What is a myth?

A myth is an imaginary tale dealing with the elements of nature or supernatural creatures involving a sacred and symbolic aspect which as centuries went by enriched themselves. At the very outset they were transmitted orally when later, literary authors often wrote them down as myths. There are often different versions of the same narrative that vary according to the place and the time often influenced by the personality of the narrator.

To the Greeks, these stories answered fundamental questions like the world’s origin, humanity as a whole and Gods procreated by monsters with the forces of nature. In the course of their history, these people reproduced other myths concerning the origin of their cities that established the core of Greek culture and was known by all; everyone relied on these stories as they reinforced them against the obscure and mysterious universe.

The Religion of the Ancient Greeks

The religion that the Ancient Greeks followed was neither an organized nor a hierarchical cult like the Christian Church with a belief well defined nor a holy book like the Bible. The priests were just administrators who were in charge of the religious rites and watched that the ceremonies were commemorated according to the tradition. Many a time these people enlarged the number of their divinities and their conception matured as years went by. Traditional ceremonies and feasts were modified according to time and place, but the main gods and myths, the temples and sacrifices remained an established institution to all.

The gods were omnipresent, knew everything, appeared by signs and enjoyed various functions: they were very powerful, and were in charge of natural phenomena and governed human activities. The Greeks were united and bound with their gods who especially protected their cities and the places where they lived. For a distinct, identical God a person honored the divinity with the same representation and role and these deities interceded in the life of the individual and that of their city. People communicated with them through religious rites and prayers and they heard their answers through dreams and oracles.

With the development of philosophy and a breakthrough in science many educated people began to doubt more and more about the veracity of these divinities. Some derided the mythological tales that they found incredible and not very logical but yet supernatural power played a vital role that fostered fear of spells, curses and ghosts.

False prophets are referred to many times, especially in the Old Testament where the Spirit of God speaks. In the course of my research following my reincarnation many things came to light that stand out in the belief systems. The first of these has to be the expectation of an afterlife in heaven or hell. Knowing that these places do not exist made the identification of the false prophets unmistakable, but the evidence had to be gathered.

Religions are based on prophets who all proclaim heaven and hell to be in existence. The question is why? What is it about the threat of eternal punishment versus the glory of a forever life in heaven that makes them so appealing?

To begin with hell has horror written all over it. During the course of centuries, it has been enhanced with various visions of fire and brimstone to frighten anyone out of complacency. That means they adhere to the teachings of religious principles governed by their imagined visions of what will happen to them after death.

To discover the root of these weapons of control my research took me back to sun worship and the first religion born of it – Islam. Most expect that this is a modern religion that started with the Muslims. That’s wrong! It started at the beginning and ‘Islam’ is the same as ‘Is-ma-l, the so-called son of Abraham.

‘I-s-l-m’ means ‘eye of light-god mother’. It can and was written in various ways, such as ‘I-s-m-l’ or ‘Ismal’, eye of light mother god’. This goes along with the earliest symbols and first recorded writings.

The home of Islam is Babylon and here images were made to represent the sun as a woman, Isis or Mary. The latter means ‘mother-powerful eye’. Every king since has used this image to start a new religion or maintain an old one.

Constantine established the Catholic Church based on Jesus Christ and Mary. His false prophet is a metaphor for Krishna, the third Person of the Vedic Trinity, which was the result of another king’s false prophet.

The false prophets of Jerusalem are Mohammed, Jesus Christ, and David. They are versions of prophets that delivered kings their divine rights. People were tortured, exiled, and murdered if they did not worship and follow their ‘teachings’. The Catholic Church murdered more people than all the wars put together, since it started. The Muslims and Jews have done likewise in their brainwashed state of expectation of heaven and hell.

“My heart within me is broken, because of the prophets… For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my hose have I found their wickedness, saith God.” Jeremiah 23:9,11

Religion deludes and divides mankind

It misrepresents God and is not kind.

