Month: January 2017

 

From the beginning of our social and political awareness, fear-based control philosophies have been robbing individuals of their peace of mind, as well as their physical, emotional, and spiritual health. This, in turn, diminishes faith in both God and humanity.

Personally, I believe that God’s existence is intertwined with the existence of the human individual, no matter how insignificant they may appear to be. Just look at our ghost towns: the buildings, roads, and systems are intact but hold no value unless people inhabit them. In other words, something is only valuable if it is needed. Similarly, God may seem useless alone; it’s the human individual who attributes value to God, feeling weak and having no control over mortality, hence the extreme fear of death, which is closely tied to the fear of losing loved ones and material assets. As I said before, God and a ghost town have one thing in common: they can’t be meaningful without human beings.

You might argue that God created everything, but I can counter that it is humans who assign value to everything. It’s an assumption from both perspectives if we disregard the importance of the human individual. Without humans, logically, everything falls apart because there would be no one to assume, argue, or even kill each other over those assumptions.

The education of individuals under political influences fosters a sense of belonging that makes them feel valueless, vulnerable, fearful, and needy. Politically, people are preached to and convinced that they would be wrong to stand up and recognize their value, especially if they are mortal. This insecurity among individuals has been a boon for ruling authorities.

I believe that human individuals need to understand their place in the grand scheme, rather than subscribing passionately to fear-based education, whether it comes from religious authorities or other governing systems.

First of all, as individuals, we are told that God has endless powers and can help us whenever we need. But comparing ourselves to the unlimited makes us feel even more limited. Yet, we are the foundation of God’s physical powers or expression.

This traditional knowledge has been robbing individuals of their value and self-esteem. If a person determines that they are valueless, the only beneficiaries are those in the business of politics and power, whether it is religion or an ideology. They won’t preach for individuals to become the CEOs of their own lives, capable of putting them in their place if needed.

If you start to look at yourself the way I see it, first, you will understand and filter out the politics of power. Second, you will develop self-respect and learn to be who you really are. In reality, you are an ocean in a drop and the CEO of your life.

As the CEO of your life, you will see how important you are in the larger scheme, whether you believe in God or not. You will not be who you were made to believe; you will develop self-esteem to be more productive and useful to God and yourself simultaneously. Your importance is illustrated in this example:

When you see a beautifully designed tablecloth, you admire it as a work of art. But if you examine it closely, you will find that it is made of a very fine, weak, thin, and easily breakable thread. The value of this thread should not be underestimated. Without it, there would be no tablecloth. If you pull one thread out, it may not affect the appearance or strength immediately, but if you keep pulling, it will eventually lose its beauty and strength and become valueless.

Now, if you are the thread and the cloth is God, you can’t separate the two and place value on one but not the other. The beauty and strength of the material are valuable only if both are in the picture. They depend on each other to be a beautifully designed cloth. So, should one fear God when God is made meaningful by human beings? This question is for you to answer personally. Your fear is deeply related to insecurities and control; you want more security, so you seek God’s help. If you can overcome these deeply ingrained beliefs, you will see yourself as a workhorse of God. God needs you to be healthy and strong to take care of divine affairs.

A poem I read as a boy in Pakistan, by an unknown author, resonates here: “A lily in the pond of a forest cries about its dullness for thousands of years; it is very difficult to find a set of eyes that can appreciate its beauty.”

As human individuals, we need to recognize that even God’s existence depends on us. It is our spiritual duty to respect life and reproduce, making killing in the name of religion or any governing system a spiritual crime regardless.

If you believe in a philosophy that does not respect the importance of the individual, you are influenced by the politics of belonging to a particular group. You need to focus on God, humanity, and spirituality rather than religions and nationalism exclusively.

My logic is simple: God is like a ghost town without humans—valuable yet useless. Take pride in being God’s workhorse. Don’t be fearful and begging, because you are the main source of fulfilling someone’s prayers physically. If you feel inferior as a thread, remember that the cloth’s physical existence depends on you. Understand the politics behind the traditions and customs related to your religion.

Each human individual adds to God’s physical strength. If you tell me that God has more power and strength, I would believe it, but only partially because of human physicality. If you say that God has more powers than all humanity, I would have some reservations because today we are saving lives from natural disasters by understanding storm paths. I am not saying that God does not protect us or has no reasons to destroy us, but human beings can save and kill with intentions as well. So, does God have more power than humanity? Spiritually, maybe, but physically, even God relies on human beings.

Today’s news suggests that in the near future, we will harvest human organs from pigs through genetic advancements. This will undoubtedly provoke religious protests based on traditional ethics. My question to them would be: ask the loved one whose child’s life depends on a transplant but cannot find a suitable organ.

