Most religions tells us that our eternal fate is dictated by the actions we take, or do not take, while in our mortal state. To me, the whole notion of reward and punishment in an eternal sense based on a person’s actions has always seemed entirely wrong. If a person does something purely to advance spiritually, or to avoid punishment, the deed is negated by those intentions. In other words if a person does something because of the reward attached, is the act done genuinely out of goodness, or out of selfishness? Why reward an act done for selfish reasons?

Although I am not an atheist, I believe that atheists, who the “right thing” and not doing the “wrong thing”, are inherently more valid than those who hold some sort of religious belief. Most religious people, in my opinion, are caustic human pathogens walking Planet Earth. I am not referring to any specific religion, as I feel religion itself, by its’ very nature is one of the biggest problems in the world. The sanctimonious self satisfaction of messiahs or sages, and apologists or adherents, would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous. What really makes this so tragic, and hypocritical, is that most religions include pride as a sin. The tediousness of religion overshadowing spirituality is even more magnified by the intrinsic dishonesty religion forces through Divine Extortion.

If you look into it you will find that most of the figures of adoration in the world’s religions behaved worse than spoiled 3 year olds, arrogant tyrants, or aloof wanna-be avatars. Most of the religious texts of the world are comprised of spotty history combined with threats, and cute little sayings, that really do not have the level of intellectual or spiritual depth that is accredited to them. As archeology advances it seems that most religions were really designed to control the ignorant masses rather than to impart spiritual truth or evolved over time like a bad game of pass it on.

Heaven or Hell?

It’s rather embarrassing to humanity that I, or anyone, would still have to discuss the fact that people still hold beliefs in Heaven and Hell this late in Human evolution. The notion that people are either rewarded or punished for what they do in a relatively short span of time for eternity is ludicrous. These beliefs were obviously created to scare children and control people. In some instances these models were used symbolically to relate spiritual concepts, only to be muddied by ignorance or avarice. Even to an Absurdist, these beliefs, when taken fundamentally, are too absurd to hold in any sort of further regard.

Karma?

“What goes around comes around.”, “Do onto others as you would have done onto you.”, “I want to evolve from this plane to the next.” and “Bad things happen to bad people.”. These statements are all selfish or prideful. I guess thinking some sort of divine revenge will befall someone who harms you is a good psychological defense mechanism. I’ve done that. We all do that. We all get some sort of satisfaction when someone who has harmed us is harmed. However, sometimes they do not get their comeuppance. Yep, folks what goes around does not always come around and for those who believe it will be threefold, it very seldom is, unless you help that revenge along a little bit.

Then there are those “enlightened” individuals who have taken vows of poverty and some go so far as to not find employment, rather they rely on others who do work to feed or cloth them. They they believe that using other people in such a way gets you a better place in Heaven or helps one to advance to the 4th Dimension, I am really not sure, but, these folks have it all mapped out it seems. Then there are those who believe that spending ones whole life sitting in a cave listening to a drip of water is valid for their entire existence. When these people can do this without the aid of anyone supplying them with food or clothing they might have a leg to stand on, until then they should use their legs to be useful and not users. A little bit of meditation is useful and refreshing. Avoiding temptation by only meditating is a cheap trick and not truly spiritual. Those sort of tricks rank right up there with those who castrated themselves to avoid sexual temptations. It is cheating and in a system of Divine Extortion disallows reward because of the lack of ability or impurity of intent.

The Beauty of Infinity

The beauty of infinity is that there is always something bigger and always something smaller. Absolutes change and become conditional transitions or states over time. What counts is your Now.

The next Big Bang that comes around might be God and God might be a flake of dust. That statement depends on what your view of God is. Of course, if you are one of those people who have fallen for the trap of religion then you most likely have God all boxed up and have fallen for one or more forms of Divine Extortion. If you are a spiritual person you have most likely gone beyond, or are in a process of going beyond that whole trip of doing or not doing things based on what it will get you or keep you from in the afterlife. People who are truly spiritual know that they need to experience this life to transcend it and evolve after it. It took blood spurting out of an open artery and being near death for me to come to that realization. I thank my understanding of God for letting me have that realization.

Absolutes?

The only absolute you can really count on is your own consciousness. The only thing you can really do is be honest with yourself within your own mind. Being completely honest to yourself about your intentions, actions, wants, desires, and disappointments is being honest with God. So therefore any belief that promotes any sort of Divine Extortion must be inherently wrong for the reason that your intentions are set in place and fixed by those beliefs in such a way that disallows a pure intention in either action or inaction. More simply put if you have such beliefs you are either going to Hell or unable to advance to the next plane of existence because of the promises of reward and the threats of punishment in your belief system do not allow complete honesty with yourself or your God.

No matter what specific belief system you belong to you can either be a religious person or a spiritual person. Religious people fall for the trap of divine extortion and spiritual people are in a state of progressing beyond it. Honesty with ones self is the key for spiritual advancement. Your Self is your link to God. No matter what your understanding of God is.