Promising power

Religion exerts control

Claiming to have truth

Religion deceives and acts uncouth

Projecting superiority

It alienates people in inferiority

Comparing and competing

With different doctrines

Separating from other sects

By segregation religion neglects

Humanity for whom Christ died

Ironically, religion is the great divide

Which widens the gap

Points the finger and does attack

Ridicule, scold, and demean

Sincere souls seeking spirituality

Religion is not what it seems

It is merely an illusion

Mankind’s search to satisfy

A deep inner quest and cry

To be reconnected to the Creator

To open faith’s glorious door

Historically however

Religion has been rotten to the core

Let us not embrace it any more

The sophisticated establishment

Is in reality an entrapment

Producing systematic enslavement

Obscuring the light of God

Making the narrow path broad

Discriminating and diminishing people

While it erects an edifice and steeple

Pursuing power at the expense of peace

From such ill will God give us release

Continual conflict, war without end

God in heaven wants to be our Friend.

Let’s expose the deficiencies of dead religion

Overthrow the dastardly defects of mere opinion

The concept of kingdom must be reintroduced

In wayward Western civilization

It’s not about imperialism, nor education

This is Christ within, a new creation

A changed heart, a divine work of art

This is not a political ideology

By which you appear smart

On the contrary, God in heaven

Graciously gives humanity a new start

Beyond blood, death, and diplomacy

Exists the kingdom of heaven in me

God alone can open your eyes to see

Righteousness, peace, and joy in me

The kingdom within brings victory

Birthed by the Holy Spirit of the Lord

Established and sustained by His Word

Conquering conflict, hatred, and fear

Blessing whosoever will humbly hear

Removing uncertainty, and corruption

Genocide, poverty, and starvation

The concept of Christ’s kingdom

Births a spiritual revolution

Empowering people with dominion

Removing religion’s pitiful opinion.

No more should we massacre millions

And claim we’re motivated by religion

God in heaven is a life-giver, not a killer!

God’s Son died for us

Therefore we don’t need to die for Him.

Just receive the King and get in the kingdom

Christ the King will make your heart sing

No need to bring an offering

Give Him your heart, submit to His Lordship

His mighty power will you equip

Your sin and bondage, He will strip

Embrace his purpose wholeheartedly

Transcend formality and religiosity

No more shall religion oppress humanity

For soon all shall taste and see

The spirit of grace that reconciles peaceably.

Despite being the giant of Africa, Nigeria is a nation that is widely known for its religious affiliation. There are so many religious divides in this country of over 150 million people. Though highly dominated by the Christians and the Muslims, Nigeria's nationhood hangs on a balance. This diversity in religion is one of the things that constitute a major threat to the country in taking positive steps towards attaining nationhood.

Divergent opinions emanating from different religious quarters have for so many years held the nation at a standstill. This has made so many people to see religion as the greatest enemy of Nigeria's potential nationhood. Nigeria cannot truly be called a nation when one religion out of the lot will aspire to dictatorship in secular matters. Without subscribing to the notion that "a theocratic order is anathema to nation building", it is important to understand that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and the nation whose God is GOD is a progressive nation. A secular order that is in line with God's standard can embrace all. Secularity without God is a disaster. When God is sidelined and the people do their own things, progress will never be achieved.

It will not be enough to posit that religion MUST submit to community, to nation, so as to facilitate human co-existence. Without religion, the whole world would have been in flames. When I speak about religion, I speak about the knowledge of the true GOD. I say this because, I see that there are religious followings that evoke parallel but opposing sets of protocols, citing the authority of some unseen and unknowable gods in realms that have no perceptible contact with the actual. Testimonies abound in so many places where the worship of the true GOD, the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, brought about total transformation of people. People who in times past have been living in brutishness, now reverts to love and care for one another.

Through the fear and worship of the true GOD, Nigeria has a chance or space of attaining nationhood. The big problem facing us now is the attitude of some people who blend politics with religion thus making co-existence to become impossible, reverting human entity to its former state of brutishness. Religion began in Israel the day when God spoke to Abraham, telling him to leave his land and his family home to a new country. God promise to make Abraham the founder of a great nation, and without doubting, Abraham took God at His word and followed Him.

So the very first and most basic belief of the Jewish and Christian religion is the certainty that God is a real person, and that human beings – individually or a group – can know Him. Through Abraham's grandson Jacob (renamed Israel), the history of Israel as a nation began, and through the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham, the family and nation that came from the stock of Abraham became God's people. He proved this when He rescued the children of Israel from the Egyptian bondage, meeting their needs for food and water and cared for them in spite of their rebellions.

