One of the things I have had to deal with since I was old enough to know the difference between good and bad was that it IS NOT OK to be human.
I was raised in a generation of going to church on Sundays. Most all businesses were closed on Sunday and at least one other day of the week. Sunday was the day that all of us sinners could go someplace and feel good about ourselves for at least part of a day. Most of all, I felt that it was a day that my only parent, my mother could get rid of us for a few hours of peace. We lived in a rural area, and within this area we moved many times. We were shuffled off to Church each Sunday either by a neighbour or on a bus if the church happened to provide one. My Christian background included many different theologies depending on transportation to the church that Sunday.
I believe that the one thing that most stood out from years of this kind of exposure was that it was NOT OK to be human. It was something that we had to tolerate being because we had not choice and no matter what we did, we could not do it right or win favor with the All Mighty. We were in a constant state of repentance. The human thing to do was to try not to be human and wait for the day that God would take us away and make something worthwhile of us. In my child's mind being human was not the most desirable aspect of life. I could not see anything that I could do to make my lot better other than to go to church and confess that I was bad and needed atonement.
Even in my immature mind I could not see the reasoning behind God creating something as imperfect as humans, except for God's own vanity and self gratification. What a worthless God and what could be wrong with him I thought that he would need us to make him feel better? The whole experience left me with a knowing that something was wrong with what I was being asked to accept, it was pure nonsense.
I left the church in my late teens and never went back. It boggles my mind even today that some very intelligent people still hold onto those beliefs out of fear. I truly understand what it means to be God fearing for these people; surely intelligence does not enter into it. The need to believe in something is so strong, is so overpowering that many are willing to believe in a system that points a finger of damnation at us and obviously does not bring us the things that we desire most in our physical lives. Why would we leave a place of security before birth to come to this physical place only to exist for the moment when we can go back? I cannot believe that we are here to be humble and powerless. As humans we don't naturally live that way. We don't exist at home as children trembling at the feet of our parents to be something less than they are.
By nature we strive to be independent of our parents and better than they are. Most good parents try to instill these values into their children and guide them to independency and I have observed that it is their wish that their children become much better off.
Years later and a lifetime of listening to this religious dogma I still do not believe that being human is a bad thing, that we are so lost and evil. Even in our darkest hours I believe that we are perfect the way we are. I believe that the concept of good and bad has not worked for us over the centuries and it is observable that it has not given us the promise of peace on earth, abundance, joy and good will to all mankind.
Humanity is evolving, life evolves and it is OK, is natural and appropriate that we are the way we are in this moment. As we mature are thoughts change and we change and we will find ourselves in another area of understanding that works for us. In fact the whole idea of good and bad, right and wrong needs to disappear from our minds. These concepts rob us of our power and they simply do not work any longer.
New concepts of what works and does not work for us need to replace these words. If we simply acknowledge that something in our life is not working instead of "it is bad", or "it is wrong," this new concept will take away the negative, destructive feelings of being blacklisted by a vengeful God. Likewise if we simply acknowledge that something is working for us, we will also drop the thoughts that we need to be rewarded for being good. In other words we will take full responsibility for all things that happen in our lives without thought of approval or of being good or bad. We will loose the feeling of being subordinate and subservient to God. It makes good sense to believe in a God that has given us power to demonstrate our lives in a safe environment with total freedom to be human in whatever manor we choose and freedom to express ourselves fully without limitation and approval. To be God is to be human and visa versa because God is all there is. We can be no less or more than that which we already are.
Being human is doing whatever is natural for humans to do. Punishment and reward are human concepts used to control the natural expression and curiosity of humanity so that it fits into the excepted norms of the community. Also for the purposes of the Church if one can be made to feel less than you are, it means supporting the Church and winning favour by contributing. So it is not in the best interest of any organization to have its members leave, and the best possible way to have them stay as observed over centuries of Church domination of spiritual matters is to hold the power of fear over them-it is observable that it works.
We do not ever have to apologize to God or anyone else for being human. We do not have to ask this God forgiveness for stealing, killing, or plundering and we do not need to be blessed or rewarded for living a life that is progressive; it is the natural thing to do. What we have to do is learn to take personal responsibility for our actions and notice that some things do not work for us in achieving a higher position on the evolutionary chain.
We need to singularly get to a point of awareness of understanding that it works in our own best interest to become progressive and tolerant, to bring our awareness to a level that we will only do those things that are life affirming, and which takes us to the next higher level of acceptance and understanding. To be human is to experience all aspects of physical life and to move forward. That is exactly what we are doing now and always have been doing. It does not serve anyone to have any individual made to feel inferior or less human because of his actions. In any enlightened society, it works for the benefit of all to educate and guide all persons through concepts of love, joy, abundance, and acceptance and away from fear. Fear is the opposite end of the stick with unconditional love at the other end.
For the thousands of years that humanity has walked this earth, this is the one concept that it has been unable to grasp, "fear does not work," in moving towards enlightenment. Being human is only one stage in our process of evolution. Because we have absolute freedom of choice to create our own physical reality, why would we choose to continue doing things that do not work for us, considering that it is peace, joy and abundance that we are all looking to experience?
I don't believe that it works in our best interest to use the excuse that "I'm only human," to justify not moving forward. Humanity can be anything that it decides to be, why endlessly experience the dark side when we can move through the light of what man is most capable of, physical love, compassion and joy.
It really is OK to be human if we begin to believe that we are truly worthy and need not bow or apologize to any God, if we understand that we really are God in human form simply experiencing physical life through our bodies. If we understand that God is a life-force not a person that looks over us, that punishes or rewards us. God is life, we are life, we are God experiencing self through all the probabilities of existence. God does not have to apologize for expressing him/herself in human form.
Roy E. Klienwachter is a resident of British Columbia, Canada. A student of NLP, ordained minister, New Age Light Worker and Teacher. Roy has written and published five books on New Age wisdom. Roy's books are thought provoking and designed to empower you to take responsibility for your life and what you create. His books and articles are written in the simplicity and eloquence of Zen wisdom.
You may not always agree with what he has to say. You will always come away with a new perspective and your thinking will never be the same.
Roy's style is honest and comes straight from the heart without all the metaphorical mumble jumble and BS.
Visit Roy at: http://www.klienwachter.com