The Bastardization of God

“You can decorate absence however you want - but you're still gonna feel what's missing.” - Siobhan Vivian

This has been on my heart for a while now. It's such a loaded topic that I kept shying away from it, but I don't feel I can do that any longer.

If you don't know me, let me just share a bit about my background. I was baptized Catholic, attended CCD classes, and received Holy Communion. I transferred to the Lutheran Church when we moved, since my mom didn't like the Catholic church in our new town. Rather, she did not like the people who attended the Catholic church in our new town. They were not the friendliest bunch. Since she was Lutheran and my dad was Catholic, I began attending Sunday School classes instead of CCD. I was confirmed Lutheran, and I taught Sunday school after confirmation.

Phew.

As you can see, organized religion was a big part of my childhood. I was still in high school when I was teaching Sunday School. I wasn't the most organized person - and I'm still not, if I'm honest. One of the things that I never remembered was my offering envelope for the church services. I definitely did not have a lot of money in high school, but I tried to throw a couple dollars in the offering plate. They were just usually not in my official offering envelope; therefore, the church had zero way to keep tabs on what I was donating.

I bring that up because this was my breaking point with the church. I remember receiving an end of year statement showing how much I had donated to the church over the year. It was not very much at all (remember, I was in high school, and I rarely remembered my offering envelopes that had my name on them.). There was a bible quote included on the statement to the effect of 'God says to give.'

It pissed me off. I felt like I was being judged for my financial contributions, which in my mind had nothing to do with my faith. I made the connection to the church being a business, and I stopped attending.

I missed religion though, so I started studying other aspects of spirituality. I read about Hinduism and Buddhism. I dug deeper into all manner of metaphysical pursuits because I knew there was more to life than this physical body.

That's when I formed new beliefs that just felt like they made sense. It's the intuitive knowing or recognition that almost feels like a sigh of relief. It's like, 'yes. this.'

I'll share more on those beliefs later, so for now back to the topic of this blog: the bastardization of God.

Organized religion sucks. I'm sorry if you are a devotee. Maybe some churches are ok. But from my perspective, there are some really horrendous acts done in the name of God.

Priests abused and molested children. Churches funnel and embezzle money. And most 'devout' church goers are the most judgmental, critical human beings I have ever encountered - all in the name of their God. Every single major war has been done in the name of God.

It's like because they go to church every Sunday, they have the right to cast judgement, even though the Bible says: 'Isaiah 33:22 For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.'

If the Lord is our judge, why do these church people stand in judgement of their fellow humans immediately after service is over??

I remember one devout religious person who hated cuss words. She hated rap music, and she was very critical of my actions when I cussed or listened to said music. She would storm off or clam up, glaring my way. How dare I?!

Meanwhile, she had been embezzling thousands from an organization over many, many years.

Hypocritical, much??

If we look at all the bad things of the world - murders and rapists (like those in the church) who run free and even seem to profit off bad things, it's no wonder people hate God.

God is blamed for everything wrong in the world.

And that's where my spiritual studies have helped me make sense of things.

Let's go back to the quote at the beginning of this blog: "You can decorate absence however you want - but you're still gonna feel what's missing." Siobhan Vivian

Many people have moved away from God and religion because of the absolutely horrible things being done in God's name. The word 'God' itself can be very triggering for many. I know that for years I refused to use the word God. I started saying 'Universe, Creator, or Source' because I was judging God.

People lost faith in God, and many people are atheists. Let me be clear: I have zero judgment or problem with atheists. Believe what you want to believe. Choose what you want to choose. Don't make me conform to your belief and choices, and I will do the same for you.

What I see though is that instead of putting faith in a god, people started putting their faith in people.

And that's a massive problem.

I've already written about the Ego, but it bears mention here. Every single person has an ego. Most of those in power have unchecked ego's that encourage them to take advantage of others.

Is the head of Monsanto really giving a crap about our health? We have heads of major corporations illegally polluting water, illegally dumping chemicals, basically all manner of destroying the planet. Do they give one iota about us? (If you want to read more about that, you can check out my Substack).

The answer is no. They do not have our best interests at heart.