As time went on, there arose divergent opinions and other developments in the last centuries before Christ. It was a time when the Law was studied, and extended, as never before. And during this time various religious and political groups sprang up. There were the Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes – in the New Testament. Other sects nit mentioned had tremendous effect on the Jewish religious 'climate' of the New Testament times. Their actions and teaching of religious observances (a matter of ritual) affected the progress of their nation greatly. Their religious patterns were not matched by right behavior. This annoyed God and He dealt with them severely. God categorically stated that the nation that forsakes God shall be turned into hell, together with all its inhabitants. When we follow the ways of God, things go well with us, but when we abandon God, we risk calamity.

Nigeria as a nation should however learn from history. Righteousness is what exalts a nation and its people, but when SIN is introduced, the nation and its people are reproached. When any nation allows a group of disorderly people to dictate the tune of its government in the name of religion, trouble is about to begin. So many atrocities have taken place in Nigeria in the name of religion. The truth of the matter is that no religion, in the context of that word 'religion' will ever tolerate evil. "Pseudo" is the right word, and when you hear people complain about evil in the cover of religion, be careful to know where those actions belong.

The newest and best religion of all is the Jeti Religion. And it is going strong as many people abandon the ridiculous ancient fables, folklore and religious hand-me-down crap we know of today as literature and not even good literature. Recently in an online think tank the subject of religion came up and a member stated;

“We can then foresee in the distant future not a abolishment of religion, but a synthesis of higher thought and religion as a highly philosophical, scientific and spiritual form of metaphysical science.”

Indeed we are seeing such an emergence now in the UK and Australia with the Star Wars “Jeti” type religion concept. So you have something here indeed. Now then if you can get rid of all these fundamentalist religions, which blindly follow their genes of past periods into mortal combat, that would be nice.

As civilizations have grown up in the first world and if we use the GDP of the first world nations to limit population growths to the point of collapse then we no longer need human wars. But we must also realize that wars also have helped mankind achieve greater heights in technological advancement, so then we would need to replace human wars with a common cause and to continue their drive and forward progression.

Personally I am of no religion whatsoever and am not interested in signing up for any. If a human needs a religion to help them find “self worth” then perhaps said human has an identity issue with self. In that case a religion of any kind might be a crutch worthy to provide an inner peace or life’s mission. However if one lives a life of falsehood, is that indeed a life experienced well lived?

If one chooses a religion like you have mentioned; indeed it is better than the other tales and folklore of past periods carried on into this present period, but replacing one concept with another; well is that really the solution or are you attempting an “interim” or bridging concept for the human race to allow them to rise up? If so I applaud such efforts, although perhaps there is a way to skip all these steps completely? Consider all this in 2006.

When it comes to games, Cricket is leading the way in India, the national game Hockey lagging miles behind. The passion among the people for the game is evident in the matches that are hosted in India. Thus it is said more than often that cricket has achieved the status of a religion in India with millions of followers to its credit. The fan base transcends all the cultural and religious barriers of the country. The people are so passionate about the game that it is almost impossible for a neutral cricket viewer to come and enjoy the game. The crowds begin to fill the stadium 5 hours prior on match days.

The different versions of the game have their respective followers with the One day matches and Twenty 20 comprising of youth and the Test matches for avid lovers of the game. The game which is played primarily by 8-10 nations is a rage in the Indian sub-continent with India leading the way. People follow their favorite cricketers closely and even a minute incident in their lives becomes a top story in the News. It might be fascinating for the sports fraternity across the world that the boards of such a game are among the richest in the world. For instance, the BCCI (Board for Cricket and Control in India) is the richest in the world leaving behind top Football clubs and the game which is being played by almost every country in the world.

Thus it is quite natural for people to know how one can create a success story with a game that is played only by minuscule number of nations of which some are still developing economies. But it will be an eye opener for them and for the followers of the game that there are very few spectators that come to witness the local or club level matches and thus turn out at only International matches. Most of them turn out at the matches where the home team is playing and see the home team winning. There are quite a number of occasions when India was losing the match and the stadium had to be evacuated as there was uproar from the crowd and throwing of bottles on the opponent team. There is maddening celebration after winning a game and effigies of players being burnt after losing a game. Thus it raises a basic question that whether we Indians really love the game of Cricket?

If Indians really appreciate the game then there should be ample public in the local club level matches and the standard of these games would also be higher. Unfortunately, this is not the case in India. It’s true that people are crazy but they want to see India winning. They cannot appreciate the finer things of the game even if home country is winning forget about when losing a game. This may not look an appropriate justification to an avid cricket lover from India but the picture will be crystal clear if we visit other countries and sports.

