of viewing their individual universe. As you grow, you are influenced into naturally thinking the way the humans near you think. That is fine, hopefully. Hopefully you are being cared for and safe, or maybe you didn't get that lucky and you are not safe, comfortable, and well fed. You may live in fear, with those around you reacting to their environments as they have to, to survive. Comfortable, safe, and happy.... fearful, hurting, hungry. You didn't get to choose!  You didn't get to choose your physical makeup either. Some got luckier than others. Some "live long and prosper".... some just don't. When you get to be about 5, more or less, usually some sense of self starts creeping into your consciousness. ... maybe. Many times though, that "consciousness of self" is squashed or formed or influenced by your circumstances and your family/societal beliefs.

What I want to accomplish with this website is to help you bring yourself to your own "self consciousness". To bring you to a point where you can be honest with yourself and all others without being wholly or overly influenced by your particular past and present circumstances. To connect with your own higher power.

I am no more special than you. I do not claim divinity, but I feel inspired. I do not hold advanced degrees  beyond a bachelor of science, but I embrace and study the diverse world and am well read. I do not have superpowers, but I seek the ideal and best in myself. All our journeys are imperfect...... Do not expect perfection here!!...But can we explore this beautiful imperfection together?

I never remember a time that I didn’t feel led by an undefinable force. .... a feeling that I have a Higher Power. That force has never been defined in my mind by any religion. When I’ve tried to define it, I was never successful. It is just there. 

I feel inspired often, as I believe all people can be at times. We should all strive to be creative and we should feel encouraged and supported by the people around us. This is an ideal scenario. ...your perfect "church" of people believing in your potential!

Individual life circumstances, all kinds of experiences and support from family, friends, and mentors help us discern good from evil, and right from wrong and all those gray areas we have to make decisions about. Hopefully we make wise decisions and develop productive life skills. 

The study of religions and philosophies are invaluable in our efforts to develop personal life skills, but those resources should never take away our ability to make our own choices and develop our own personal understanding. They should never dictate to us or own us. 

Throughout my life I’ve tried to think of how I, as one person, could “make the world a better place” or “bring world peace”. You know, the big ideas… the ideal scenarios.  To “Dream the Impossible Dream”.

One morning about 15 years ago, I woke up at 3 o’clock in the morning (on a work day), reached over to my computer in the dark and went to GoDaddy domain names. I looked to see if unindoctrinate and describegod domain names were available for sale. To my shock, they were, so I bought them and then I went back to sleep. A random, unforeseen thought in the middle of the night led me to writing in these two websites and now publishing the writings as an ebook. 

I have always thought that if people could simplify their religious beliefs and build a wider, more inclusive circle around themselves, it could bring some peace and harmony to our world. High thoughts for this rather average hippy idealist. Or maybe just low expectations that I could help a small percentage of the world rethink their relationship with the cosmos and mankind and gain some personal peace of mind. I do think that one person can make a difference in this world. 

Religions in this world seem to be born from creative but random ideas. Google says there are 4,200 world religions. I suppose those are just the ones organized well enough to count. 

 We hear people say.. "I have my own religion, and it is right for me". or, "I have found the correct religion and it is right for you ... Follow me!"

 What I am seeking to do is define “God” more simply, that definition being: “whatever force and power that created this incredibly complex universe”.

Why would the concept of God need to be complicated by establishing thousands of religions to define it? No wise, thinking God would do that to an Earth that he made and supposedly loves and cares for. 

 The idea of each person having the responsibility for deciding an accurate and forever decision concerning their afterlife, their supposed forever happiness or misery, Heaven or Hell,  all the while living  their particular life with changing age, circumstances, maturity, mental capacity, educational levels, feelings and emotional needs, is just about the most impractical waste of physical and mental energy, and time, there could be. We generally just end up accepting what we are told and not thinking about it!

 Devoting your precious moments on Earth to any religion that requires constant thought, worship, devotion and money seems a waste when those resources could be going to actually making this world a better place for humans, plants, animals and taking better care of the Earth’s resources. It’s called wise stewardship. Maybe our responsibility should focus more on taking care of Earth and each other, instead of giving our attention, “worshiping” some egotistical, myth-based God. Wouldn’t a true, benevolent God want that? 

