Spirituality is not the same as religion. Spirituality teaches unconditional love. Many religious texts, especially the Bible and the Koran, have been edited by those seeking power and control over the masses. As a result, contradictions run rampant. The God of the Old Testament is depicted as a vengeful and jealous God who dictates “commandments” to those who worship him. Even the crucifixion story of Jesus is based on the death of a man who gives up his life so that humanity could be saved. But did he? Well, according to Christian teachings, before you can be saved, you have to first accept Christ Jesus as your savior. Ahhh, so there’s the prerequisite, the fine print. And so where’s the unconditional love in that sacrifice? This single canon underscores the entire foundation of Christianity while at the same time contradicts everything that Jesus taught. What happened to loving your neighbor as you would love yourself? Well, unless your neighbor accepts Jesus, she’ll be handed a one-way ticket to hell.
The dogmatic dictatorship of Christianity commands that you abide by its teachings and obey everything that the priest or preacher says and then there’s the whole thing about repenting for your sins, going to church on Sunday, and following this scripture and that scripture without question, and not accepting gay people as equals, and not accepting people who practice other religions as equals, ad nauseum. It is the same dogmatic system of control with Judaism and Islam, just with a different set of dictatorial commandments for you to adhere to.
Throughout the thousands of man-made revisions, man-made language translations, and man-made versions of the Bible and Koran, man has perceived his creator from his own reflection. Because the current human has been living on the level of egoic consciousness, it has concocted a god that was in accord with that same level of egocentricity and narcissism. So, naturally, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is seen through the specs of the Jew, Muslim, and Christian as a judgmental, controlling, dictatorial, and most importantly; patriarchal deity.
The nature of the Goddess and spirituality, however, has nothing to do with religion. The recent rebellion against the Mubarek regime in Egypt is one prime example. We can currently observe other dictatorship upheavals happening in Iran, Libya, Yemen, Syria, and other Arab nations. The younger generation of Egypt, especially the younger women were very much behind this revolution and I believe that this is only the first of many similar dictatorships to crumble in the years to come. Exercising power over the other for the sake of ego gratification simply doesn’t work anymore.
The Next Human will not have the need to attend church, mosque, or synagogue to be closer to God. She will innately know that a priest, rabbi, monk, or minister is not a necessary portal to the divine. In fact, intermediaries will be seen as an encumbrance. The Next Human will know intuitively that he is already divine, that the Source of All resides within, and therefore the search for God begins and ends with the Self. The Next Human will know that God is not a singular personality out there somewhere waiting for you to blindly obey him. God is not childish. The Divine is both singular and plural, dual and nondual. Once you realize that every One of us is divine at our core, the whole idea that God must be a separate “someone” who requires your obedience – seems ridiculous.