For instance the stadium is full of capacity in the club level matches in England and Australia with people staying till the very end of the game. They appreciate a good shot even by an opponent player’s team which is just opposite in India as there is a pin drop silence even if the opposition player has hit a beautiful shot or taken a crucial wicket. This is magnifies if we get to witness other games like tennis. It is a common instance there when people come together to appreciate a good game rather than support a particular player. There are quite a number of instances when Swiss maestro ace Roger Federer is cheered for his shot making over Briton Andy Murray in Wimbledon. The game of cricket, ironically, is facing a stiff competition from its various versions like One Day Cricket is Threatening Test Matches while Twenty20 is threatening them all.

Thus if Cricket has its ambitions to become a global game then its reception has to be a bit more serious in a country like India which has the largest following for the game. Otherwise, the success story of BCCI will be a temporary one and about just cashing the sentiments of the masses. They will have to promote the game at the grass root level and then go the next level of introducing it to the nations that are completely new to the game.

Hunter B. Blakley wrote a biography of Brother (James A.) Bryan of Birmingham in 1934. Students should learn to report on a book they have read with different styles and formats. Summarizing the whole story does not always present the best report. Since Blakley filled this biography with an abundance of stories painting a picture of how God used this man, a snapshot may provide the best report.

James A. Bryan grew up in rural South Carolina and moved to North Carolina at the age of fourteen for more education. Then, God made it possible for Bryan to attend and graduate from Princeton University. In 1889 he arrived in the young city of Birmingham to pastor the Third Presbyterian Church. Indeed, he became a pastor to the city of Birmingham itself.

To see how this happened, follow a day in the life of Brother Bryan of Birmingham (Chapter 5 His Daily Round):

5:30 a.m. – a younger preacher filling in for Brother Bryan’s regular driver arrived at Bryan’s home.

6:00 a.m. – they arrived for Pastor Bryan to preach to workers at a transfer company.

6:30 a.m. – Breakfast at a Greek Restaurant provided free for Brother Bryan and anyone who accompanied him. Before leaving Brother Bryan prayed for the staff at the restaurant.

7:00 a.m.-Fire Station # 4 – Brief preaching session to the firefighters.

7:45 a.m. – WKBC – Radio Station Morning Devotions – Brother Bryan sang a few lines of “Take Time to Be Holy,” prayed and spoke from Isaiah and then closed in prayer.

8:15 a.m. — Pick up donations of fruit, bread and broth for those who would listen to a message at the church later that morning. Called his wife to recount his activities and to ask about things at home and if anyone had called requesting a wedding or funeral.

9:00 a.m. — Fire Station # 1 – Brief preaching session with the firefighters.

9:30 a.m. WBRC – Commercial Radio Station with greatest reach in Birmingham. 30 minutes of preaching time.

10:00 a.m. Spoke to a women’s group about his trip to Nazareth.

10:45 a.m. At the church – checked in with Mrs. Bryan; by phone learned of the sick; thanked a friend for food; encouraged a man – ending each conversation with prayer.

11:30 a.m. Spoke to the homeless who had gathered for a meal.

12:00 p.m. Drove home for the meal Mrs. Bryan had prepared for them.

2:00 p.m. Hospital visit; home visit; pick up weekly donation of a piece of meat from butcher.

3:30 p.m. Fire Station # 7 – spoke to the Firefighters

4:00 – 5:15 p.m. various sections of the Jail as “City Chaplain.”

5:30 p.m. Checked in at Church to inquire if anyone had requested funeral or marriage.

6:00 p.m. Supper at a restaurant – again anyone who accompanies Brother Bryan pays nothing.

6:50 p.m. Tarrant City Hall – spoke to firemen.

7:30 p.m. Church meeting

8:30 p.m. Bid goodnight to “chauffeur.”

(Reviewer deduced some of the times from the narrative.)

Other chapters mentioned that Brother Bryan arose early and spent an hour with God before beginning his day. In addition, he met with people in what they called “the confessional” – his office. Apparently, he chose a text at the beginning of the week and developed his Sunday sermon as he spoke do the different groups throughout the week.

