God's copyright... and my rant.
Re: "God takes an almighty battering from Gen-Y" (Herald Sun) Melbourne Australia
and "Christian MPs meeting hits back at secularism" (news.com.au)
I refer to: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20014669-421,00.html
And I quote: "A new study has revealed less than 50 per cent of Australia's Generation Y identify with a traditional religion, while tarot readers and psychics are riding the wave of youth demand. A large number of Victorian parents are now hiring professional card readers and fortune tellers to appear at their children's 18th and 21st birthday parties.
The Spirit of Generation Y by Monash and Australian Catholic Universities and the Christian Research Association, revealed most young Australians classify their spirituality as humanist or eclectic, and many are happy to dabble in alternative spiritual practices."
I also refer to: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20040912-2702,00.html
And I quote: "CHRISTIANITY has been under "consistent attack" and should be re-established as the dominant belief system in Australia. This argument was mounted yesterday by more than a dozen politicians of all hues at a Christian conference in Canberra."
Recently I was asked to do an interview for an article in the Herald Sun on how increasingly teenagers were turning to tarot readers and psychics and for my views on that. I firstly explained that I do not agree to see any client under the age of 18 yrs.
I also am left asking: Since when did any particular church or religion have the official and singular copyright ownership on "God?"
It's no wonder we have now an aptly named Generation "WHY?" on our hands.
With this in mind, I am sure the church will now start working on the copyright for God, perhaps we will one day make our prayers to our "dear father (TM) in heaven (TM) or be expected to make weekly visits to "God's R US (R)", (possibly with patent pending).
P.S. I believe in and love God as I see the god and goddess, and welcome you to love your vision of god as you see it. Everything I do is in honour of that force and I don't try to convert you to my spiritual point of view in my readings, and I instead often find myself telling people to reconnect with their faith and to ask their version of God for help. I also have numerous friends of varying spiritual persuasions and we all get along fine.
But in the meantime, it would be great if the rest of the world's population could celebrate our similarities while respecting and seeking to understand what makes us different philosophically and spiritually. After all, if the world was full of people who all dressed, acted, and thought the same way, (no matter what way of thinking, dressing, or acting that was) our civilization as we know it would imminently collapse. Oh, I forgot, we are in the time of Armageddon aren't we? So I guess we should all be happy about the mess we are living in instead of trying to work out our differences like reasonable adults.
I found the title and nature of the aforementioned article offensive in the least as it implied that people turning to tarot readers and psychics or alternative spiritual and religious practices were in fact turning away from god. It also implied that the church, namely Christianity has the sole (soul?) ownership of god and copyright to god. That you could only reach god through the Christian church. Yet, if you do your history studies correctly, as well as studying comparative religions for any length of time, you will find that Christianity's record as a world citizen is far from squeeky clean and its customs and seasonal/spiritual festivals were copied from many of the seasonal and spiritual festivals that came from a religion far older than itself. Did anyone say thou shalt not steal?
And like a good dose of karma, the same ancient religion Christianity took traditions from is again is re-emerging from the wings and overtaking it yet again. But is hasn't always been easy being green. God as I have encountered is an all loving presence, not a flame throwing wrath dealing creature that wants you to visit "his" especially branded outlets or else. It's not like how you can get caught and charged for selling unauthorised and non genuinely branded merchandise from the AFL, Melbourne Grand Prix, Melbourne Cup, Makbye Diva, or Coles Myer whoever they are going to call themselves now. Your church and religious persuasion should be a personal decision, and I respect all faiths so long as they are not interfering in people's free will and lives. However, If the church was being truthful with their increasingly active interference in matters of state and education particularly, they would have just said "Lets alienate everyone else in order to corner and expand our market share, lets just push the opposition out." One country's terrorist is another country's freedom fighter.
Despite being misquoted in a couple of places in that article and being placed under a heading that in itself is derogatory towards people of my profession and spiritual leaning (as if there is a choice between god and us when most of us have a deep belief in god in some form), I still stand by what I did say which if quoted correctly would have given my true point of view on this. I was asked by clients and other who knew me why I did not write in and complain. Well, why do that when I can have a little rant here and share freely without subtext and edits not of my own making.
What I said was: "This generation don't follow the same religion as their parents just because that is what their parents believe."
I believe there is a new (old) religion emerging here, as well as differing views on religion itself.