What if we all simply look back on our lives... back in time, to the beginnings of all religious thinking and try to figure out why we have religion in the first place? What makes us need it and how can we simplify it to make it work better for the whole world? How can we make religion an honest statement of truth, yet still let it help us all connect with the unknowable powers that made the universe? 

If you know why you need your particular religion and don’t want any change, if your current religion motivates you to do good things, provides you with your friends and a social life or keeps you away from destructive habits…. If that works for you, no one, including me, can or should criticize that. Any changes you make are yours to make, or not make. I understand and accept that. This book might not be for you. But, if you chose this book to buy because of the title, you might be wanting to look at some other perspectives, so keep reading. 

I going to try to drop all the preconceptions and mental images fed to us by myth and man and simply define “God” as:  the creator, universal force, higher power, nature. Or define God more scientifically, as we learn more about our planet Earth, physics, mathematics, astronomy, and all the other sciences. Could we use those simplified definitions to more accurately describe God? Then could we use that simplicity as a tool to grow this world together, instead of apart? It is, after all, undefinable… so why try?

Religion's ideal goal should be to form a place where people can support each other and encourage each other to be grateful and appreciative of our universe and our world. A simple foundational concept that allows us to practice meaningful understanding that is inclusive of everyone on the planet. A concept to connect us with each other instead of divide. 

If more people begin to think this way, this simplified concept could allow all of us to be more honest with ourselves and others, to have and give support, caring and respect for each other. Simplifying the concepts could foster understand and communication.  Maybe we could work more efficiently to respect, cherish and preserve our environment here on this beautiful, complex planet that floats through space.

How can we get to a more peaceful, more accepting world? What step could we take to make that happen? How about we stop looking for answers to questions that are impossible to answer!

I think that the vast majority of people who are totally turned off by religions and religious people are confused and annoyed by people telling them about their “religion”. Certainly, trying to fit individual humans into one religion or even many choices of religions is not a logical or efficient idea for helping people with their unique needs. 

No religion has ever been pure and flawless, as you would think something actually created by God for Man would be! It is annoying for people to say and believe that their particular religion is perfect, or the correct way or the “only” way! It is sad to watch people who are seeking answers, accept any answer that comes along, no matter how nonsensical, just to have some answer. People seem to have a strong need for definitive answers to big questions. That seems to be a common trait of all humans. 

 We can’t seem to live peacefully together on Earth with opposing religions all around us. It also doesn’t seem possible that every religion will suddenly decide to give up their power over people and disappear! Too much money, ego, power and indoctrination out there to simply give all that up. 

But what if it became popular and accepted to admit that humans don’t know how it all happened and just say up front something like:  “No human is capable of knowing how Earth and nature happened and how all the questions about the universe are answered, but the tools that I use to reach my higher power, at this point in my life are……..(you fill in this blank)".Or “My own practice to reach my higher power is unique to me and is.........(your blank to fill). And then ask the person you are speaking with if they have “tools” they use to connect to this amazing universe? Bring the conversation down to basics and show another person that it doesn’t need to be complicated. Welcome and encourage the thought that we are all on unique paths throughout our lives to reach the same inner peace with our unique perceptions of the universe. Simply connecting with our universe and with each other at the same time. 

Simplify your personal rituals and tools down to what really does work for you. 

Work to subtract the baggage and weight of the religions we carry, and encourage others to simplify and seek a more workable, direct, and honest connection with their higher power. Understand that each of us have different concepts and feelings about connecting with the universe and accept that. This approach creates respect, better understand and communication between people. 

Organized religions use words to communicate their messages. Common words they use are belief, faith, trust, and many times, obey, follow….. Good words, but their meanings have been borrowed by religions and have taken on more insidious, do this or else, connotations. 

Many years ago, when I was analyzing my own childhood family/church religion, I would think on the meanings of those words. I was in my 30’s before I realized what was bothering me about the words belief, faith and trust. Those words are based on the premise that you have to accept something that can’t be proven and therefore very likely is not possible or true. 

You have to suspend your logical thinking, cut off your reason and intuition, and release yourself to someone’s “teachings” to you. The definition of Cognitive Dissonance.

If you were “born into” any religion, suspending your rational mind is what you learn young. Beliefs are ingrained in you by family, friends, and your surroundings, and most people fall in line for life. It matters not, what you are specifically being told and taught. All you have to do to get along is trust and obey. 