Each one of us carries a part of God’s power, whether we believe in God or not. With that power, we have already been helped by God. Remember the saying, “God helps those who help themselves.” So, the human is helping themselves while simultaneously helping God to exist physically.

God has blessed us with this power to reciprocate and serve ourselves during our mortal lives. When you want more, you have to put in the effort to get more. Just as you can’t wish your way to bigger muscle mass—you have to work hard for it. Praying has its place, but only after you have done your share of hard work. Some are lucky to be born in favorable circumstances, and others are given opportunities, but for most, personal effort is a must.

Why God helps some and not others is something I don’t know, so I put it in my “I don’t know” basket and continue living and reciprocating in my way, whether I fit the mold of regular religions or not. I feel comfortable in my skin and have no fear of God because I believe God is not to be feared. I believe the real worship of God is practical prayers—doing God’s work as a duty and reciprocation on equal footing, which means helping humanity as a whole.

When people live together, if they all reciprocate, the household is peaceful. But if they start to use or dominate each other, things naturally fall apart. Then why do we think that just praying to God without helping humanity is enough? God’s help depends on the physical efforts of human individuals during their lives, preventing the world from becoming a ghost town. If you worship God but do nothing for humanity, your worship is an impotent act of spirituality. God’s work is not done without the physicality of human beings. The real meaningful life is during our living years, where we are useful to God. If you are useful and reciprocating, you have nothing to fear. Heaven or hell is unknown, so sacrificing this life or living in fear and stress is like putting all your eggs in one basket, playing into the hands of the powerful in this world.

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Imagine going to a native reserve and seeing signs written in their language, or having a language police enforcing this rule. Such a scenario would be frowned upon by the vast majority of Canadians. If that’s not acceptable, how can having a language police be right? Not too long ago, a native person played a significant role in bringing down the Quebec separation movement.

 

Sure, Quebec holds the title of a distinct society, but in the larger scheme of life, we are all part of the world. Nowadays, we have genetic pie charts explaining why someone has certain skin colors, eye colors, or hair colors. If you still feel superior to others, it’s time to grow up socially, especially as times are changing. We need to embrace these changes, or we risk contradicting the valuable principles we advocate worldwide.

 

Equal human rights are one of the reasons Canada is considered one of the best countries to raise a family. At Folklorama, every nation has a spot to express their traditions and customs, yet they happily coexist under Canadian law. If you look at their backgrounds, these nations might be at war with each other, yet they can live together peacefully despite their differences.

 

Our traditions, customs, or backgrounds are not what truly matter. At the end of the day, it’s about humanity and equal human rights, regardless of where we come from or what language we speak. It’s always about what you say. Language is an asset because of its content, not because of its letters or script. It should not hinder the expression of content. An individual should be respected for their knowledge and abilities, not the language they use. Contributions to humanity’s well-being and evolution should be accepted and respected, regardless of the language in which they are made.

 

All the progress humanity has made in various fields has come from all over the world. Today, you can draw a portrait of Jesus as a white man from Europe or Santa Claus as an old white man with a beard from the North Pole, but it’s the message and actions that matter, not the language or background.

 

We have a united nation with around two hundred countries, and with technology, they communicate instantly. When I watch the news and Justin Trudeau speaks French, there is an instant translation. So, what’s the big fuss?

 

I come from Pakistan and am writing in English, but I ask readers to focus on the content, not the English, because I know there might be mistakes in my writing.

 

Everyone should focus on the content, regardless of the language, because that is what truly matters.

 

I am not conservative by any means, but I feel strongly about language prejudice, especially in this day and age with today’s technology. This does not mean I am against any language I cannot speak, but I would like to understand what is being said. The argument for keeping a language alive is not the issue, and I do not undermine the importance of French in Canada. However, I am against the idea of prejudice. Having a language police is as prejudiced as it gets.

 

If a terrorist wanted to bring in Sharia law and the Arabic language, that would be seen as radicalism. But when we in the Western world think that language police is okay, it is not okay because it is related to prejudice. We have equal rights; we can live as separate colonies, native reserves, blacks, whites, Christians, Muslims, gays, straight, or any other denomination. However, enforcing our way of living on all Canadians is not acceptable.

 

Bring me the brain, not your background. I may not agree with Kevin O’Leary’s ideology, but I think he should not be held back because of the language.

 

Those looking to bring their respected group to power are infected by the bug of prejudice. You can mask it all you want with politically correct language, but at the core, it’s an “us vs. them” philosophy.

