[Continued from Thursday] You may continue to make your claims and catalogue your religion’s advantages, which might include some set forth by other religious personas, but note how they contribute to self-absorption (that is, to being absorbed in a false self):
The religious persona: “It makes me feel better”
For a week at most, so most report
The religious persona: “It makes me a better person”
Agreed, meaning, it makes you a better persona—a better fraud or false image
The religious persona: “It gives me peace”
That is not true or you wouldn’t have felt the need to write and fight for your beliefs, which are not your beliefs at all but are those taught to you by other personas
The religious persona: “It gives me any opportunity to be of service to other persons”
It gives you a chance to reinforce the personas of others, true, but that comment reveals that what you call “providing service” is really the stroking of ego-states (such as “The Answer Man” and “The Helpful One” and “The One Who Knows,” which assumes that it knows what persons need and can provide it). What personas actually need is to disappear completely, and claims of usefulness and knowing what others need is more self-absorption.
Look at what is really underneath each of those “advantages” and you’ll understand why people defend their religions as you did in your initial e-mail, why their personas cling so unwavering to the doctrine and dogma, and why most will be stuck in their religious personas throughout this manifestation. See how acceptance of the religious persona and its belief systems perpetuates self-absorption and dishonesty. In a posting several days ago, you were invited to “get free of the emotional intoxication that is generated by your worship services, to look at the actual facts and the actual results, and to recognize exactly how widespread religious-inspired fighting is.” Most religious persons/personas never do that because they could not really care less about the misery, death, torture, and wars that religions have generated; they could not care less about the suffering that religions are causing across the globe at this very minute; they could not care less about how the children—now being warped by religious programming and conditioning—will negatively impact the relative existence of so many others. Instead, as a result of their self-absorption and their desire for the “benefits” listed above, they will cling to what they claim makes them “feel good” and ignore the negative consequences on humanity. Their ego will, in fact, claim that if all humanity will believe and behave as they believe and behave, all humanity will benefit. The level of self-righteousness among those claiming humility is a bizarre duality that few recognize. The level of separation generated among those claiming to be about the task of “uniting all” is lethal for persons on the planet. Finally, since the religious role is a false self, and since all false selves are egotistically absorbed with self, then self-absorption is inherent with this role and all others.
In truth, religion is the source of duality (of the “good-bad” spectrum and all of the psychological damage that does to youth). From that comes the “acceptance-rejection” conundrum that plagues children and leaves adults in fear. That fear will inspire them to allow themselves to be manipulated in order to gain acceptance and in order to avoid rejection. Ultimately, that duality can lead to insanity and murderous conduct and can create the illusion of separation that is the forerunner to all broken relationships and chaos and wars. Are you seeing any disadvantages to your practices and beliefs where originally you saw only advantages?
The religious persona: “It makes me feel better”
For a week at most, so most report
The religious persona: “It makes me a better person”
Agreed, meaning, it makes you a better persona—a better fraud or false image
The religious persona: “It gives me peace”
That is not true or you wouldn’t have felt the need to write and fight for your beliefs, which are not your beliefs at all but are those taught to you by other personas
The religious persona: “It gives me any opportunity to be of service to other persons”
It gives you a chance to reinforce the personas of others, true, but that comment reveals that what you call “providing service” is really the stroking of ego-states (such as “The Answer Man” and “The Helpful One” and “The One Who Knows,” which assumes that it knows what persons need and can provide it). What personas actually need is to disappear completely, and claims of usefulness and knowing what others need is more self-absorption.
Look at what is really underneath each of those “advantages” and you’ll understand why people defend their religions as you did in your initial e-mail, why their personas cling so unwavering to the doctrine and dogma, and why most will be stuck in their religious personas throughout this manifestation. See how acceptance of the religious persona and its belief systems perpetuates self-absorption and dishonesty. In a posting several days ago, you were invited to “get free of the emotional intoxication that is generated by your worship services, to look at the actual facts and the actual results, and to recognize exactly how widespread religious-inspired fighting is.” Most religious persons/personas never do that because they could not really care less about the misery, death, torture, and wars that religions have generated; they could not care less about the suffering that religions are causing across the globe at this very minute; they could not care less about how the children—now being warped by religious programming and conditioning—will negatively impact the relative existence of so many others. Instead, as a result of their self-absorption and their desire for the “benefits” listed above, they will cling to what they claim makes them “feel good” and ignore the negative consequences on humanity. Their ego will, in fact, claim that if all humanity will believe and behave as they believe and behave, all humanity will benefit. The level of self-righteousness among those claiming humility is a bizarre duality that few recognize. The level of separation generated among those claiming to be about the task of “uniting all” is lethal for persons on the planet. Finally, since the religious role is a false self, and since all false selves are egotistically absorbed with self, then self-absorption is inherent with this role and all others.
In truth, religion is the source of duality (of the “good-bad” spectrum and all of the psychological damage that does to youth). From that comes the “acceptance-rejection” conundrum that plagues children and leaves adults in fear. That fear will inspire them to allow themselves to be manipulated in order to gain acceptance and in order to avoid rejection. Ultimately, that duality can lead to insanity and murderous conduct and can create the illusion of separation that is the forerunner to all broken relationships and chaos and wars. Are you seeing any disadvantages to your practices and beliefs where originally you saw only advantages?
UPCOMING NEXT WEEK: How Religion “Abnormalizes” the Normal
