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Demons and Demigods
In the past few days I have come in contact with several religious people and found it amusing how some of them reacted toward me. I understand where they are coming from, having lived a similar life for many years, but to be afraid of evil forces to the point where they don't want to enter into a discussion with me, because I have been labeled a heretic, or to hesitate entering a building because they sense it is demon possessed is almost laughable. Anyone who has ever known me or been to Wat Opot could tell you that about the only danger that lurks in the darkened corners of our campus is the possibility of being attacked by a few head lice from the kids or me. Of course... if you are a religious person who is stuck in a box and afraid of being made aware of that fact, because that awareness would require an action on your part that could turn your world upside down... than perhaps it doesn't seem so funny.
There is still so much I don't know about life and spirituality but now that I am out of the box, it is exciting to view the world without having to wear the blinders that religion forces one to put on. I am beginning to learn that many of my fears and worries came from biblical teachings that were formed in the Dark Ages, when epilepsy was considered demon possession and those who disagreed with their self-righteous-religious leaders were called heretics and burned at the stake. Demons and demigods were big back then as were the self-righteous leaders... but times have changed, at least for some of us. Unfortunately many people still live in those Dark Ages because self-righteous pastors still preach the same messages as then and still try to scare their congregations into submission by telling them about the evil forces out to get them... but the reality is that the devil and his league of demons exist only in the imaginations of ignorant people and although these imagined forces can seem very powerful... they are really nothing more then an irrational excuse for negative behavior.
Discovering this Truth is at first scary, for it implies that man is therefore responsible for Mankind and that if there is evil in this world it is only because we have allowed it to exist. Accepting this Truth however, empowers us to actually make the changes necessary, in our personal life and in the lives of others around us, to create a better world.
I do not believe that the future of Mankind and the Universe has already been determined, as some would have us believe. We are creating the future as we live and breathe and each of us, whether we want to believe it or not, contributes daily, by the actions or in-actions of our life, to the Evolving Character of the One True GOD, who is Us All.
Wayne Dale Matthysse March 2011 FOR YOUR COMMENTS
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