The Role of Religion in Human Affairs

For centuries man has tried in vain to convince his fellow man that he held the only key for immortality. He has preached that message from the pulpits, from Sunday morning evangelist broadcasts on television and even resorted to violence and murder to convince sinners to repent and accept their faith as the gospel truth.

If you didn’t believe, you were branded a heretic, condemned to eternal damnation. And in may of the religious pogroms of the Middle Ages, many died even if they embraced the faith forced upon them.

But religion has nothing to do with cramming cherished doctrines down the throat of others. All the world’s major religions teach tolerance and respect for one another. There are no quotations in the Holy books that ever promote violence as the course of action to convince someone to repent under the threat of death.

Many believe that they have the only religion, the one right faith that will get them into paradise. Some are so convinced of it that they will either die for that belief or kill someone who would challenge it. But they fail to realize that no religion is perfect, nor does any one religion have complete truths. Yes, they point to the Bible, at the disciples Christ gathered around him to spread his message of love and peace. This made a church, and thus the one true church that matters.

But they completely miss the point. Christ, according to the Bible, came to die for man’s sins, not to start a new religion. If He had intended to do so, there would be plenty of evidence to prove it. After all, we were taught that God is all powerful, so it stands to reason that He is quite capable of convincing everyone that Christianity is the one and only true belief system.

There are no true religions simply because there are no perfect humans. All of us are imperfect. We believe that which we feel is right, regardless of whether that belief is based on fact or fantasy. That is simple human nature. No religion can be the correct one unless it is lead by God himself and not by self-proclaimed evangelists.

Every religion today is run by men who are imperfect. Human nature, being what it is, is highly motivated to protect both possessions and power. All the great empires in history eventually collapsed under greed and corruption by the elite that held the power and hung on to it at the expense of its citizens. Strong nations did not fall under constant invasions, they collapsed from within as the rot of greed spread from the seats of government on down to the people.

So it is with religion. Whether Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism or any other faith, they will all fail as they are run by men who eventually become enamored with greed and power and become corrupted by it. This is proof enough that there is no one true religion. Like the old empires of old, the faiths of today will fail, though that may change at the second coming of the Christ.

It’s not what particular belief you embrace that is important. It’s whether you believe and follow the tenets espoused by your faith. Unfortunately, while many profess to believe, few live up to what they believe. Many go through the motions as they believe it’s expected of them. They’ll attend Sunday mass, slip a good deal of money into the collection basket when it comes around, but once church attendance is over, they’re back to living life as if the commandments had no sway over them the rest of the week.

True religion is not a on-time event that comes around once a week. It is not intended to be some homework that must be done. But that is the way most people treat their faith. A Christian that relegates his faith to a one-day affair and acts in contravention of the Commandments is no different to the Jew, Hindu or Muslim that acts the same way.

According to the Bible Christ criticized the Pharisees for their love of fine clothes and esteemed position in that day’s religious hierarchy. He found fault in their stubbornness to hold onto their religious power that had corrupted their beliefs and made them mute and insignificant in the eyes of the people who looked up to them for spiritual guidance. Their corruption lead the people to do the same, having no real leaders to demonstrate right from wrong.

Since no religion is the right one, it’s necessary to live by the words written in the Bible, the Koran, the Talmud or other religious texts and take what the religious leaders of the day proclaim as truth with a grain of salt.

We might laugh at the Buddhist monk that sits meditating for hours on his cushion, but you can say that at least he’s not out in society actively trying to stick it to his fellow man while claiming God as his savior. Perhaps we can have more respect for those who pray and meditate far too much as they’re less likely to steal, covet or kill.

If we all showed love, compassion and respect for one another, we would never need religion to remind us of how to live.

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The author is a diabetic and has written two ebooks and a special report on this deadly disease. They can help arm yourself with the knowledge you need to stay healthy and avoid the complications that shorten life. Contact this author of you are looking for ghostwriting or need articles to post on your site. For more on the ebooks, visit:

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To read more of the author’s work, visit: http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/mrmagica

The author also has a number of articles that can be purchased here:

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Defining Failure

“Nobody is a total failure if he dares to try to do something worthwhile.”

