What is it about orthodoxy, both secular and religious, that wants to destroy Spirituality ?

What is it about orthodoxy, both secular and religious, that wants to destroy Spirituality ?

This taken from a recent comment to http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977079984

Patrick, thanks for the affirmation for all of us (especially yourself from me also) that are concerned with where our world is headed and are attempting to influence some positive change.

I firmly believe that so many of the leaders of the peoples of this world would prefer to have their people just subjects, beholden to only them and their authority ... I believe many religions have been corrupted into keeping their own followers in subservient roles based more in materialistic (objective) outlooks, even while they speak of and pretend (often in ignorance) to have an INternal Spiritual basis that no longer is, in effect. In the US, the government gives religions that meet certain criteria a tax exemption that promotes those religions to build huge followings, gigantic structures, and even countless businesses on the side, said to be also based upon the religion and thus also tax free ... growth ad infinitum ... very 'business like' ...

The leadership of these organizations create huge followings that they in effect very much control ... thus the 'religious right' being harnessed to influence national politics as has happened. The greater in size the religious institutions, the greater the percs of their leaders in both ego gratification and wealth, the more they want to stay on the side of the national political powers that will help them stay in power also ... though it is claimed otherwise, it does often amount to NON-separation of church and state. It becomes like a mutual "I'll scratch your back IF you scratch mine" thing where "IF you stay out of MY business, I will stay out of yours."

So these more objective and materialistic 'religions' are both tolerated AND encouraged by the secular world leaderships ... especially so, in much of the Muslim world, where the leaders are members of the very same religion, where the intention is to keep the masses following the views of the leaders ... also really objective and materialistic, no matter what is claimed otherwise.

All of these concepts and ideas are either tolerated and/or promoted by the leaders involved because it suits their personal ambitions of power and control, often ego enhancement being very much involved, but mainly the control.


Which brings us back to (let's say, the Chinese)(really applicable to other nations also, as well as the materialistic/objective religions mentioned) the issue of a religious or spiritual viewpoint that is NOT so subjected to objective/materialistic/hierarchical power structures, such as the Buddhists and other usually much smaller sects of other beliefs that are so spiritual as to reject the secular and religious 'authorities' already so entrenched in power ... these, considered 'johnny come lately' groups (although their essential spiritual beliefs are timeless) are knocked down as fast as possible, called a threat to order, called heretical, of the 'occult', and often called just plain 'evil' ...

Any threats to the well established institutions, secular AND religious, are deemed to be unhealthy to the general population and are marked for destruction in any way possible ...

It has always been this way in the world ... even Jesus was a threat to old line established views of the Pharisees of his own faith who were instrumental in his being persecuted to death.

The PROBLEM (as orthodoxy sees it), is that the truest spiritual beliefs are natural to mankind, they are based upon unconditional love, the golden rule, and individual self responsibility towards cooperation between all for the greater good of the whole of creation, where if there are 'leaders', they share that vision also ...

That is a THREAT to the established leadership that is fearful of loss to their positions OVER others, where they could lose their power, authority and wealth .. THAT is why some, often all, spiritual, especially the more mystical and esoteric beliefs are fought down ... because they need NOT the OUTside authority or leadership to be ... they follow the INner path of Spiritual Truth that comes direct from God via their (and everyone's) INtuition ... while that INtuition also assures the person that we are all connected brothers and sisters under the very same God, negating any NEED for divisive concepts of separate nations and institutions that control people in the guise of helping them.

IMnsHO. :-)

( reprint from: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977147260 )