Another wave of President Obama-bashing, affordable care-scoffing crests again. What has he been trying to accomplish that is so reprehensible? Not furthering his own political career, not making the rich richer, not protecting the treasured perks of the relatively well off. Instead, he tried to behave as a leader who believes he is serving all the people of the United States, as a reasonable, caring individual who realizes that the state of health care in our country is a travesty. Insurance companies, drug companies, and various medical providers rake in profits from the ample to the obscene while millions go broke trying to pay for care, or simply go without.

It’s so terribly easy to sit behind a computer keyboard in a comfy space, secure in the knowledge that a doctor or hospital visit is simply a matter of making an appointment or calling an ambulance. It’s so tragically easy to make everything about politics and systems of government. It’s so easy to be smug about one’s sense of independence and gleefully debate the virtues (or lack thereof) of capitalism and socialism. And all the while, human beings keep falling through the cracks between all the arguments and egotism and jingoism and self-centered pandering for votes and sound bites. All the while, real people ache and suffer and die.

What makes it all so much more heartbreaking to me is that, in all the jibes and snide comments and rigid generalizations, I read nothing of genuine compassion, true humanity…no hint of understanding that life is about people, human beings…not “issues.” Sadly, as long as the Tea Party-ers and their ilk have their way, the health, general welfare, and happiness of the American people will continue to come last in the pecking order of priorities, and be of considerably lesser importance than backing the agenda of the NRA (background checks aren’t fair!), eating away at women’s absolute right to make their own health care decisions, trying to get everyone to bea “Christian” (according to their standards), teaching creationism in schools, getting those darn poor people to stop whining about their lot in life, and ensuring that those one-percenters stay fat and happy.

I believe, and will continue to believe until my last day, that our real purpose in coming into this life is to learn that we are connected to each other, that we owe each other compassion and kindness and care, and that there is nothing material that matters more than human beings, and no power great than love. Frankly, I don’t care what system of government works to accomplish this evolution in consciousness, as long as it does, because until we as a culture, a society, and a nation, shift our priorities to what matters, we are stuck in the half-dark, half-light world in which the ego mind thrives and the soul withers.

People of no particular color vote too

Peter Morrison, a Texas GOP official, and author of a Tea-Party flavored newsletter, wrote in support of secession from the Union, expressing exasperation at the “maggots” who voted for President Obama, specifically accusing non-white voters of voting on an “ethnic basis.”

Wow, does the man know what irony is? Does he have an ounce of humanity? Does he happen to know that millions of us Caucasian voters chose to support our President, to champion his ideals, his compassion, his genuine dedication to unity? Or are we “maggots,” too? Does he know just how many Tea Party-ers and other arch conservatives would have voted for ANYONE other than an African American? How many racial epithets, along with assassination threats, have been hurled at this man who is the duly elected the President of the United States of America?

I’m seeing some parallels here. Think back to the Civil War. What was the main issue? Oh, yes. The enslavement of other human beings—black people to be precise. You would think we had evolved beyond such barbarity, prejudice, and irrational hatred. Apparently not. Continuing analysis of voting shows a disturbing situation—where the majority of white folks in states south of the Mason Dixon line went Republican, despite having strongly supported WHITE Democrats in past decades. I don’t suppose they were influenced by “ethnic” issues. Should we take a clue from the man wearing the now-infamous t-shirt to the Romney rally that read, “Let’s put the White back in the White House?” I believe so.

They can pretend it’s about economics, but it isn’t. President Obama inherited a mess four years ago, courtesy of tax cuts for the very rich, big breaks for corporations, deregulation and reduction of oversight of those banks that raked in the profits and then failed. These aren’t problems that could be solved by anyone in four years, even if he weren’t obstructed at every turn by angry, rabid opponents who had few goals other than to ensure the failure of the president’s policies.

