Blog #33--Keeping the Faith

I knew there would be negative feedback from my book “It’s a Secret, So Pass It On: a Toolbox For Life.” Free thinkers like myself tend to raise issues others wish to lock away forever. It is not my intent to hurt anyone’s feelings or disrupt their cherished belief systems, but limitations cannot be overcome without shining a light on those dark places and discovering their truths.

We tend to defend what we believe, whether we have justification for those beliefs or not. After all, we are all trying to survive, and we can become protective of what we’ve learned whenever our perspectives are challenged. Unfortunately, we can become intractable if we are afraid of changing our perspective, even if our present beliefs do us more harm than good.

We can be given a whole bag full of truths, but if there is even one tiny discrepancy, we tend to throw out the whole bag. If a book says something we don’t like, some of us put it down and never touch it again. Others attack the author or engage in multiple rants against the source of disagreement. They say any publicity, no matter how negative, helps sell books. But authors hope they will be received well by their target audiences.

A cousin of mine, who has helped me a number of times in the past and is mentioned without name in my book, read it and then shared his thoughts. There was only one direct reference to any of the myriad details and story lines in the book: he bragged about “our God,” as if his and his family’s creator was somehow different than mine. I’ve got a clue for him and everyone else: the entire universe and everyone in it has the same creative source, regardless of the names we use.

Of course, many of us tend to defend our own religions, including fighting wars over belief systems. Sometimes our differences are extremely minor, but we still can’t create a resolution agreeable to all parties. Many of us love to claim our religion is superior to all others, and we fight to death our right to maintain that belief. And since all religions have much in common, likes tend to repel one another, creating conflict.

There is so much emotion attached to some people’s beliefs that irrationality is a possibility. But like I mention in the book, we are born both with logic and faith, intelligence and heart. We are not able to recognize our oneness with all others and the universe itself as long as we accept only half of our dual natures. If there is no logic to support and balance with faith, misunderstandings are guaranteed.

People who have made a conscious decision to be honest with themselves and others are able to sense honesty when it is present. And they are able to distinguish ideas that have credibility from emotion-tinged thoughts that pop into their heads or are proclaimed by the self-righteous.

If we are convinced our spiritual beliefs are correct, we have no need to defend them; our actions speak louder than words. Those who have inner doubts and fears are most likely to fight with others over religious supremacy.

The major religions of the world have large followings, and many people find comfort and security in being part of a large movement of people proclaiming the same religious perspectives. No matter how rare it may be for a majority of people to be correct on a subject, we often like the feeling of being part of a majority.

But what if our beliefs have not been taught to us properly? What if self-serving interests on the part of religious leaders limit our potential and twist concepts into distortions of truth? What if we are afraid of the consequences possible from hearing perspectives that may contradict our cherished beliefs? How will we ever discover Universal Truth if we perpetuate false notions just because someone else told us to do so?

Spiritual beliefs aren’t truly part of us unless we are willing to examine honestly the questions and contradictions possible with them. Our beliefs will be strengthened if they provide logical explanations that support our faith. There is every reason to encourage ourselves and others to examine our religions and philosophies and minimal reason to shy away from the subject. If our beliefs pass rigorous testing, they will be our strength throughout our lives. If not, looking for modifications that will make more sense gives us a better future.

My wife Mary Jane and I practiced the Golden Rule and carried books about most of the world’s religions at Insight Bookstore. We wanted to treat everyone’s beliefs fairly and equally. After all, it is not the religion itself that sustains us, it is our perspective and how it affects our lives on a daily basis. We hope people from all religions continue to mature into citizens of the universe who know and express their spirituality in the good works they do.

http://dreamtime3.wix.com/jacktuttlebook

Comments and questions can be directed to dreamtime@insight-books.com.