Other comments seem to me to have been changed around to suit the paper's ideals, so to put it bluntly, from now on I am taping my interviews. You could ask how did the psychic get into such an tiz, and the answer is quite simple. I was interviewed as I was leaving the city for a 300 kilometre drive to go to my Nana's funeral the very next day. The article I was interviewed for was in the paper on the day of Nana's funeral which by the way was in a church in a country town. So on the day of the funeral my grieving family read the paper and found a derogatory misrepresentation of my work and beliefs just before or perhaps after seeing me at church. How nice. But then Nana loves polarity, after all despite calling herself a Christian during her life, her church was mostly in nature and with animals just as mine is. ***
In the article about the survey I was not inferring that the children of today do not have a philosophical, ideological, or spiritual point of view. In fact I said many of them do have a viewpoint of their own , but are highly educated and were looking at their options. The survey by the way was put together by the Monash Uni in conjunction with the Australian Catholic Universities and the Christian Research Association. Thus, I would like to know why the church was doing this survey in conjunction with a public university, when so much of what the church is now doing in Australia seems to be in direct violation of Section 116 of the Australian Commonwealth Constitution, which states: "116. The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth."
Yet, chaplains are now being increasingly employed in Public, government run schools, and politicians are making decisions on behalf of the country on the basis of their own personal religious choices (RU486). Right now in America, in some schools the religious ideas of creationism (that god created the world and everything on it in 7 days) is being taught in science class alongside evolution theory. I thought that was a theological subject, not a matter of science. What a farce. And, when exactly in history it was that the church got the official copyright to god? How is it they think that theirs is the only way to god? And whose idea was it to allow the church to run the Australian Government?
Does that mean the rest of the world is evil? Here by the way is a small list of world religions, that will exist so long as they all aren't killed off whether through genocide, or political, cultural, or religious vilification: Australian Aboriginal Dreaming, Hinduism, Wicca, paganism, Islam, Voodoo, Buddhism, Sufi, Baha’i, brahma-kumaris, Rastafarian, Jewish, kabala, essene, shamanism, spiritualism, Confucianism, jain dharmans, Zoroastrianism, Shinto, Taoism (a.k.a. Daoism)
May be you can add to that list?
The Christian church is an organisation with a world history of barbaric torture, ridiculing and killing off around 6 million women in Europe under 100 years in the middle ages for their apparent 'witchcraft' because they could help people get well or get empowered to walk with god directly, as well as killing off people and civilisations that did not share their own version and vision of god. Oh, did anyone forget to mention the killing, kidnapping, transportation, and slavery of how many Africans from their homes to North America, I would have thought putting into slavery or wiping out entire civilizations in the name of god was in fact taking god's name in vain and did anyone say "Thou shalt not kill?"
And to quote from the article by Patricia Karvelas, Former Nationals leader Mr John Anderson "said Australians were enjoying the "fruits" of a Christian value system but warned that "no fruit will survive without you tending the roots that provided the growth in the first place and without replanting". Was that the same Christian value system which over a period less than 200 years brought about the near destruction of the Indigenous Australian civilization who were living in harmony with this land now called Australia for 40,000 or so years before we got here "mate?" Will she be right at all AI ask you Mr Anderson? Perhaps while he looks into that he can also look into this: http://www.aec.gov.au/_content/when/history/ab_vote.htm Which talks about our society's values and treatment towards this land's indigenous people.
From the online article:- "The debates reflected the racist temper of the times with references to savages, slaves, cannibals, idolaters and Aboriginal ‘lubras’ and ‘gins’. The Senate voted to let Aborigines vote but the House of Representatives defeated them. The 1902 Franchise Act gave women a Commonwealth vote but Aborigines and other ‘coloured’ people were excluded unless entitled under section 41 of the Constitution." The online article also says "The referendum in 1967 remembered as marking a turning point in attitudes to Aboriginal rights. In one of the few ‘yes’ votes since federation, 90.77 per cent of Australians voted to change the Constitution to allow the Commonwealth to make laws for (Australian Indigenous people) and to include them in the census...."
Well, Mr Anderson , yes I also think it's quite self-evident that our 'way of life' has been deeply rooted in Christianity. And is the near complete destruction of the land's original inhabitant's cultural links, customs, traditions and lifestyle yet another example of the Christian value system at work that you seem to see as central to the history of the development of Australian values?