People fear failure. It’s natural as we don’t know what the future will bring. The decisions we make today may lead us down the road to failure. Current problems seem to be insurmountable with no solution in sight. So we procrastinate until the problems become so overwhelming that they force us to act against our will.

Any action taken can lead to failure. But failure is not well understood. It’s definition in our minds is skewed. We define it as permanent. We believe that when we fail we are less than human, open to scorn and ridicule in the community. In our minds it means that we have severe limits, so we should stay within those limits, even if we are far more capable of doing more.

No man is perfect, though we expect ourselves to live up to an impossible standard as society dictates. If we don’t feel the need for perfection we often expect from others. But this only creates a great deal of friction.

Perfection is impossible to achieve. There are no perfect beings except one who died on the cross. Though we should be striving to improve character through trial and error, we will never make it to that pinnacle where we can be completely satisfied with who we are and what we’ve accomplished.

The purpose of life is not to reach perfection, but build the qualities that stand out in the community.  We need to hone our skills and learn what it means to be responsible for our actions. We need to become trustworthy, honest and disciplined. Our goal is to learn to be a leader to our families ant the community we live in.

And we can’t learn those qualities without periodic failure. A real failure is the one who has given up on life, who has no further ambition or desire to improve his or her circumstances.

The best way to learn is simply through effort, regardless of the outcome.  Anything worthwhile doing requires effort. If failure occurs, we can only learn from them and move on to make the world a better place.

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The author is a diabetic and has written two ebooks and a special report on this deadly disease. They can help arm yourself with the knowledge you need to stay healthy and avoid the complications that shorten life. Contact this author of you are looking for ghostwriting or need articles to post on your site. For more on the ebooks, visit:

http://stores.lulu.com/mrmagica

The author has a number of articles you can purchase to post on your blog, website or newsletter, you can find a number of articles here:

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The Pursuit of Happiness

“The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” Benjamin Franklin

Contrary to what many people believe, happiness is not determined by the acquisition of material goods. Many people they believe they will be happy if they have more money in their bank account. They believer they can’t be happy unless they have the latest model car or that top-of-the-line computer.

Happiness is none of these things as it is something spiritual. The only way you can be happy is by changing the thinking on how you define happiness. It’s a mental process.

Many people are in endless pursuit of happiness and while that’s guaranteed by the constitution, they pursue it down the wrong channels. Nothing can make you happy unless you have a consuming goal and you are prepared to work for it through effort and persistence.

It must be remembered that wealth and fame are fleeting. Many achieve what they want hoping to find happiness but are disappointed when they get it. Lasting happiness has less to do with accomplishing the goal than it does in the pursuit of that goal. It’s the actual struggle, the effort and the patience that brings satisfaction.

The best way to catch happiness is by living for today only. The present moment is all anyone has and focusing on the daily affairs of living that brings happiness with it. Yet too many try to live for a future where they hope to find happiness. But the future presents both opportunity and failure.

So while you have the right to pursue happiness, you can catch it simply by accepting yourself for who you are, live for today and stop demanding perfection from yourself.

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The author is a diabetic and has written two ebooks and a special report on this deadly disease. They can help arm yourself with the knowledge you need to stay healthy and avoid the complications that shorten life. Contact this author of you are looking for ghostwriting or need articles to post on your site. For more on the ebooks, visit:

http://stores.lulu.com/mrmagica

To read more of the author’s work, visit: http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/mrmagica

Looking Down on Others

“Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up.” Jesse Jackson

 

We all like to believe that we are superior in some way to those around us.

While the need for self esteem and importance is a necessary character, many people develop an inflated ego that prevents them from seeing the good qualities in others. Their ego isolates them from the rest of humanity.

History is replete with those who have looked down or enslaved others because of race, religion, language and culture. They have tried to cultivate a sense of superiority over their neighbors, much of which was due mostly to salve an inferiority complex.

