09.22.09
Posted in articles at 6:12 pm by MPJ
This question appeared on another blog:What is the difference between the extreme Christian Right and Radical Muslims? (SoulPancake) I am copying my answer here:
The extreme Christian Right and Radical Muslims are at the same level of spiritual development. Both are convinced their view of God is the only right one. They are threatened and afraid of anyone who doesn’t agree so they lash out against them. Their sometimes violent attempts to quell the voices of their perceived enemies (the modern world) are motivated by fear and the need to wipe out any chance of being influenced by what they see as evil.
Both groups have an extremely literal interpretation of the scriptures of their religion, which of course makes the beliefs and practices of everyone else radically wrong in their eyes. In contrast, more “mature” believers tend to allow that most concepts put forth by their religion can be seen metaphorically. Without the literal interpretations, all religions begin to sound more similar to each other and thus “other” religions are less threatening to those who have grown spiritually to the level where they can “see” this.
The more you hear about these extremists acting up, the more you know positive change is going on in the world. Whenever the stability of the current order (even if it is evil, like our current health care system) is threatened, people at the extremist level will rebel in attempt to keep change from happening.
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08.15.09
Posted in articles at 10:55 pm by MPJ
Over the weekend, I just read “The New Atheists” by Tina Beattie. It was supposed to be a rebuttal of course to “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins and the similar books by Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. Well, she did a good job of refuting the rationalism in the claims these guys made in their books.
But the more interesting part comes just at the end. Here she begins to compare God to an author and religious truths to fiction novels. She says in Wuthering Heights for example, the fact that we know that Cathy and Heathcliffe are not real people does not detract from the capacity of these characters to communicate something truthful about the human condition. Though she does not come out and say so, she is implying here that we can apply a similar understanding to religious concepts. If the characters in the Bible never existed, well, no matter. They can still teach us something truthful about the human condition. I like that! ….except - doesn’t that make joining a religion something like joining a fiction fan club, where more than half of the members don’t even realize the books are fiction??
Then, in what I thought was a particular stroke of genius, Tina Beattie went on to explain how in some works of fiction, the less inspired ones, the characters all behave in an orderly way and kind of “prove” the viewpoint of the author. But in others - obviously the most intriguing ones - the characters and the book seem to take on a life of their own and no longer obey the “intention” the author might have had when he started writing the book. Books, works of art, any form of personal expression, Beattie says, all respond best when “creative expression” is allowed to guide the artist or author, even if it means the work gets out of his control.
The reason Beattie brings this up is to show that where the concept of Intelligent Design leaves a lot of logical flaws, maybe we should be comparing “god” to the artist with creative genius - who who set our world and creation in motion…and then allowed the characters and the story to take off with a life of their own.
There is much, much more to Beattie’s treatise than I can possibly present here. All I wanted to do was mention a few of the points she makes. She is a marvelously eloquent writer and the book is well worth reading. My favorite quote from another part of the book where she is talking about the role of the Catholic Church to control contraception and abortion and she mentions a new generation of Catholic adults who “simply do not invite priestly scruitiny of our sex lives and child-bearing capacities.”
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08.10.09
Posted in articles at 9:20 am by MPJ
This is Part Two of the question from 7/28/09 - The one that started, If There is No God, Why Do So Many Christians Claim the Lord Speaks to Them?
So the second part of the question that came from that same person was: “How does Faith Healing work?”
Answer:
Being able to heal others with touch, prayer, chanting, whatever is also common in many different cultures and many different faiths.
The crazy thing about it is that no matter which type of healer you talk to, each is usually convinced that HIS particular way of healing is THE only way of doing it and somehow proves his “God” is behind it all. Because the healing seems to work, such people often claim that as proof of the existence of God.
Well, how would you explain a Wiccan ritual that the Wiccans are convinced healed someone? I don’t know if you are familiar with Reiki. That is a form of healing that can be done by believers and non-believers alike - no “god” involved. Trust me, it works. Or, I should say, though I was incredibly skeptical when first introduced to it maybe fifteen years ago, it has always worked for me. So, there is no God involved in Reiki, though it is a sort of spiritual practice.
Why would Reiki work if only God could effect healing? My explanation is that all forms of prayer, faith healing, Reiki, etc. that are designed to heal someone “work” —-and they are all forms of the same thing but the details are different. They are all ways by which we humans can intercede on behalf of someone else through our intentions.
Now, there is a strong caveat here when you say something “works.” The “work” that happens may not be the cure the healer intended but it will work to the “Greater good.” See my article on that at http://beliefstagesandgrowth.com/blog/on-intercessory-prayer-reiki-and-the-greater-good/.
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07.29.09
Posted in articles at 10:23 am by MPJ
Today’s Question:
Where do Atheists drive their sense of morality? if it is not developed by the church, and without religious influence by parents, are the children who are raised without religion sure to turn out deficient?
Answer:
Some atheists, to be sure, are without morals. But many/most who have actually thought through their beliefs sufficiently to call themselves atheist have moved beyond the need for moral rules supplied by the church. Such people are self-regulating and their morality comes Read the rest of this entry »
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07.28.09
Posted in articles at 12:11 pm by MPJ
This is one part of a question that came in from someone in India. The whole thing read:
“If there is no God, then why do so many Christians claim that the Lord talks to them?