You feel queasy just thinking about your doubts or bucking up against traditions. You've been convinced that even if you don’t feel that what you have been taught is “for you”, or “exactly right” or even true, you still feel like you must continue with it, or something very similar. 

Choosing nothing, or being agnostic, (meaning I don’t know), is not a choice you are allowed. Religion has enlisted and indoctrinated you into their rules and fears and threats of this and that; and then added rewards and promises of that and this; it makes choosing “something simple and less complex” seem impossible. 

Most religions are dramatic and charismatic, and the more detail, drama and sparkling gold to seduce you with, the better! 

The beauty of choosing of “simplicity” or “I don’t know” is that you don’t have to lie anymore about belief. You have the joy, freedom and peace of understanding that we cannot know the unknowable. You get to be honest with yourself and others and you get the pure, “straight-line, connected” relationship with the universe or your un-nameable higher power.! No intercessors needed. 

You never have to convince (proselytize) to those around you that you are right because you have nothing to use to convince them with! Yeah! Nothing to argue over and when expanded to the rest of the world….. Nothing to kill each other over! Double yeah with some rah rahs, peace on earth, and good will toward men!! 

When we are indoctrinated, certain words are given to us with certain meanings and we accept the definition of those words into our lexicon as accurate. We seldom question what we have been taught.

For instance, the word “sin”. What is the definition of the word sin? Where did that definition come from? Generally, sin is a basic word of religion and only religion. There is no sin without a religion behind it. The word is generally derived from the Adam and Eve story in Genesis. This Jewish mythology places the idea of sin as coming from Eve’s temptation of Adam in an idyllic garden with a snake representing another mythical being, Satan. This “Original Sin” was created by religion in order to make man believe that he is born as basically evil and will inevitably do many things that he has to be forgiven for, and saved from, by redemption. 

Christianity teaches that the world is an evil place and that ideally, the “good” Christian should be apart from the world and worldly things and also segregate themselves away from non-Christian peoples. 

Can I propose that the word sin is obsolete and needs to be replaced with more logical, reality-based words and ideas? Could we redefine or replace the idea of “sin”, as the bad choices and mistakes people make; our miscalculations that have consequences in real life? Sin is really just errors in judgment. The consequences of our mistakes are real, not mythological. 

Once sin is redefined as that, responsibility for morality is placed on the individual. The human bears the consequences for errors in judgment. Mistakes “Sin” are not negated or mitigated by mythical heavens, hells, judgment in the afterlife, salvation through religious beliefs and other such ideas. You don’t get a pass. You have guilt and sorrow and hopefully remorse. You can be forgiven by people and you can have grace and forgiveness for yourself and forgive others. Hopefully you learn to make wise decisions. 

There are three types of people. People who make mistakes and don’t learn from them, people who make mistakes and do learn from them, and people who watch other people make mistakes, and learn not to make those mistakes!

To reframe “sin” and rethink what our morality should look like, we need to use every resource we have. Religious writings should be studied, but structuring morality only around religions has proved to be flawed and narrow-minded. The study should include world philosophies. The ideas from the Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato and Roman philosophers such as Marcus Aurelius are invaluable in reframing morality and designing functional, fair societies for us to live in. 

Be aware of and study the many concepts of Moral Philosophy such as ethics, justice, cultural relativism, utilitarianism and many, many more. How does morality relate to religion?  Whether you agree with these concepts or not, the understanding of thought-provoking ideas is valuable, an example being “ethical egoism”, a philosophy promoted by Ayn Rand, the author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. 

My favorite book on the study of philosophy is “The Elements of Moral Philosophy” by James Rachels. I suggest just reading one general, comprehensive book on world philosophies is enough to get a layman’s understanding of the subject.

We do use concepts such as ethics, justice, the social contract, rules, laws, and punishment in our societies.  Encouraging wise and well thought through models for governing could lead to more altruistic and compassionate leadership, and help civilized people solve problems without so much conflict. This type work is worthy of study and great effort.  

For as many prayers that have gone up to an “All-powerful God”, with the expectations of being answered, throughout human history, you would think that people in this world would be living better. People would have modest but appropriately sheltering houses, healthy foods that nourish their bodies, their mental and physical health would be adequate for general happiness and we would have more stable, fulfilling relationships. We also would have less, or how about no, war. It has not turned out that way.