Pastor and Mrs. Bryan had seven children, the first of which died in infancy. All six of the remaining children graduated from college. Two of his sons became preachers; one a missionary and one a minister. Another son wrote, “His faith to my mind has been remarkable. It has been a common occurrence at our house to see the Providence of God working in one way or another. Father in the family circle would make supplication to God to grant a request, if it were His holy will, and on occasions too numerous to count, his requests have by some means or other been granted.” (p. 107)

Having learned of Pastor Bryan’s “Daily Round” Birmingham understandably claimed Pastor Bryan as their own, paying his way to the Holy Lands. They had hoped for him and Mrs. Bryan to go, but her health did not allow it. He took his preacher son along with him. God greatly blessed the ministry of James A. Bryan.

Voodoo is a religion brought to America by black slaves from Nigeria, a country that became a central resource of slavery boom for colonial powers, which all started with massive transport of slaves from West Africa to America in about the year 1500 with cruelest forms of humiliation. Of course, these human beings were not slaves, but only forcibly made that way.

Many of them were killed and flogged to death like animals. Among the barbaric nations were Spain (which colonized countries like Cuba, Venezuela, Peru…), Portugal (Brazil), and United Kingdom (which colonized Northern America). Other countries built their economy on slavery too, but the above ones expanded the yoke hand in hand with Christianity and with the cruelest impact on other native nations like American Indians.

Voodoo originated in Nigeria, which has more than 250 ethnic groups – the largest one Yoruba or Igbo with a variety of religious systems such as Olorun or Vodun. Nigeria was a cradle of prehistoric civilizations such as Nok. The Nok culture had developed many years before Christ and it is known to have had contacts with the then ancient Egypt. Various archeological excavations confirm this. The Nok people used symbols which epitomized the authoritative representations of the Egyptian culture.

Dr. Kwame Nantambu (Kent State University) says that black Africans in ancient Egypt wrote the Bible (Old Testament) as scribes, which is a fact that the Catholic Church hides from the public. Even today, in Ethiopia, you can meet “black Jews” – black Ethiopians with Judaism as their faith.

Maybe it will surprise some people, but the Catholic Church is an organization that resembles the Roman Empire in a certain way. It is divided all over the world to provinces in the same way as the Roman Empire; it has its Emperor and a lot of the Catholic heraldry resembles the one used in the Roman Empire. Similar analogies exist in our history and Voodoo is not an exception.

Voodoo together with some other contemporary African religions is the only living religion in the world which contains some elements of the ancient Egyptian beliefs, particularly the cult of Isis, which had been still very popular up to the 4th century AD also in Europe until Christianity became the official dogma. A logical support for the above statement is that Isis was the Goddess of Magic, which is the same element of Voodoo. Of course, there are other “magical religions”, but the cult of Isis and Voodoo (African Vodun) are territorially closer, and both very old.

Voodoo is an offshoot of a variety of religions practiced in the then Nigeria and not only the result of the presently living Vodun in Africa, but conditioned by history in which it developed from after the year 1500 off the African continent. Presently we have a Haitian-type, but also its offshoots in other parts of Latin and Northern America.

The basic concept of this religion is based on magic, spirits, and worshiping of God. Some parts of it merged with Christianity – for example, Candomble in Brazil. Louisiana Voodoo is just another offshoot, which appeared in New Orleans. Except for Haiti, the Haitian-type Voodoo can also be found in Brazil, Trinidad, or the Dominican Republic (we could certainly mention some other countries as well).

Voodoo as a religion can be either described from the inside or the outside and many parts of it are secretive. Voodoo is a spiritualistic religion, which means that a practitioner may be exposed to spirits or a spiritual experience; some spirits can help (cure, give predictions), or harm (a curse used against an enemy). Voodoo believes that there is one God and its practitioners give a strong accent on behavior of nature and adjust their attitudes to it accordingly. Spirits are understood to be God’s or Devil’s helpers.

Of all mainstream religions, only Hinduism can be comparable to Voodoo, as it is open and draws its power from aboriginal cultures too. A similar practice found both in Voodoo and Hinduism is, for example, Kolam or Rangoli – the Hindu traditional pictures drawn on the ground (auspicious signs), either on the floor or in front of the threshold. Another similarity between Hinduism and Voodoo is belief in snake people. Hindus believe in the Nagas and have Naga Gods (like Khodiyar Maa); practitioners of Voodoo have a snake god (or god closely associated with snakes) called Damballah Wedo.

