Appendix Eight

Religion

Aside from general greed and the expropriation (stealing) of land directly, religion is the second most common cause of war and damage in the world. Driven by the need to be right and to stabilize the institutions used to promote religious beliefs (denominations and churches) have encouraged an attitude of righteousness and arrogance.

Until there is peace between religions, there can be no peace in the world.

Thich Nhat Hanh
Born: October 11, 1926

Spiritual experience and beliefs at a personal level call for us to “love one and other and grow in wisdom.” If we read the texts that accompany these various beliefs, we find that they are remarkably similar with exceptions related to “being the only right way.” Even in Buddhism, where the Buddha explicitly admonished his followers to avoid turning their experience into a doctrine or belief system, there are now thousands of different Buddhist sects.

Everyone is entitled to worship/practice according to their own experiences and beliefs.

What Must Happen in Order to Create A World That Works for Everyone?

Does your church or denomination claim to be “the only way, the only true religion?”

Does it act as if its “God, Goddess, Allah or Buddha, or whatever name is given to the institutions spiritual leader, is the only true leader or way of being?”

We must stop acting as if that were true.

When you hear anyone within your Church, Synagogue, Temple or any gathering speak in this way, do you ask them to stop doing that?

Each person is entitled to their own beliefs.

Does what we are doing in our “worship/practice” truly encourage that?

Is the outreach of the organization really about serving those most in need or in growing the number of “members” of that belief system?

Are you willing to acknowledge that you may not be “right?”

A World That Works for Everyone cannot be created out of any righteousness that leads to a single belief system or denies anyone the right to worship/practice in his or her own way.

There is room for all.

There is no room for exclusion, persecution, oppression or forced obedience.

Owning our past and making restitution for previous and current damage is our only pathway to a planet that works for everyone.

A native just read your words…..It is comforting that there are people who sense a great shame upon this nation’s colonizing , massacring and removal of native people from our homelands….if all this were just a thing of the past, we could sit and say sorry for the past….then move on to our meals, our lives and lifestyles…all the while deep in the rain forest…high in the arctic and deep in the bowls of congress native people are still being exploited, removed from their homelands and forced to assimilate ….we need not only to pray and apologize…..we need to be more than mindful of these atrocities….we must work to make the world a safe and better place…prayers are not enough..

Barry Dana, Past Chief, Penobscot Nation

What injustice(s) in your country could you contribute to making right?

 © The Boothby Institute, 2018, bill cumming