Prayer seems to be thought of as connecting to a magical force that you can command and call into action for you. Religion leads you to believe that the God that you are praying to is actually located somewhere. That God is taking surveys from the earth’s population or making lists and counting up numbers of requests for action and granting, or not granting them. This God may grant requests, but they should be in the correct formats, from the correct forms of religion and through the correct intercessor.

 Many people use prayer to ask or plead for things...to be given something. That is commonly called Prosperity Praying. Seems to me that a God that is real and smart enough to make the universe, would be smart enough to know what we need without having to be informed. A God that rewards and punishes, listens to some but not others, and makes the rules of play very confusing, is a pretty grim description of a benevolent being. Seems to be a setup for disappointment.

 People have the idea that if you pray often enough and fervently enough and with enough people praying at the correct time, for the same thing, it will magically change some bad thing into a good thing, or make the bad thing go away. The idea of leaving your cares and worries in the hands of God just seems to be a way to escape from reality and a handing over of any personal effort and responsibility on the individual's part.

I want to suggest making a switch in thinking about how and what you pray. Simplify your prayers to centering, focusing and gratitude praying.

My career work was/is in public education. My longest job stint was twenty-four years in an elementary school office working with children, teachers, administrators, vendors, volunteers and parents. I also sub drove school bus routes and activity buses on field trips. My daily decisions/actions impacted real people in real time. Many days I would stay in my car an extra moment in the morning or sit in the bus driver’s seat before driving and deeply center myself and “pray” that I would make few mistakes and wise decisions. It helped me to get mentally and emotionally ready for the tasks ahead. It was prayer, but more a prayer to my higher power or my best self to do my best and concentrate. I didn’t expect a God to be listening and to “make a decision” to influence my day. I didn’t expect God to make the brakes work on the bus. I took responsibility for my day (and hoped others weren’t depending on God to do their jobs)!

To make prayer valuable and productive, it needs to be brought down to a personal place. There is a big difference between “I’m thinking about you and I will be there for you if you need me” and “I’m praying to a God to personally help you”. My “prayer” for another person should create a sense of love and caring between me and that person only if they know that I am thinking of them. The prayer is focused on the person, not on a God. You need to be listening, have empathy, give hugs and share laughter or cry with them. You might pray with them if their God truly comforts them. That is empathy and compassion.

 Praying as a group may help that group of people work better toward a common goal, but also words not in the form of prayer can do that also. I feel that sweet, loving connection with people in all the groups I associate with. Make it is part of your life and living, not just in a religious setting. 

 Prayer could be described as deep, passionate, focused thinking. It can help an individual or group to mentally organize, define goals, and focus to working harder toward those goals. It can be a time to consider consequences and help you make wise decisions.

 The ending of my personal “prayer”, (time with myself or higher power), always focuses on a general gratitude for all that has been provided to me by this incredible universe. This acknowledges that I do feel special and that I have the great privilege and pleasure of being a part of all the world’s living fauna and flora. That is huge enough for me and I am profoundly grateful.

 Looking to your undefinable life force may guide you to be more spiritually led or to simply make wiser decisions. Religious doctrines and influences are not needed for this.  Keep it simple! Pray to your higher power to improve your higher self. 

A couple of definitions of the word religion:

 “religion": “a framework for belief in and worship of a supernatural, all-powerful being, that has control and influence on what happens on Earth.

 
“religion": “an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that give humanity some reason for existence. Many religions have narratives, symbols, and sacred histories that are intended to explain the meaning of life and/or to explain the origin of life or the universe. Religion establishes rules for behavior and living.

My definition: Religion is a basic relationship with your higher power that guides you and helps you toward understanding the universe and living a good life.

So, I want you to image that you are trying to describe God….. And that challenge is my whole point exactly….. You really can’t describe God!…. . We describe all around God. We personify him into a man-like being on a great throne. We tell stories of God’s adventures and communications on earth. We write epics about his miracles and creations. We find joy and sorrow in what we call God’s plan. The ultimate escapism is God! We convince ourselves that we need God for our security and happiness. We pray to God because we need to not be alone. We need that guiding force to show us "the way". And I truly think that is alright, normal and even has the possibility of being a good thing.