Much as I believe secession is antithetical to the principles of the UNITED States of America and the Constitution on which it was built, and much as I abhor the goals of these venomous voices of hatred, I am thinking it might not be such a bad idea to let them go. All the haters, the elitists, those who think of other human beings as maggots, those who think God is on their “side,” (as if God was a PERSON, capable of taking sides), those who would deny people their rights, their choices, their beliefs. And we could add the misogynists, the jingoists, the ones waiting for the Apocalypse, the ones who picket soldiers’ funerals with signs saying God hates American because we “allow” gay people to exist. Yep, it should make for quite a citizenry, after they’ve weeded out the last undesirable, and perhaps even established a state religion, and demanded oaths of loyalty and allegiance to the capitalist way. Joe McCarthy would be proud.

Then the rest of us, who believe in peace, compassion, tolerance, acceptance, and creating a better world in which race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or economic class have nothing to do with one’s worthiness, one’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…can get on with building up instead of tearing down. We can express our hope and faith in the future. We can, indeed, keep discovering and valuing our commonalities. We can commit our energies to seeing that all people have what they need—including jobs, health care, safety, education, a clean environment. We can teach our young people that being very rich doesn’t necessarily make you very happy, or very ethical, or very spiritual, or very compassionate. (Wealth also doesn’t travel well post-mortem.)

Is it really the American way, the ethical way, the grown-up way, to have a tantrum of these proportions because you didn't WIN? Because you don't LIKE the outcome of the democratic process, you want to start your own country? Isn't that sort of like the kids who lose the game and take the ball and go home to sulk? And figure out how to get back at the winners? Sad really... very sad. 

HATE is not a family value, a spiritual value, or an American value

The only thing that can truly destroy our nation, and the world, is hate. And I have never witnessed the level of venomous, violent, spewing of hate as I have in this election, and overwhelmingly from the radically right segments of the political spectrum. (NOTE: I am NOT referring to ALL conservatives or ALL Republicans.) All claims to "Christian values" notwithstanding, the rants (from the likes of Trump, Ted Nugent, and other so-called celebrities and their fans), with their wildly irrational fury and bitter hatred, laced with thinly veiled racism, express nothing that is, to my mind, "Christian."

Deep, personal spirituality, a facet of life that could be a comfort and mainstay of each person's life, has been lost in many institutions of religion. Instead, religion is used by the radical segments of each faith to create more strife, more violence, more hatred--one of the many good reasons it doesn't belong in politics! This country is not a theocracy; it was not intended to BE one. That is why we have a Constitution. Interesting, isn't it, that many of those who grow apoplectic at the idea of gun control or not being allowed to say what they think, do not seem offended by those who run on platforms that demonstrate contempt for religions other than their own.

As we approach the observance of Veteran's Day, perhaps it would be well to take some time to reflect. These men and women who have fought (and died, and been wounded, and lost body parts), did so for freedom, AND they took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States--not just the parts we like or dislike. Surely we could manage to disagree without personal insults, irrational ranting, and surely we could follow our own paths without hating someone else's. Just as surely, could we not exercise our own freedoms without trampling over those of others?

When opponents of our president threaten to, once again, blockade, filibuster, and frustrate every attempt at progress, whom do you think it really harms? Not President Obama, not the Tea Party-ers in Congress, not the very wealthy and elite...it just harms the majority of the American people...millions and millions of people whose needs as citizens and human beings should be our government leaders' ONLY priority.

I ran across a quotation today as I was doing research for my Sunday talk. "First, we must liberate people from religion, as religion is understood and practiced today. Second, we must effect a paradigm shift from religiosity to shared spirituality." (Swami Agnivesh)

That is what the Holy Heretic is about... liberating humanity from its self-imposed burden of religious self-righteousness, freeing human beings from the institutional dogma that serves to separate one from another by creating an utterly false sense of superiority. Note that Agnivesh says "as religion is understood and practiced today." In truth, there are very few religions that make their ultimate priority the reunification of all human beings without requiring them to embrace dogma of one sort of another.

Part of the problem is that even the best spiritual intentions can be tainted by the concerns of the human ego, the need to be right, and the security the ego finds in feeling wiser, better, and quite literally holier than thou. It does not want to admit that no one is holier, no human is of more value than another. No skin color, language, body shape, gender, ethnicity, or nationality is better than another. No one has the exclusive franchise for truth, spiritual or otherwise. The ego mind hates that; we've all been brought to think that being right is life's big "win." It isn't. Recognizing that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, seeing the Divine in all of creation, and living without fear and judgment -- that's the only achievement that matters. Is it work? Darn right it is. And... is it worth it? Yes, unequivocally.