Most people don't have anyone's best interests at heart, except their own. That's why every zombie movie or show ends up with massive amounts of people being killed for no reason other than, 'they are going to kill me.' Or 'they are going to take resources I need.'

If people worked together, I'm sure zombies could be destroyed quickly, but people don't think that way. The Ego and all its fears runs the show (and our lives).

So in the absence of a belief in God, we develop a belief about humans that is not very good. Another word for faith is trust, and many of us trust that we can't trust others. That we have to look out for ourselves.

Yet at the same time, we do trust those in power. We do have faith in their policies to protect us, even when they have a long history of doing the exact opposite.

There are so many components to society being the way it is, but rather than go down several other rabbit holes, let me share my belief on God and maybe it will resonate with you too.

There is no God in the sky looking down and casting judgment. Yes, I shared the Bible verse from Isaiah, but we need to remember that the Bible was written and re-written by Man (and organized religion).

I could quote other Bible verses to support my next thoughts, but this blog is less about that and more about what I see happening in the world with an absence of a belief in something greater than humans.

So there is no God in the sky looking down and casting judgment because we - every single one of us humans - is made of the same energy as God. We each have a speck of that creative power of the Ultimate Creator.

Which means that we have free will to be/do/experience/have whatever it is we want in this life.

We can use our free will to make good choices or to take advantage of others.

Think of your soul - the part of you that exists beyond your body - as the spark of God. The body is what allows God to experience life in a human form.

The Ego is the ultimate Devil. Since most of us have never been taught about our Ego, it has run the show for most people.

When I hear a devout religious person say, "It was on my heart to message you this and I want you to know it's because I love you and don't want to seem pushy or anything.....But there is only one way to heaven and it's just accepting that you are a sinner and Jesus died for your sins, any other path leads to hell."

That is not God. That is not heart or love.

That is manipulation and control, which the Ego loves.

That is judgment and criticism, which the Ego thrives on.

God will never judge because for the Creator there is no judgment. I believe that when we go back to the purest essence - the ultimate energy of God, all - literally everything in existence - is just part of creation. Humans decide the dichotomy of life: this is good/bad, or this is right/wrong.

Now before someone says, 'rape and killing IS wrong,' it is. Absolutely, totally and completely.

But we aren't born wanting to rape or kill. Maybe with all the pharmaceutical and chemicals pumped into our world and bodies, we are being born with this tendency, but it's rare to see a baby intentionally want to hurt another.

That doesn't come until later. When the baby starts to develop a mind (also known as the Ego).

The Ego - or devil - whispers, "if you do this, you can have that.' And because we lose that connection to the greater creative potency of ourselves, we listen to that voice and act on it.

Pretty soon, we're living our lives in reaction to that voice completely forgetting about our creative power to create what we desire in life (we just have to let go of the Ego's attachment to the details of how it has to look.....but that's another blog).

I think it's time we come back to God.

Meaning, I think it's time we come back to the idea that each and every one of us is God. If we want good, what are we doing to create it?

Instead of spending time and energy judging what others are or aren't doing, it's time we took a look in the mirror. I'm a big believer of radical accountability.

Am I being the version of the person I want to see in the world? Or am I cutting down and criticizing what I don't like?

Am I being kind as much as possible? Or am I hurting others and unkind when someone disagrees with me? (cyber bullies and keyboard warriors - I'm looking at you)

What do I want in life? Am I practicing faith that because I am a potent creator that I will have what I want? Or am I busy attempting to control other people and manipulate them into giving me what I want?

This level of accountability is very difficult on the Ego. The Ego would rather blame and shame others for our lot in life, than actually point the finger at ourselves.

When you place all your attention on what you can do to create your life (or what you aren't doing to create your life), trauma and drama falls away because you don't have time for that anymore.

And you'll find people to be way more supportive, caring, and kind because you are embodying that energy as well (Law of Attraction 101- like attracts like.)

Rather than fill the void in our lives with distrust of others and faith that the world is shit, what if we started cultivating faith in our own potency to co- create whatever life experience we desire with whatever name we want to give the energy of All That Is.

And if you are someone who is interested in this level of accountability, I've got a course to help you gain mastery with it. It's an Energetic Life Audit.

Prefer to watch than read? Check out the video here.