But why can’t all the stories, music, art be simply understood for what it is. Symbols that represent Our Higher Power and make that more accessible to man. We obviously need that. I need and have that. The problem lies with our collective not acknowledging that the symbols, icons, trappings, creeds, doctrines are tools we use. Things humans use to connect to the unknowable. We seem to worship the tools more than what the tools represent. We follow charismatic leaders, prophets and intercessors and are surprised and disappointed when they betray or let us down by being simply what they are.. Humans. Humans who have no more possession of the truth than we mere followers have. They have no powers greater than ours, they are just able to convince us they do!

 I have a regular “discussion” with a friend or two about the difference between an atheist and an agnostic. And when I sometimes start the conversation, I say “I don’t believe there is such a thing as an atheist”…. That comment generally “gets the discussion going” and the debate is on!

 In my way of thinking, an atheist would be someone who denies the universe exists at all. … Kind of like saying there is no God because there is no universe.., which is hard to argue unless you think this is all just a big, really vivid dream that we are all having!? But if you believe that the world does exist, but you simply admit that you can’t say you know how it happened, that is honest and could be the definition of the word agnostic or the simplified definition of God or the basic defining idea of the simplest religion.

 I seek to simplify the definition of God to the original feeling of a powerful, unexplainable force in the universe, your "Higher Power", unembellished and as honest as possible for a human to be. I also suggest that this definition of God/A Higher Power allows humans to be as connected to whatever created the universe as any religion that has been created. It is just acknowledging and being appreciative of the fact that the earth and universe exists, without the trappings that come as standard fare with organized, mainstream religions. 

No longer is there reason to be concerned as to whether a person has the "correct" religion, and all the fear and worry that come with that. People can have a simple religion of appreciation for the wonder of creation. After all, what is more wonderful than being amazed and delighted in simply being born and witnessing your life and engaging in life around you! That can be enough! That concept is as capable, as any religion, of creating the feeling of belonging and that you are a part of something wonderful in the universe. The divine simply found in the mystery alone. 

So, you may say, who is this person writing this book and why does she think I need to listen to what she has to say…. Or you might ask?…. What a little upstart she is! What is an upstart? It is a person who rudely walks in a room of people and disrupts the pattern in place. They might interrupt the speaker, defy the current message and criticize the way things are being done. Upstarts don’t “go with the flow”. They agitate and jerk the attention of everyone in the room. And when they have the room’s attention, they have something to say that shakes things up. 

Someone who sees that things are messed up and wants to start over, reset, rethink and go back to the beginning and maybe figure out a way that works better for everyone? A goal of considering the subject of religion on a grand scale, taking aim at every religious belief in the world and wanting to make that reevaluation a positive thing….. Can’t get much more direct and to the point than that!

 Chaos rules this world, religiously speaking. The established religions in the world compete for money, power, and human devotion. This constantly creates tension, racism, distrust and many times outright hatred, war, and poverty. They can’t all be right, so maybe it’s more likely they are all wrong!

What if we all, every one of us, simply looked back in our life, back in time to study on and think about why we have religion to begin with. What makes us need it and how could we simplify it to make it an honest statement of truth. Could we drop all the cult-like, myth-based ideas around it and use our "faith" in a more efficient and logical way, as a tool to grow together instead of apart.

Could we agree to simplify religion so thoroughly that it does what it is supposed to do? Religion should seek rational truths, comfort (not scare) people, and allow us to be grateful to whatever began/arranged/designed all this. It should connect people in loving communities. It should help people find meaning in their lives and meaningful work. Let’s begin again, start over…

I have an idea, about how to describe the way world religions evolved so differently from each other.

If we, as a world, love, admire, respect and appreciate God so much, ("God" defined broadly as the designer/imaginative force behind the forming of this universe), why did religions rip God into pieces? 

Let’s say, we all agree for a moment, to put the concept of God back together to some original concept… one big unexplainable concept, as I have suggested. To take all of the different god figures in the world and let them come back to being “One”.

It's as if religions have cut God into a jigsaw puzzle and distributed the pieces out to the earth’s people. What pieces (concepts) would we have to bring back together to make God whole again? All the parts, I presume. What mini gods are out there? The Trinity is a good example. God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit? Catholicism prays through Mary? What different names does God have? Allah, Jehovah, Elohim, Theos, Ishvara, Brahman, and on and on. God has more than thirty Hebrew names, Sanskrit has more than ten, The Greeks were especially creative!