It’s this superiority that prevents many from recognizing the talents and skills that others possess. It stifles creativity and ends any chance of working together to improve circumstances at home or within society.

When we don’t help someone because of our biases, we lose out on the potential of someone who could become a valuable friend, someone who would be there when we experience our own difficulties. Just because they frequent a soup kitchen doesn’t make them less intelligent or beneath the dignity of helping them out. Booker T. Washington once said that he would never stoop so low as to hate any man. The inference in that statement is that we all could learn something, even from the poor and destitute.

When we feel beaten down, we always hope that someone will help us up. But that’s no different than the stranger on the street. While we may get help, we often don’t return that favor for someone else. It shouldn’t take a catastrophe before we begin to show our generous side. Holidays such as Christmas get us into the mood of good cheer and good will, but a Thanksgiving dinner once a year is not enough to demonstrate true love and concern that we should have all year round.

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The author is a diabetic and has written two ebooks and a special report on this deadly disease. They can help arm yourself with the knowledge you need to stay healthy and avoid the complications that shorten life. Contact this author of you are looking for ghostwriting or need articles to post on your site. For more on the ebooks, visit:
http://stores.lulu.com/mrmagica

To read more of the author’s work, visit: http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/mrmagica

He also has a number of articles you can purchase to post on your blog, website or newsletter, you can find a number of articles here:
http://www.constant-content.com/author/20444-mrmagica-details-0.htm

Finding True Friendship

“A single rose can be my garden…a single friend my world.” Leo Buscaglia

Gardens can be easier to cultivate than a true friend. Selfishness is the rule in today’s world. Whether you look at government corruption or terrorist activities, few people can be counted on to be loyal, steadfast friends.

Of course we are all worried about our bills and we often feel alone as we struggle with them. But too often our worries and fears get in the way of establishing true and lasting friendships. Part of the problem is that so few of us really know how to cultivate friendship. It’s not a subject taught in high school or university. Yet this knowledge is so vital if we are to live in peace and harmony with out neighbors and among neighboring nations.

Friendships today are flimsy affairs. We become suspicious of the motives of anyone who offers us an olive branch. The first reaction is to be cautious. We wonder if this friendly man or woman is trying to get something from us. But often our suspicions are unfounded and keep us from making new friends.

People of all races and language want the same things:

They want to feel appreciated and loved.
They have fears and phobias
They want someone who they can trust and rely on in times of trouble
They like people who take the time to be interested in them

Cultivating friends begins with you. Hiding your fears won’t make the world come to you. It’s when you realize that people are the same, you can then cultivate genuine friendships by giving them what they want without expecting any compensation. It’s only this way that you’ll have those friends who will come to your aid when you need it most.

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The author is a diabetic and has written two ebooks and a special report on this deadly disease. They can help arm yourself with the knowledge you need to stay healthy and avoid the complications that shorten life.  For more on the ebooks, visit:

http://stores.lulu.com/mrmagica

To read more of the author’s work, visit: http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/mrmagica

A Journey of a Thousand Miles

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Chinese proverb

That seems so obvious, yet it is overlooked by many. Many people focus on the distant goal and get disappointed when they realize it they must spend a lot of time and effort to get there. The goal seems so overwhelming that they abandon their dreams. Or their worries and fear crowd out any incentive they might have to get started. They see impossibilities, not the opportunities.

Our Western society is fixated on the idea that if anything requires effort, it’s not worth having. Far better to use the plastic to get what you want today than struggle through the steps to reach the goal. We look for quick fix solutions.

Far reaching goals require a great deal of patience and persistence, both of which build discipline. While the goal is often achievable, most people seldom focus on the individual steps needed to get there. In truth it’s far better just to take the first step and follow it up with another, then another until the goal is reached. What they don’t often see is the enjoyment that comes from putting that one foot in front of the other. Joy and happiness can only come from achieving one step at a time. Every step means one less to take and one more added behind us.

Those who succeed find joy in the journey, not at the journey’s end. They feel a sense of accomplishment on reaching their goal. It is the reward of all the effort and time taken. They have developed discipline an important commodity that spurs them to achieve even more. They appreciate the gift of life and know its value. It’s a trait that few people never learn nor develop throughout life.

