Well you probably heard of the problems that some people
get into when they drink a little too much and start to drive their
cars. This is known as drinking and driving irresponsibly and can be
hazardous to your health but more hazardous to your pocketbook.
Overdosing on drugs, spending too much money shopping, gambling
excessively and last but not least, spending too much time at your place
of worship can be hazardous to others. Over time, our loved ones seem to
suffer the most from our excesses.
I suggest most people use religion responsibly and try not to
overindulge in the excesses of your spiritual practice. Like an
alcoholic drinking until they feel good, only to wake up feeling bad the
next morning. And then starting the process all over the next day.
Now for the big question, "Are You a Religiousoholic?" Do you spend too
much time at church? Do you surround yourself exclusively with people
that share your same religious beliefs?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, there's a good chance
you're a religiousoholic. Like alcoholics and drug addicts, there is
help for you, once you've identified your problem, we can help. We call
it our 5 step program. Alcoholics Anonymous has a 12 step program for
recovery but we have eliminated a couple and rearranged others in hopes
for a faster recovery.
Religionolism is no laughing matter and should be handled with the
utmost delicacy. Start with the first step and work your way down the
list and within a short period of time you should find yourself free
from the religious tyranny of your institutionalized religion.
Step 1. The biggest problem you're going to happen during your recovery
will be the temptation from religious followers, wanting you to come
back. Like a drug addict, saying no to drugs,it's hard, you're going to
have to be strong here. Learn to say no to organized religion and yes to
religious freedom.
Step 2. Instead of reading Scripture, start reading about other
religions around the world. You will find some weird things and new
ideas, but the bottom line here is that you'll be able to see some
similarities, and silliness between the religions.
Step 3. You can still spend time praying, just spend more time praying
about how grateful you are, instead of praying for something you want,
start spending a little more time thanking God for the things in your
lives that you already have. I have spent a lot of time praying for
things I never got. When I stopped praying for the things, I thought I
needed, I started getting the things I really needed.
Step 4. Start spending a little more time believing in yourself, some
religions seem to give all the glory and credit to their gods and very
little to the people that are actually making the sacrifices. I have
also noticed that when something goes wrong, some religious followers
tend to punish themselves and it just doesn't seem fair. God gets all
the credit when things are good and you blame yourself when things go
wrong.
Step 5. Start showing a little more compassion towards people who don't
think the same as you do or believe in your religion. Love and
compassion are the true acts of a religious believer. I believe you'll
find that in every religious scripture... somewhere.
Sometimes we get a little carried away in our beliefs and tend to beat
up other people who don't share them with us. If you're part of a
religion who discriminates, shows intolerance, bigotry or prejudice to
other nonbelievers, maybe this isn't the religion you think it should
be.
Dalai Lama - “All major religious traditions carry basically the same
message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness, the important thing
is they should be part of our daily lives.”
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