 

The “us vs. them” philosophy has been infecting humanity for millions of years, claiming billions of lives. Yet, we still don’t get it. Personally, I believe the cure lies within the individual. When a person gains freedom from insecurities and respects others as themselves, regardless of background, we will have a chance to evolve to the next level.

 

By now, we should be able to pinpoint our primary problem: prejudice. This issue has made us rob each other of love and cling to ancestral traditions and customs, living the same way our ancestors did.

 

We don’t only need technological evolution; we need a real evolution in sociology so we can join hands to help humanity evolve. As groups, we should educate individuals to step out of the politics of belonging and the pigeonholes of their groups. If all groups have political agendas to bring power to their respected groups, no one would be able to look at or join humanity as a whole. Today’s problems highlight the need for unity. Global warming, for example, can’t be effectively fought if one country cares about it but another does not. United efforts are essential because our physical globe has no political boundaries. We, like other creatures, mark our territories, and interestingly, we even have designated spots for burial after death. We have a long way to go to evolve socially. We are fighting over the refugees from our conflicts; wait and see how humanity deals with climate refugees.

 

The need for a united nation extends beyond our disputes; it should bring humanity together. However, a system where a few groups have veto power is infected with prejudice. You might say you are not prejudiced, but your actions may say otherwise. Just look at the popularity of certain sports teams among their fans; they want their team to win regardless of performance. It’s that simple. Start by looking at yourself as an individual, one person at a time.

Kingdoms have always influenced other social entities. Whether it’s a religion or a politically elected government, both need to be overpowered by power-oriented kings. The reason is obviously power, so the politics of power is nothing new. Jesus experienced it, as I mentioned in a previous post (Read: A deadly mistake, mixing religion and politics). When a kingdom, empire, dictatorship, authoritarian regime, or even a democratically elected government is involved, there is a power struggle for the individual. This political power struggle always causes individual suffering, whether through financial loss or love loss. I call it human individual suffering.

Miraculously, humanity has been functioning for millions of years, regardless of kingdoms, dictatorships, religions, isms, and even democracy. This journey of our evolution clearly shows that human beings as individuals are very resilient. We have survived, and continue to survive, despite all kinds of brutalities inflicted by our ruling authorities, who lead us to conflicts and wars. Regardless of the sacrifices we make, we are still expected to be loyal to our groups to the point that we willingly kill, die, or commit spiritual crimes in the name of our nations, races, and religions.

My question is, should we just complain about our past, present, and each other as us vs. them? Should we do nothing about it and keep repeating history, or should we do something to change it? We can start by calling out our powerful groups and evolving to the next level, joining humanity as one entity, which is logically above and beyond any religion, nation, or race.

Just like a depressed or anxious individual, we collectively view our past situations similarly—we think the past was great but the present is bad. Or, like an anxious person, we believe that when we reach an ideal future, we will be happy. If not, worries consume our present, which is literally alive because we can make choices in it. Since both the future and the past are not the present, we can’t change them unless they become the present. Therefore, I prefer to focus my efforts on the present, where I can make a difference. We can’t keep adding bad days to our mortal lives due to past regrets or future worries. This is where free will serves its purpose for each of us.

Some would still argue that a kingdom is better than democracy, leading them to embrace dictatorship. Even today, we run our worldly affairs like empires, giving power to individuals like presidents or prime ministers instead of democratically elected councils. Sure, we would still have present-day problems, but we wouldn’t have dictatorship. Our democracies are pulled from all directions to fail—just look at the American election hacking or deep divisions within ruling parties or oppositions. Dig a little deeper and you’ll see that even our highest congregation, the United Nations, is infected with prejudice, exemplified by the power of veto. Whoever came up with the veto system must have had a political agenda rooted in prejudice.

Our prejudice seeps into every action, whether individual or collective, which is why humanity still can’t recover and evolve to the point where we can solve our insecurity-related problems. Our personal insecurities connect us to our race, nationalism, religions, and now even to gender. I believe we are all part of a singular organism consisting of individual cells, each directly connected to the source. No particular type of cell can be special because they all depend on the source, and interestingly, the source depends on the cells to function. There is no difference, thus equal rights are the best way to achieve justice, bringing internal and external peace.

I look at it optimistically and see us changing history regardless of our past because today, our prejudice has met its match. Humanity has found a new religion of equal human rights, spreading like wildfire fueled by the internet.

From a Tunisian street vendor to Malala Yousafzai to little three-year-old Alan Kurdi, their stories are awakening us to seek equal human rights. Sure, there is a lot of resistance—from protectionism that caused Brexit to the election of Donald Trump to all kinds of terror attacks—but these will change in time.