And what about faith healing? Many christian Iknow personallyare good people, yet
they also claim that God talks to them.
Because his very short question was so complex, I am going to reply to each part separately.
Question: If There is No God, Why Do So Many Christians Claim the Lord Speaks to Them?
Answer: This is the phenomenon of spiritual or mystical experience. Such experiences happen to people of all religions, not just Christians. In fact they even happen to non-believers. It is not always “the same” Lord who is speaking but as I understand this, people tend to interpret an experience like that in a way that fits in with their culture and beliefs.
It is even possible that the image that appears or the voice they hear is something shaped by their mind into an entity that person can recognize. Ken Wilber made an interesting contribution on this topic – I think it was in his book Integral Spirituality. He said people can have what he calls a “state change,” which is his word for a mystical experience, at any level of belief (or from any religion or from non-belief,) but the person will interpret the experience according to the stage he is at, or the particular religion he is.
Newberg and D’Aquili were two brain scientists (Newberg is still alive and still writing) who did a lot of research on this by studying people’s brains – Buddhists and Franciscans — as they were having experiences like this, trying to find out if there was a spot in the brain that caused mystical experience. I believe their results were inconclusive but their book “Why God Won’t Go Away” is a very interesting read.
Obviously, this is a very complicated topic and there are no black and white answers. The trouble comes along when someone has a mystical experience of some sort and then, without considering all the possibilities, (the complexities of the human brain, the similar experiences of people in different religions and people who don’t believe at all) concludes that the experience has proven their own beliefs. Sadly, this sometimes causes such people to go out and try to convert others on the basis of that experience.
Mystical experiences are obviously way broader than any one religion and are certainly not the sole province of Christianity. We are well-advised not to jump to any quick or easy conclusions about their meaning.
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Posted in articles at 11:42 am by MPJ
I just got the bright idea of posting the questions I get on AllExperts.com under the category of atheism or skepticism here. Look for posts to come up with questions and my answers as they arise.
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07.08.09
Posted in articles at 12:11 pm by MPJ
I just read an article that says the Catholic Church is trying to ban nuns (and all Catholics) from practicing Reiki: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/us/02nuns.html?pagewanted=1 (bottom of page 2) There is even a link to a manifesto detailing the Catholic Church’s position on Reiki: http://www.usccb.org/dpp/Evaluation_Guidelines_finaltext_2009-03.pdf. It was officially generated by the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The manifesto basically says Reiki should be shunned by Catholics because it is unscientific and unChristian. Oh how they SOOOO do not understand!
First off - um….saying a piece of bread and wine is literally transformed into the body and blood of Christ during the Catholic Mass IS scientific?? And that Christ literally rose from the dead IS scientific?? Where is Read the rest of this entry »
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07.01.09
Posted in articles at 4:42 pm by MPJ
I was just checking out Scribd.com and came across this article: http://www.scribd.com/doc/3595766/Becoming-Spiritual. I thought it was really interesting how he what he said there way back in 1992 correlates really well with the spiritual stage theory discussed on this site.
In essence he is dividing the world up into non-spiritual and spiritual. What he calls non-spiritual refers to all the stages from Rational on down:
-believing only in what can be seen, heard, proven.
-believing in a supreme being that is separate from us and will one day hold us accountable.
-focus on external power
-being motivated by achievement, performance and acquisitions
-being involved in fighting…a war against that which one believes to be evil
-no reverence for life or sense of responsibility to the universe
-feels the need for grudges, hostility and revenge.
What he calls spiritual refers to the Mystic stage alone:
-believing in an unseen order of the universe with which we should align ourselves
-view god as some sort of universal force within ourselves
-focused on empowerment of self and others
-motivated by ethics, serenity and quality of life
-focused thoughtfully on what they are “for” as opposed to fighting what they are against.
-feels a sense of reverence about life and approaches it with a sense of appreciation and awe
-instead of hostility and revenge, focuses on forgiveness.
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03.29.09
Posted in articles at 9:32 pm by MPJ
Well, I have finally moved over to my new site, www.Exploring-spiritual-development.com. I do not plan to post anything further on this site, at least in the near future because I want to concentrate my efforts on finishing my book and I think the new site will better suit my needs than this blog for the purpose of building my writing platform.
Please visit the new site for what is hopefully a simpler explanation of these stages than appeared on this blog and possibly a format that makes the material more easily accessible.
Thanks!
Margaret Johnston
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02.02.09
Posted in articles at 7:49 pm by MPJ
Hey, sorry I have not been posting too much on this blog in a while. I have been working very hard though on my topic. I have been making good progress on my book. AND: I am putting up a new site that maybe will explain these concepts a little bit more concisely and more accessibly than this blog. There is not that much on there yet but from time to time, do please visit my new site: www.Exploring-Spiritual-Development.com. And then let me know what you think!
Thanks for your interest!!
Margaret Johnston
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