God is NOT a person

It seems entirely reasonable to believe that humankind is created “in the image” of God. But that doesn’t mean we look like God. God has no individual physical form, and, most important, God is not a person. To the great detriment of society, most of its religious traditions have created a god in the image of man. Depending on whom you ask, which book you consult, God can be loving or vengeful, forgiving or retributive, predictable or mercurial. The God of scripture has moods. “He” gets testy, angry, and impatient, demanding allegiance and obedience. God likes some people and not others. God (presumably perfect in every sense) created the imperfect: an inherently flawed species who will commit every sin in the book and would be eternally damned if not for the sacrificial death of a wise and kind young rabbi. None of that works for me. It is a philosophy that flies in the face of the principles of Divine Love.

So what does “in the image of” mean? I submit that who we truly are (which is not, by the way, our physical bodies), is pure Essence, and that our existence in the illusion we like to call reality is the physical expression of God Energy. To use an entirely un-scientific shorthand, when you drill down to the core, we are an assemblage of as-yet-to-be-understood “God particles.” Put another way, the Divine can, and does, look like absolutely anything that exists, because it is everything that did…does…and ever will exist.

There is so much we don’t know (and are not yet capable of knowing) but that is hardly a reason to settle for less, is it? Why limit our spiritual wisdom to a deity that is but an updated, monotheistic blending of all the gods that humankind has created before? The god of most religious paths sounds suspiciously like Zeus, lightning bolts and all. And Zeus and his Olympian crew had all sorts of human qualities—including some distinctly unattractive ones like petty jealousy and competitiveness. They used humans as pawns in a chess match. Well, now we’ve generally reduced divinity to one being, and while that may be progress, it hasn’t necessarily helped in terms of human unity, has it? And until we recognize that the Source of our existence is not a person by any definition of the word, we may not get much further.

Before we begin in earnest, let us consider the meaning of the word heretic (note: it is not the same thing as an agnostic or an atheist). A standard definition is a person who holds controversial opinions, especially one who publicly dissents from the officially accepted dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. Generally speaking, heresy was a very serious religious crime and the penalties ranged from excommunication from the church to excommunication from life itself. What most people may not know is the etymology of the word. It's from the Greek heraitikos. In simplest terms, this means able to choose. Thus we may extrapolate that heretics choose to think for themselves and trust their own connection to God. A heretic basically refuses to be told what to believe. It is not that heretics don't listen to others; indeed they do. But their minds remain open. As a matter of fact, it is open-mindedness--a willingness to consider new discoveries and insights and never settle for the status quo--that makes heretics essential to the spiritual evolution of our species. We must continue to evolve and we must embrace our magnificence.

Some of the most significant heretics in our past were those known as the Gnostics, or sometimes gnostic Christians. In 1945, 52 texts were found in a cave and Nag Hamadi in Egypt. Among these texts was one entitled Gospel of Thomas. Some of you may have read Elaine Pagels’ book, Beyond Belief: the Secret Gospel of Thomas. If so, then you already know that the contents of this text were controversial, even threatening to the established church, especially the Catholic empire. The teachings were denounced as subversive. Now we've heard that word before, whenever those in power wish to silence those who speak up. So what was so controversial?

Unfortunately, at least for the future of harmony, the controversial issues included not so minor ‘details’ like Virgin birth, bodily resurrection, and Jesus being the one and only Christ (and the one and only “son” of God). The authors of these texts wrote from the Gnostic point of view. Gnosis means the “intuitive understanding of spiritual truth." The Gnostics taught that the knowledge of God is not necessarily found in a church, in the words of priests and ministers, or in the church-approved scripture, that is to say, the approved canon. Of course they were labeled heretics. So, those of you who are still adventurers, still seekers, still intent on keeping your minds open, welcome to the ranks of heretics; we are in very good company. We refuse to allow our inner knowing to be overruled by the opinions of others.