Equal human rights will eventually win because they represent the next level of evolution. This can of worms has been opened, and the taste of democracy has spread to individuals worldwide, especially with cell phones and the internet facilitating rapid change. Now it’s just a matter of time, as the internet helps propagate this new and improved religion of humanity. If you have any human rights violations, they can be posted within minutes and go viral.

Most religions have failed to do justice to the individual and humanity as a whole because they function with prejudice in favor of one particular group, promoting their way of living and spreading their political agendas.

If it is good for the ordinary individual and is based on an equal human rights justice system, any governing system can work. Even in the past, some kings were good and loved by their subjects. Dictators and authoritarian governors have their followers as well. Today, humanity has evolved to the point where governing entities need to be replaced regularly so no one can transfer people as property to their family.

Humanity has changed, and as individuals, we all need freedom. The old ways of governing are no longer in style, nor are they helpful or desired. No one tolerates forced conformity anymore, so power seekers have changed their tactics. Just look at today’s politics—there is a lot more manipulation to get elected. From false promises to outright lies to character smears of opposing parties, it’s all fair game.

Our personal insecurities and deep inferiority complexes play a big role in how we vote. We have been brainwashed by our religions and isms to believe that we mean nothing and are born sinners. That’s why we seek refuge and shelter in the wings of our belonging groups, yet we distrust ourselves and undermine our personal and individual potential. Our acceptance of being inferior has deep roots in the politics of our belonging religions and the knowledge preached to us through our ancestors. They have told us that the human individual is meaningless, yet the very existence of God’s physicality depends on the human individual. A ghost town and God have one thing in common—they both need human individuals to be meaningful or useful.

From the beginning, our religious knowledge has been tainted with the politics of our sense of belonging to groups. Logically, it should be based on spirituality, yet every religion has been and is influenced by politics. Everyone should know the real meaning of politics—in plain and simple words, it means hiding the truth and manipulating the population. Even today, our governing entities are hell-bent on brainwashing us to believe that, as individuals, we are just drops in the ocean and have no value. In reality, each of us is an ocean in a drop, depending on how we see ourselves. If you want proof that you are an ocean in a drop, just start to look and understand yourself one function at a time. Having ten trillion cells and one hundred trillion bacteria function flawlessly is a miracle in itself. It is as complex as can be. Do you really understand yourself? How can you function with all the opposing senses and functions, including all kinds of killers and poisons, within one body? A functioning human body is a clear sign of a divine entity wrapped up in a small package, so no, you are not an insignificant being at all.

You are a CEO, yet you make decisions to join a group and become meaningless. Actually, you should have the courage to tell your group when they are doing wrong. Individual powers are the foundation of all our progress in all areas of life, especially in religion and technology. The human individual has been involved in religious knowledge and every technological advancement we have made. We fly into space where no bird can fly, yet we have no wings. We dig deep into the earth to find resources without claws. We swim to the bottom of the ocean without gills. We may be a bit behind in the social department due to killing each other, including innocent ones, but a segment of the population is defending and preserving endangered species from extinction. This compassion is a clear sign of our evolution. Sure, we are not perfect, but we have not completely evolved yet either.

In the end, all religions preach us to be good people, but they also preach the politics of belonging to a group, thus becoming political entities that make decisions to go to war over who is right. Looking at history, no one can dispute that religions and wars have never been separate. It is horrible to see that we have not evolved yet. The killings are an ongoing passionate process that religions can’t seem to shake off.

It is absolutely arrogant and egotistical. As religious people, we should be humble and accommodating to other human beings because of our religious teachings, especially regarding the knowledge of God. I personally believe God exists through all living human beings. You can say the Devil exists because of us as well. How can these opposing entities survive through human beings? It is because human beings hide behind them and don’t take responsibility as individuals, so our conflicts carry on through generations—not because of God and the Devil but because of our personal emotions related to love loss.

A common theme in religious knowledge is that God will punish us, so we should be good and stay in line to be obedient to our groups. This makes us easy to control and herd whichever way they want—they can send us as an army or as suicide bombers as they please. I believe that if God lives through humanity, killing even a single human in the name of God would be killing God bit by bit.

We use a bit of our brainpower and claim we know everything there is to know, yet we are far from it. Just look at our actions. We have been claiming egotistically to have knowledge while evolving non-stop since the beginning. It is obvious there is something wrong with this claim. If we were using our full brainpower, we would have no room to learn new things. If we are constantly learning and inventing new things, it should be proof enough that we don’t know everything there is to know. So, how can we kill each other over our half-knowledge and keep doing it despite our evolution?