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The author is a diabetic and has written two ebooks and a special report on this deadly disease. They can help arm yourself with the knowledge you need to stay healthy and avoid the complications that shorten life. Contact this author of you are looking for ghostwriting or need articles to post on your site. For more on the ebooks, visit:

http://stores.lulu.com/mrmagica

To read more of the author’s work, visit: http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/mrmagica

The author also has a number of articles you can purchase to post on your blog, website or newsletter, you can find a number of his articles here:

http://www.constant-content.com/author/20444-mrmagica-details-0.htm

Life’s Purpose

“Life isn’t a matter of milestones but of moments.” Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy

We are all looking to better ourselves, improving our circumstances and create a happier and rewarding life. While there’s nothing wrong in wanting a better life, many of us lose sight of the reason behind existence.

We constantly look to the future when we can achieve something that will make us happy and content. We’re trying to reach new milestones. But this constant striving misses out on the enjoyment of today. It creates stress, irritability and frustration when what we were hoping for doesn’t materialize as we expected. We feel somehow that we must achieve more to be validated by society. We want to be somebody, so we need to work harder, push our limits.

Unfortunately, we have never learned that life can’t be lived in the far future. Our constant striving doesn’t always guarantee we’ll reach those goals as life is filled with roadblocks and setbacks that can derail the best of plans. What we need to remember is that today is the only thing we have to live in and we don’t enjoy those moments that pass moment by moment, life will remain unfulfilled. Simply it means living in the present, not for some vague future.

A house can only be built brick by brick, so you can’t rush putting up the drywall when the walls haven’t been built. Those moments you miss come and go everyday. Butt once they are gone, you can’t get them back. Many miss playing time with their children. They miss talking to them about their worries. They don’t stop the endless chain of concerned thoughts long enough to be appreciative of what they have and have been blessed with.

Life is fleeting and you may not live long enough to see tomorrow. So it makes more sense to live in the present moment, enjoy what life brings and stop worrying about a future that may not materialize. Learn to pay attention to today’s details and leave the future to itself.

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The author is a diabetic and has written two ebooks and a special report on this deadly disease. They can help arm yourself with the knowledge you need to stay healthy and avoid the complications that shorten life. Contact this author of you are looking for ghostwriting or need articles to post on your site. For more on the ebooks, visit:

http://stores.lulu.com/mrmagica

The author also provides a service as a ghostwriter. He has a number of articles you can purchase to post on your blog, website or newsletter, you can find a number of articles here:

http://www.constant-content.com/author/20444-mrmagica-details-0.htm

Aged Works of Art

“Beautiful young people are acts of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.” Eleanor Roosevelt

Society reveres the young. Television commercials sell products with a young face. Slim and suave fashion models strut down the catwalk showing off the latest dress craze. No one is old, no one appears bent over with back pain or suffers from arthritis.

Everyone seeks for the fountain of endless youth. Many spend millions for cosmetics, face lifts and tummy tucks. Those fat folds around the middle demand spending thousands for liposuction treatment.

Youth is a time for learning, a time for preparation for the latter stages of life when that youthful energy is gone and the back pains are a reality. They require spending that energy as nature provides. They need that energy to build the strong foundations on which they can build a meaningful life and become contributing members of society. The life they must build must have strong spiritual roots to last throughout life. Yet too often, youth is squandered. The wonders of temporary, physical existence often take precedence over learning. Ipods, cell phones and video games are of more interest than study.

Old people are works of art as they have become refined by the fires of life. Setbacks, disappointments and failures are seldom common events among the young. They have not experienced them, nor do they know how to handle them when they come along. But old people tell a story of patience and persistence. Their experiences project a history of lost loves, disappointment, failures, disease and death which few among the young ever experience. Their canvas has more to say than just a youthful smile. Their canvas of life has many layers of paint applied before the finished product holds more value than the Mona Lisa.

While youthfulness has disappeared, it has been replaced by wisdom.