Voodoo as a religion became famous with its Zombies, which are mentally dead persons (made such by a Voodoo sorcerer). In association with Voodoo, we can also meet with the term Hoodoo, but the difference is like between a religion and practice (or Wicca and Witchcraft).

Voodoo has spirits, gods and goddesses (like Erzulie), but its Egyptian aspect probably survived in the form of Goddess Yemaya – Yoruban Orisha or Goddess of the ocean, which was brought to America by the African Diaspora. Yemaya brings fish to the fishermen and her sign is the crescent moon, which gives us a strong association with Hindu Goddess Durga. In Brazilian Candomble, she is known by the above name, which may slightly differ (Yemanja); in the Haitian Voodoo she is worshipped as the goddess of moon.

Voodoo is a religion not to play with. It must be approached with respect and not with derision, otherwise we may soon find out that its power really works. The consequences can be either good or bad.

It seems everyone you meet these days is a self-proclaimed psychologist. From radio talk shows, television interviews, romance novels, weekly magazines, to cliques at work; everybody has an opinion on the latest “mental illness.” I was first introduced to practical psychology when I joined the United States Air Force in 1970. It was expected that Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) would become counselors to their subordinates. Profession military education devoted entire chapters and lectures on non-directive or eclectic counseling techniques. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was drilled into our heads. We were sternly warned to avoid any mention of religion, but instead to make ample use of psychological techniques.

Paul Vitz in his book “Psychology as Religion” attempts to expose psychology for what it really is, i.e., religion. He begins by giving the reader a brief biography on the fathers of the modern psychology movement along with some of their theories. The opening chapter was dry reading but I suppose necessary as a historical backdrop. My interest peaked when I immediately recognized Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow since I was forced to study them for 26 years while in the military. Vitz also discusses Carl Jung, Erich Fromn, and Rollo May as being significant contributors to the movement.

Vitz quickly transitions into explaining the concept of self-esteem which he promotes as the center of the entire selfism movement. This became important to me as it seems no matter where you turn, a lack of or poor self-esteem appears to be the cause of every ill known to mankind. For a movement to be so widespread to the point where psychology has been woven into the gospel message, Vitz says that the self-esteem concept has “no clear intellectual origins.” That’s a surprising claim considering the impact selfism has had on academia and the practice of counseling.

Vitz states that self-esteem should be understood as an emotional response and not a cause. He says it is a reaction to what we have done and what others have done to us. High self-esteem is a desirable feeling to have (like happiness), but the feeling itself isn’t the cause of anything. In trying to obtain a feeling of self-esteem, the only successful way is to do good to others or accomplish something. In so doing, you’ll get all the self-esteem you want. However, the downside is people begin to pursue happiness as a far greater goal than the goal of obtaining personal holiness.

Not only is selfism a self-defeating goal for the Christian, Vitz goes on to make the case that it is also simply bad science and a warped philosophy. The little clinical evidence that does exist is mostly based on empirical observations and doesn’t stand the test of solid scientific problem solving. He exposes flaws in each step of the process, from stating the problem, forming and testing the hypothesis, to testing the conclusion. He also identifies several philosophical contradictions and in some cases, actual misrepresentations. The spread of this bad science and faulty philosophy is believed by the author to have contributed to the destruction of families. Additionally, the entire recovery group mentality convinces the person with “low self-esteem” that their ills are due to trauma inflicted on them in the past. Recovery group therapy strokes the patient with self-pity thereby convincing the clients are victims. Once labeled, the “victim” now assumes the attitude of victimhood.

Values clarification has become the model taught in schools and begins with the assumption that man is naturally good. Since the developers of values clarification reject moral teachings, Vitz claims that if responsible adults, i.e., teachers, don’t promote good values then someone else will. Providing a permissive environment supposedly nourishes the child by granting satisfaction for the child’s desires and interests. However, this philosophy is bankrupt because kids will assume the values of irresponsible sources in lieu of responsible ones. This combined with the aforementioned teachings has produced a society of victims where everyone is pointing to blame someone else for their misfortunes.