Did you ever hear the story of the man who suddenly falls very ill and complaining of chest pains, lies stricken and silent in his bed. His wife immediately calls the doctor who, upon arriving, examines her husband who appears to have died. After few moments examining the motionless man, the doctor turns and says “I'm sorry to say your husband is no more my dear." And at that moment, from the bed, they hear a whispered feeble protest. "No, I'm still alive, I'm alive!" "Don't be absurd," says the wife. “The doctor knows better than you do.”

Now while it's true that a doctor might know better than the rest of us when it comes to a particular field of medicine, if he or she says you have no pain when you have pain or says you're dead when you're very much alive, then it’s time to start listening to what you know. All I'm asking you to do is to decide who is the best authority on how you feel, on what feels right to you. Now while this might be a debatable topic when it comes to things like medical conditions, I don't believe there's any wiggle room when it comes to the spiritual aspect of our existence. There is only one source for spiritual certainty and knowing, and that source comes from deep inside you. And really, when you come right down to it, that's all the Gnostics were saying nearly 2000 years ago. They were saying "my truth is my authority," and rejecting the converse: "your authority is my truth."

In a profound sense, all those who wonder, who question, who cannot accept platitudes and pat answers, are Gnostics. We are open to the deeper insights of life and we find our most profound connection to God inside of us. God is not an abstract idea, but an inner Reality with a capital R. the divine does not become more Real for us by reciting creeds or formulas, or by believing unquestioningly in the Bible as it stands today, or by considering various and sundry human sources of information as infallible. The Divine becomes real to us only as we open ourselves to the mystery in which we live and move and have our being. We do not choose to let others define our reality. We are nonconformists because we know that the mysteries of Life cannot be reduced to words, to anyone's words. We know that the possibilities of life cannot be grasped by the rational mind alone, but only in concert with our essence our spiritual selves. We know that the quest for meaning requires taking risks, abandoning the well-worn rut, and taking ultimate responsibility for our lives, our choices, our treatment of other human beings.

Sometimes we must eschew what has been a lifelong goal for so many human beings—conformity…fitting in. But so much of what is best and brightest in us can be lost in the struggle to be like someone else or something else; often it is the most precious aspects of our existence that are sacrificed to the holy grail of orthodoxy. Robert Ingersoll said, “Heresy is a cradle; orthodoxy is a coffin.”

Think back to one of the greatest ironies in our religious history. Christianity began as what was essentially a Jewish heresy. By the standards of Orthodox Judaism in the first century, Jesus of Nazareth was a heretic of the first order. Let me give you an example. The Jewish religious authorities came to him and said, "your disciples are picking grain, and you are healing people on the Sabbath, our holy day of rest. Do you not know this is against our religious laws?" His answer was simple and to the point. "People were not made to serve the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made to serve people."

I know you've all seen and heard the phrase, the acronym, WWJ D. We all know that that is generally interpreted what would Jesus do. I have noted that those who love to ask it are often more interested in getting people to conform to an orthodox point of view then in aligning themselves with the teachings of love that were the heart and soul of the teachings of the master.

As a matter of fact I have noted that many conformists to a Bible-based, orthodox, and dogmatic religious path seem to behave in ways that are really not in keeping with the Jesus of Nazareth I envision. Were he able to walk among us in physical form today, I think he would be considered just as much a heretic by today's shall we say conventional Christians as he was by conventional Jews so long ago. He did not insist on the “purity” of belief (in other words dogma), but on purity of heart, which is, by the way, infinitely more demanding. He did not classify people as insiders or outsiders, as true or false believers. He did not teach judgment; he did not teach anger, resentment, superiority, pride, or conformity. He taught that life is a banquet placed before us by a loving Creator, and, more importantly, that there is room at the table for everyone. It is up to us to set that table, and invite all to be seated there. Of course, as was once uttered by the character Mame, "life's a banquet, and most poor SOB's are starving to death."

We don't have to starve, and we don't have to let anyone else ration our sustenance. To know God is our birthright. The journey is not dependent upon anyone else's intercession or "superior" knowledge. The responsibility and the rewards are already ours. We must have faith that we are indeed created in the image and likeness of the divine, and, as such, we are in charge of what kind of world we will continue to create.

Rev. Lauren