So it is not a shame to see them hobbling along the streets with their canes. We must remember that they hold a special place in society, that if they were listened too, might have some important advice that could save the world from the next holocaust.

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The author is a diabetic and has written two ebooks and a special report on this deadly disease. They can help arm yourself with the knowledge you need to stay healthy and avoid the complications that shorten life. Contact this author of you are looking for ghostwriting or need articles to post on your site. For more on the ebooks, visit:

http://stores.lulu.com/mrmagica

To read more of the author’s work, visit: http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/mrmagica

The True Meaning of Happiness

“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Abraham Lincoln

We’re forever looking for happiness. Ask and you are likely to get a number of definitions for happiness. Many people will tell you that happiness means being financially free. They can’t be happy until they have a bigger home than the one they live in currently. Or they have that perfect mate. But do all these define happiness?

Many hope to find happiness in some future event. That future becomes their reason for living today. Once they get there, they believe they will be happy.

Unfortunately, when many finally reach that future they desire, they find themselves empty. They feel some temporary satisfaction, but it soon evaporates and they begin craving for yet another future chasing a dream that forever eludes their grasp.

But happiness many don’t realize doesn’t depend on material wealth or the accumulation of physical objects. Once that first million is made, there is the craving to make the second million.

Happiness is internal. It’s a state of mind. As Abe points out with the above quote, nothing can make you happy unless you decide to be happy. That means learning how to be content with what you have. It does not mean abandoning ambition to better your life and those around you.

A fundamental concept in Buddhism is what’s called mindfulness. In a nutshell it simply means living in the present moment, living for today without worrying about the future and what it might bring. The future is an unknown factor. What you do today impacts on that future in some way. And you have numerous choices that can make that future a failure or success. Mindfulness means being appreciative of what you have now, not what you crave for tomorrow. It means enjoying every minute of life since it can be so easily snuffed out.

If you can learn to live today without any real concern or worry about the future you will feel more contentment and happiness.

Looking for Solutions in the Wrong Places

“Very often we travel the world over in search of what we need and return home to find it.” George Moore

Dissatisfaction is a common trait of human nature. We all have the tendency to look outside ourselves for solutions to our worries and problems. Many people rush to weight loss clinics, try the latest fad diet or count the calories of everything they buy at the grocer’s. And while there is nothing wrong in seeking out help, for many, looking for solutions become excuses for not making personal changes.

The book “Acres of Diamonds” talks about a farmer who went in search of diamonds to get rich. He sold his farm in order to finance his travels to parts of the world where he might find diamonds. In the end, he ended up broke, having found no diamonds. Yet the man he sold his farm to found a sparkling stone in the backyard that was later found to be one of the largest diamonds ever.

This lesson should teach you that the solution to your problems might be as close as your own backyard. Your best bet is to search yourself first before you look elsewhere.

For many, when they fall ill, the first recourse is to pay the doctor a visit. However, the solution to their problem can lie in making some simple changes to their lifestyle rather than depend on a pill the doctor prescribes. Today’s major diseases are the result of living a wrong lifestyle. But actively making those changes take a back seat when all that’s necessary is to pop a pill to make us feel better. Unfortunately, medications only treat the symptoms. We are so accustomed to looking for solutions that we fail to see that the real solution lies within ourselves.

Reliance on outside help should always be tempered with logic. Today, the H1N1 virus is greatly exaggerated. The media and the medical establishment scare the populace for the need to get the flu shot. And many rush to get the shot without considering that it may do little to protect them against any new strains that develop from year to year. The experts can only guess which strain will attack and create a formulation to meet it.

The solution always lies with you. You and you alone must take control of your health, your finances, your relationships and your life.

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The author is a diabetic and has written two ebooks and a special report on this deadly disease. They can help arm yourself with the knowledge you need to stay healthy and avoid the complications that shorten life. Contact this author of you are looking for ghostwriting or need articles to post on your site. For more on the ebooks, visit:

http://stores.lulu.com/mrmagica

For more on what the author has published, visit: http://www.submityourarticle.com/rss/author/2252