In today's enlightened society, we have so many of the clergy from that same church convicted of child sex offences whilst in positions of trust. Meanwhile they tell you that you can only reach God (the same God they claim to be acting on behalf throughout the ages when they were killing people) by coming to that same church and confessing your sins while theirs are either hushed up by cheques to victims and nondisclosure clauses or brought out in cases in court that get media publicity which we see in some cases after decades of abuse of multiple victims. The same church by the way that still shuns, ridicules, and isolates peoples of other and numerous religions or sexual persuasions for essentially not fitting its agenda. Are the offending clergy member's sins of molestation above reproach? The laws of today don't think so. Oh yeah, did any one say "Thou shalt not judge?"
With such an obvious display of hypocrisy, its history and interference in matters of state, with the re-emergence of this interference now in America and Australia to frightening levels, whether directly in governments or indirectly through the education systems, how can such an organisation claim the higher moral ground? And is it really any wonder that the children of today's Generation Y lose hope, lose faith and turn away. If it just stopped meddling, and was more accepting of cultural differences, the church would have a whole lot more to offer today's people and therefore would have a much larger membership. And I hope they will do that. However, no longer can you convince us that if we don't come to church on Sunday that we will go to hell, because chances are spiritual corruption will send hypocrisy there first. God talks about judging not others lest we be judged, then why church do you openly put down other faiths? I remember as a child attending Sunday school and coming back home with nightmares and being told I would go to hell because I asked too many questions.
Today's generation Y are also asking just that same question...WHY? And unlike other past generations, they won't be frightened, silenced, guilt-ed, or placed in a position of fear in order to go to church. So, Christianity, please change your marketing strategy and stop expecting people to follow you in blind faith alone. Start walking your talk, put your enormous money where your mouth is by using an infinitesimal amount of your trillions locked away in the Vatican to solve third world debt, and you may find them returning to you in droves.
They want to make up their own minds, and they are far more intuitive and open to energies, but also they want logical, practical, no bull answers.
Some of them just don't care because they are in a society that seems not to, and others of them are searching deeply for something more than being told they'll go to hell for asking just because one clergyman has no answer. They are leaning more towards the alternative because it offers more answers. Give them a new non dogmatic alternative, stop making everyone else the enemy and you will have your church again.
For me, I must be a heathen, because my church is not made of stone, it is not inflexible, rigid, or unwelcoming, it does not judge me, or others, and it goes with me everywhere I go, it is in everything living, breathing or existing thing, every plant, tree, animal, bird and even in the people to object to me and my own choice of religion. To me that is where the true church is, but of course it costs nothing except your time to visit it, so there is no multi-national riches provided by the poor to make of it except that which I can take with me when I go home, to the other side, to God's care. I love God, and I accept and respect everyone else's choice to love, hate, ignore, or walk with god according to their own choice and religious leanings. And I welcome them to express their view on god in any way that they feel they need to so long as they are not actively trying to interfere with the free will of others to do the same. By the way, when you look at it truthfully, the money I earn as a psychic is really no different to the donations people make to the church after seeking advice from one of their ministers.
So I will leave you with the prayer I received in my sleep in a vision I had over ten years ago.
In this vision, I became an eagle, I flew into the sun and when I flew back out and down, these are the words that came with me:
The prayer I say each day:
"Oh great spirit, Help us understand and accept-
that we all come from you, that we are all part of you, each other, all things and beings
Teach us to love, to give freely and without expectation,
to reflect on our own actions and ourselves-
instead of judging one another
Let us spread our message of hope
while we each remember
that each of us, with all our differences
are a much needed part
of our entire existence. "
(Oh and these words are (C) copyright Jacquelene Close Moore with all rights reserved ...hehehehe, except of course the right to carry it with you and say it yourself should you wish. Perhaps if we could all live with the qualities of allowing others to be who they are we might just find a more peaceful world to live in after all. Do you really think God wants all these wars?)
***Interestingly, or uninterestingly as you might see it, at my Nana's funeral as they interred and lowered her coffin into her grave, an eagle circled in the sky directly above and one other eagle swooped down from the heavens, through the circle made by the first eagle, picked nana's spirit up and flew up with it and vanished within the clouds.
My Nana was a Scorpio, and in some cultures an eagle swooping at that moment, picking something up and ascending again to the heavens is seen as god coming to take the soul back home and into it's care.
World peace will come about if we can celebrate our diversity and validate the whole not by continuing to name and create a view of the "axis of evil" and etc. we are no less and no more right than each other, bu if we can learn to allow others to simply be, then, then we will be heading in the right direction.
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October 2006 
Morrigan
