By Tim Wood
I was baptized in the Episcopal Church. When my father was alive our entire family went to church every Sunday; I was the youngest. I vaguely remember a few services.
Dad died when I was little, and that was the end of our regular church goings. I think for him it was more of a social necessity than a religious one. My mother was very spiritual, however, even though from that time on, church was not a regular thing.
Mom periodically took me to Episcopal, Catholic, Jewish, Methodist, Lutheran and Presbyterian services. Was she seeking a congregation? We never got the chance to talk about it, but as an adult those experiences certainly influenced my thinking and asking: Who among all those different congregations was the more righteous one? I didn’t even know anything about Hinduism, Islamism, Taoism or Buddhism.
As a young adult, I morphed into an apolitical, non-religious person, although I think perhaps I may have become more spiritual, now as an old man, than my mother was. The closest I’ve come to finding a label for my beliefs is Deism, but believing in a Creator as a pure force of eternal truth. I like believing in a pure, eternal entity but one that does not meddle in human affairs. For me, God is Nature and Nature is God.
I like to believe there is true justice after death, but I also know I must die before I learn if that is actually true and what the afterlife really is (IF). What we humans seem to desire is creating a path to an eternal reward of a (good) paradise or an (evil) hell. What I do know for sure is that religious beliefs have inflicted the most suffering to mankind throughout history and continue to do so. If I were to summarize sin as Jesus summarized the commandments, I would have to say passing judgment on others is our single, all encompassing spiritual sin.
In Luke 4:23, you’ll find the exchange where Jesus speaks the proverb “Physician, heal thyself” to the Nazarenes in his home town. They reject him as the Messiah telling him to heal himself: “Hey Jesus,” the crowd is saying, “Before you can help us, you have to take care of your own problems!” When I studied that proverb and passage I coupled it up with Matthew 7:1 and 7:2: “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
To me “the measure ye mete” means the evaluation and conclusions you draw about others; you will be evaluated and judged in accordance with how you have evaluated and judged others, IF (as I hope), there is true justice after death. I believe forgiveness of sins is a man-made concept to help us through the toils of our life on earth.
Becoming engrossed in my spiritual life happened between my 17th and 22nd years. I read a lot of Herman Hesse and Jiddu Krishnamurti, whose works zeroed in on spirituality in one’s life. I remained apolitical and against institutionalized religions. I even explored Scientology in Boston. I was seeking.
Now, as an old man, my steadfast belief is that spirituality boils down to two virtues: love thy neighbor and do not judge others. To what degree you attain those virtues helps to establish your Karma.
I also believe that always practicing those ideals is close to impossible for human beings, but that does not mean you stop striving for those goals and ideals. I believe we all are constantly (whether consciously or subconsciously) evaluating and judging others and that those (positive/negative) judgments can be obvious to strangers but also hidden and disguised within ourselves.
Your personal judgments can only be discovered and known by you yourself, depending upon the degree you have explored your subconscious. No one will ever know you better than you can know yourself. Believe it or not, learning to read and understand your subconscious is a possible endeavor. It is not simple nor is it easy; it is simply possible and it is the foundation of one’s spirituality.
I believe spirituality has nothing to do with sin and/or criminality. A person committing a crime or sin against one another, or a man-made law, will likely be held accountable by way of man-made penalties.
Neither may be just, fair, good, or evil; Whatever culture you are participating in, you will be held accountable to that culture’s laws or civil correctness because that culture is slowly evolving into their own conception of a civil society.
It is near impossible for one culture to change another culture; a culture can ally or war, but history has proved cultures never fully change other cultures, all they can do is influence each other and their laws. When forced influence is exerted that can and does lead to cultural genocide and/or war. That is why wars cannot be won outright in today’s world; everyone is seeking their own cultural and spiritual identity. In today’s world, social media helps people find their own tribe and brings them together, in order to justify their particular culture and stand firm, together.
I think a heavy majority of anti-abortion and anti-LGBT supporters base their fight against these social realities directly through their religious beliefs. They are evaluating and judging people on the “pro” side as participating in sinful acts.
If indeed a person is against abortion and gay rights based on their religion and the hereafter, why are they condemning those “pro” advocate lives if they believe in God’s own judgment after those people die? Modern religion preaches not to judge, just to love your fellow men and women. God does not need your help in order to pass His own final judgments even though religious activists tell you you’re supposed to help. That’s why Jesus and other Prophets wanted to teach people not to evaluate and judge. Remember Jesus was standing up to the Ekklesia of His day.
When people start to understand their own hypocrisies and mean-spiritedness, they likely will ease into a stronger state of Grace through positive Karma. Their empathy will grow as they grow spiritually and, in turn, will become more tolerant with their fellow man. Can this concept be evil or wrong?
Abortion and LGBT life has been with the human race for more than 22 centuries and will continue to exist for all the allotted time for our species here on earth. The laws of any culture should serve and protect all its citizens, not help to persecute them. If abortion and LGBT advocates have indeed lived against your perception of God’s Law, then allow them be judged by God, and God alone. Spend your time searching and evaluating your own soul.
Tim and Kristy Wood moved to Beaufort in 1974. He worked as a carpenter in both restoration and new home construction, as well as operating a shop specializing in custom woodwork, Wood on Wood Specs.He is semi-retired, involved with fine woodworking and sits on the City of Beaufort Zoning Board of Appeals.