What religious icons, images, symbols, and rituals divide God up, or better said... divide us from each other? Are ornate churches and religious art really about God, or were they for other purposes that are not so pure? What stories did your religion make up and how did they use those stories to indoctrinate, persecute, control and exploit people. What promises did they say Gods made that they didn’t? Streets of gold, virgins in heaven, salvation from "original sin" in a magical world of eternal bliss after death. Who gave man the right to exploit God that way?

Maybe we all need to give God a huge apology for using his name for these purposes. Maybe all of us should give those many fractured and imperfect concepts we stole, back and make God “One/Whole”. Not having to worry about whether we picked the correct parts of the jigsaw puzzle we cut God up into can put our minds in a more restful place and let us concentrate on more important things. Instead of religions being an extreme focus on made up images of God, could it be a focus on taking care of what we are actually responsible for here.

Religion’s goal should be to comfort people and allow them to be grateful and appreciative to whatever made this universe and our world happen. I say it again, a simple foundational concept that allows us to practice a meaningful understanding that is inclusive of everyone on the planet. A concept to connect us with each other instead of divide. If adopted, this simplified concept could allow all of us to reset, rethink and begin again.

12. Essay on Change

 Many of us feel stuck in our current circumstances and we feel that it is not possible or probable that we can do much about it due to responsibilities, illness, finances, etc. If a person thinks creatively about each and every aspect of their circumstances, they can systematically move forward. Take a week and focus on health. Make decisions, write them down and stick with those decisions. Another week, analyze your relationships, or concentrate on the organizations you are affiliated with. Are those organizations serving your needs, or are you just serving theirs? You might consider each and every thing in your life and reconsider what you are doing and why you are doing it. Little mini changes might add up over time into big overall change. 

It is a scary concept for most people. Change is not easy for humans. Uncertainty is hard to exchange for a routine we feel safe and comfortable with. We only get this one life. If we can accept the idea that we are responsible for our actions and our future, we can change the expectations for ourselves and take actions to change or tweak our experience of life. You have to want it, and work for it.

These are some ideas of how to go about making little changes that may help you think of ways you want to proceed with making your life more interesting:
 

If I want flowers in my yard, but I'm allergic to bees or don’t have a yard, buy an indoor lightbox and grow a little garden of African Violets or just buy an "easy to take care of" indoor plant.
 

If you want to go camping, but really can't, then pitch a small tent in the back yard and go sleep in it. There have been years that I’ve kept a tent up all summer and many nights I've dragged the sofa cushions out and slept under the stars on a flat part of my roof, in spring and fall with blankets, socks and a winter hat, or summer with mosquito spray handy. 

Or, create camping in a room and play a fire on the computer or light a candle and play cricket sounds on your phone. Make smores and chili and invite friends over. If they think it is silly... embrace that! Make them shake their heads and smile!

If you want to think about this for someone else, say you have a sick family member that used to love to camp, turn their room into a camping experience. 

Don’t assume something can’t be done. Figure out a way to do it! 

If your idea is a really dramatic or difficult change that people around you, or people in general would resist, at least define the possibility openly, post lists of goals and helpful resources on the refrigerator. Take a “can we work together to get to a better place” attitude and you might be pleasantly surprised at who might be ready to follow you. Many people will follow an inspired person. Be that inspired person. Make others want to help you change your life!

I have also found that if you start talking about something and taking actions toward a goal, people around you generally help you reach it. People tend to be waiting around for someone to be enthusiastic. If you toss something out to your universe, it does attract a response like a magnet.
 

These phrases were written because they hold truths through the ages. 

“If you build it, they will come!”

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Take the road less traveled”

“Lead by example.”

“Lead from behind.”

“Be yourself.”

“Find yourself.”

“Be true to yourself.”

“Think for Yourself.”

If you would like to be more honest about parts of your chosen religion, try baby steps of being honest with others about your doubts or true beliefs. You just might be surprised that others have similar feelings and are just playing along too. It is easier for most people to just go with the flow, or the majority. You may like, or really believe some things about your religion, but it is not a requirement that you like or believe everything just because you are in a circumstance where those around you are convinced and unbending. 

You are You! A unique individual in the universe! Take possession of your thoughts, actions and life.

