written 15 January 2023
published 22 January 2023
Several decades ago, in a Comparative Religions course, it was presented that the three major western religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, were related as follows. Judaism was one of the first religions to embrace a unity God, but the focus on the Torah tended to separate the individual from the divine. Christ brought a New Testament, but eventually the focus on the Bible tended to separate the individual from the divine. The Islamic Koran repeated the message that everything is divine, but the Shia/Sunni struggle for power again separated the individual from the divine. While this is a simplification, the fundamentalist of all three religions have diverged from the original spiritual intent with inappropriate, and oppressive focus on their specific stories.
All three stories have a similar structure in that they assume the individual arises from the divine, manifests a human existence, and then returns to the divine, with certain limitations. Basically, a "one and done" story. This is another simplification, but expresses the fundamentalist view.
However, a significant portion of the world believes in reincarnation, the idea that, while the source of an individual soul is divine, we have a series of human incarnation intervals, allowing for an evolution. Life is a school, where lessons are presented and perhaps learned, with strengths and weaknesses passed along for further edification. At least 20 percent of organized global religions adhere to this idea, and many more individuals of every tradition believe this; almost a quarter of Americans, including Christians. Any religious orthodoxy we have been taught might be incomplete, or modified for secular reasons, therefore reincarnation should be considered.
Aldous Huxley did a survey of all the spiritual traditions on the planet, looking for common themes. In addition to variations of the Golden Rule, he found the goal of humanity is the evolution from the individual ego to the direct experience of the divine unity.
Our species is making some progress toward experiencing that fundamental unity. For example, there was a time when almost every society accepted human slavery as part of the economy, and that is no longer so. Over the last 200 years, women are now allowed to vote everywhere (except Vatican City). Quantum physics understands matter, and perhaps consciousness, are connected non-locally. Our economy is global, engaging every country. Affordable cell phones appeared about 30 years ago, and 86 percent of the world is now connected. The climate crisis unifies us with global impact, even upon those who deny it.
While these are mostly material forms of universal connectedness, they are indicative of a fundamental shift toward extending accord to the other (the core of the Golden Rule). The stories we believe shape our experience of the world. However, only 10 percent of our actions are controlled by our reasoning consciousness, which only fully manifests by age 7. Everything else is controlled by our subconscious.
Let's add consideration of reincarnation, and examine the emerging gender issue. Assume for a moment, that we have all been here many times before, as both men and women. Perhaps, as our species evolves, we are experiencing a thinning of the barrier between lives. Studies show that children who remember previous lives tend to be younger than 7, when the inclinations of previous lives may be most influential, before the reality of this life prevails.
Perhaps lesbian women have been men multiple times before, and now still love women, yet know they are strong, assertive, and capable people. Perhaps gay men have been women many times before, and now still love men and know that life is richer when compassion, emotions, and sensitivity are felt. Perhaps people who identify as nonbinary are aware of having been both men and women so many times that they feel no need to choose. This is not an attempt to stereotype, but just a perspective to consider.
The people who have problems with such "out of the ordinary" behavior, tend to justify their outrage on moral or religious grounds. But this is a reversion to very old doctrine, which is generally at odds with the Golden Rule found in every tradition. The real challenge here is living the spirit of the tradition rather than the dogma. We see what pain and suffering dogma have inflicted on our species. Perhaps it is time to live the spirit, and really Love Our Neighbor, without qualification.