Vitz takes three chapters to present a Christian analysis and criticism of humanistic self-theories. He gives the credit to our educational system for the transformation of our society into a culture of pure selfism. He notes that the New Age movement has many founders, but Abraham Maslow’s theories have been the most influential. Vitz argues his Christian critique within a historical framework and the impact it has had on the evolution of our society. Unfortunately he gives scant attention to biblical references for his position, but does show how the selfism heresy affects teachings on depression, idolatry, and suffering. He closes his work with the observation, “never have so many people been so self-conscious, so aware of the self as something to be expressed…., the self has become an object to itself.” (I think this may make the case that self-esteem has become a new barometric indicator to the question everyone asks, “How are you doing today?”)

Overall, Vitz’s book uses a cerebral approach in attempting to prove that self-worship is simply a religion. Biblical counselors looking for material to help their counselees break free of a selfish worldview of life will be disappointed. Then again, Vitz didn’t write his book for that purpose. Moreover, he provides a wealth of information and a refreshing argument against those who say, “You can’t teach religion in public schools.” This leaves the reader with an irony: it’s not a question of should we or should we not teach religion in public schools, but instead, what religion will we teach; selfism or Christianity?

What a wonderful book that describes a universal spirituality, one in which we welcome and accept all religions and spiritual paths. Wayne Teasdale is a monk who combines Christianity and Hinduism. Reading his book makes you feel as if you are in the presence of a wise, holy man. Rarely do I desire to meet an author after reading his work, yet in this case that is exactly what I wanted to do. Alas, he died 2004, and I will have to be content with reading his two more recent books, which I will do.

While there is much in this book that I could discuss, I doubt if I could create the sense of peace and wisdom he conveys. I will focus on his Nine Elements of a Mature Interspirituality, or universal spirituality. You might want to evaluate which values are already strong in your life and which ones you most need to work on.

1) Moral Capacity

Love your neighbor as yourself and be compassionate, loving, kind and other-centered. This moral dimension of life is necessary for spirituality.

2) Solidarity with All Living Beings

This relates to the First Cosmic Principle, “Everything is Connected.” All life, the natural world and the universe are interconnected. This understanding of interrelatedness is another requirement for spirituality.

3) Deep Nonviolence

Accept others as yourself and see all life as precious. Gentleness, calm and patience are needed in all aspects of non-harming. Most societies don’t understand or practice this, as war and strife abound in the world. Aggressive behavior is learned, however, not innate to human nature. Now is the time to practice and accept nonviolence in all aspects of life.

4) Humility

This is an egoless understanding of one’s limitations and the truth of one’s self. Be who you are, or “who God intended you to be.” Being humble is that simple. One must be modest about oneself and live with a selflessness that includes a lack of boasting, vanity or self-assertiveness.

5) Spiritual Practice

This is necessary for inner growth. Daily practice is important and transformative. There are many forms of spiritual practice, from chanting to reading to prayer. All forms are acceptable; just choose one that works for you.

6) Mature Self-Knowledge

This depends on truth and honesty. We must move beyond denial of our faults and limitations.

7) Simplicity of Life

How we live our lives, how we use earth’s resources and how we relate to other humans and animals – all of this is about the simplicity of life. When we grow spiritually and become inward focused, our lives naturally become simpler. Mother Teresa was a good example of this as she insisted that her sisters live among the poorest of the poor. While we don’t need to go to those extremes, we should concentrate not on many things but a few things used well, especially in service to others. I like that statement – too often we try to do too much, assuming more is better. Simplicity of life is telling us that less is more. Choose who and what you are — and be and do that. Simplicity clears away all non-essentials and is the “inner law of spiritual life.”

8) Selfless Service and Compassionate Action

What do we do about the suffering of the poor and oppressed, the ecological degradation of the earth, and threats to world peace and stability? The answer is that women and men of spiritual wisdom must make a positive contribution. Each of us must learn to serve in whatever way is appropriate. No one way is right or wrong. We simply need to help those less fortunate.

Our own spiritual growth is one form of selfless service and prayer counts as a way to help the less fortunate. Each of us is called upon to provide service and action in a unique way. Know what is right for you and focus on that.

9) Prophetic Voice

The moral voice needs to be heard. We must acknowledge unjust events and policies: “We have a universal responsibility… whenever we see justice disregarded, threats to world peace, oppression by states against its people or a neighboring nation, or some other danger as yet unforeseen.” This same responsibility occurs within our own families or communities.

Authentic spirituality also means that political aims are not above the demands of justice. Have we gone so far being politically correct that we have ignored what is right? We each have a responsibility to be aware and act on these issues.