From what I gather, in the United States, educational courses in U.S. Civics generally were replaced by courses in Social Studies in the mid 1900’s.  Social Studies includes World Civics (forms of governments around the world). It also includes Geography, Topography, awareness of the thousands of world languages, History, Economics, products that countries produce, wildlife, climate, etc. Social Studies methodically works through the study of each continent, and the countries in those continents. Courses span many years of schooling. Ideally, it is very comprehensive, clinical and doesn’t play favorites.

The differences between Civics and Social Studies also works well in describing a way of thinking about religions in the world.

Civics is: Learning about your nation's government and not necessarily learning much about other government systems or worse, presenting those systems as somewhat inferior to yours. On the other hand, Social Studies is: The broad-spectrum learning about all societies in the world, their relationships with each other, and an understanding, good and bad, of all the world’s governmental structures, economies, languages, foods, religions, etc.

For instance, in Social Studies, students would learn that the USA is only one of the 23 independent countries in North America (the four largest being Greenland, Canada, The United States of America and Mexico). There are more than two dozen non-sovereign territories in the area we’ve named North American. Students would study the USA’s unique qualities of being formed with immigrants from all over the world. It might touch on how that affected the Native American population who immigrated earlier. They would learn that the USA’s type of government is a “federal democratic republic” and how that works through a “representative democracy”, and has three branches of government. The USA is seen as, one of many countries, each with good and bad qualities.

The "Civics only" kind of thinking leads students to study their country only. It tends to give students the impression that their country's language, form of government, and way of living is the correct one, and that it is best and better than the other countries in the world. Ideas such as imperialism, isolationism, racism, strict patriotism would tend to evolve. One example is how the United States calls itself “America” and our population “Americans” as if we are the only Americans in North and South America?

It makes me think of my strict Baptist religious indoctrination as a child.  I was strongly discouraged from attending, studying, associating or marrying into any other religion in the world. Even the Methodists and Presbyterians "had it wrong". Someone indoctrinated thoroughly into one religion usually follows that line of thought all their life. You are discouraged from knowing the richness and diversity in the study of how people around the world connect with their higher power, how to gain wisdom from the broad and complex study of religions, rich histories, meaningful teaching stories, thought-provoking songs, rituals and writings. 

When the “my religion is superior to all others” concept is strongly taught to a group, they tend toward Groupthink. They may become isolated and feel persecuted and defensive, needing constant reviving and validation from others.  

Exclusive teaching of civics in a country, without comprehensive understanding of other countries, is not a good way for nations to get along, and teaching that only one religion is correct, is not a good way to live peacefully together on Earth either. 

 My breaking away from traditional religion at 16 years old has some similarities to my relationship with the color Orange. I went for decades not liking or using orange. From my 20’s to my 50’s I made about 95 colorful quilts with nary a scrap of that color. I honestly thought I had to choose between pink and orange and just could not work with both. Sounds kind of irrational?

Then I started going to Mexico and seeing the oranges and clay colors, the burnt hues of red painted on the houses, the earth tones in the Talavera tiles, pottery and hamacas, it changed my restricted attitude. I started gravitating toward the oranges of the world, working with them and including them in my surroundings and my quilts. The richness and depth of golds and copper, flowers and the colors of food, fruit and vegetables; apricot, ginger, honey, carrot took on a new beauty to me. 

Religion is like that. How irrational is your standardized religion? If you open up your mind, you can see the beauty and value of parts of many traditions or just the beauty of an individual relationship with your personal higher power without the attachments, trappings and rigidity of organized religions. It is very personal. 

Relaxing and letting yourself be open to all the beautiful “colors” of your relationship with your higher power is very freeing. It quiets and unclutters the mind and simplifies your spiritual life. Look around and open up your mind......look for and find some new “colors” in your life.

No I'd rather go and journey
Where the diamond crescent's glowing
And run across the valley
Beneath the sacred mountain
And wander through the forest
Where the trees have leaves of prisms
And break the light in colors
That no one know the names of

And when it's time I'll go and lay
Beside the legendary fountain
'Till I see her form reflected
In its clear and jewelled waters
And if you think I'm ready
You may lead me to the chasm
Where the rivers of our visions
Flow into one another

I will want to dive beneath the white cascading waters
She may beg, she may plead, she may argue with her logic
And mention all the things I'll lose
That really have no value in the end she will surely know
I wasn't born to follow