INSTITUTIONAL RELIGION AND EX-COMMUNICATION

The institutional religious bureaucracies that have formed around the
teachings of a particular man of God, i.e., Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha,
Baha'U'llah, etc., have at times determined that, in some special cases,
certain individuals must be removed from participation in the rites and
rituals of the bureaucracy; and the rank and file membership must be
encouraged to have nothing to do with these singled out
(ex-communicated) individuals. In the search for peace and WorldPeace,
we need to consider the basis and effect of these acts of ex-communication.

What is the core reason for ex-communication? In a nutshell, a person
who is ex-communicated asks too many questions about paradoxical
teachings or advocates a position that is not in harmony with the official
teachings of his or her religious bureaucracy; and by so doing challenges
the authority and teachings of that particular religious institution of which
he or she is a member. In any organization, religious or otherwise, there is
a need for one relatively harmonious mindset of all the members. This
mindset allows the organization to distinguish itself from all its competitors
in the world society and allows a certain degree of power that comes from
having large numbers of people united in a common philosophy.

Many people who are members of religious organizations really do not
understand all the nuances of what their particular religion believes and
advocates. Their understanding is relatively simple. For instance, in
Christianity, Jesus is considered the only Son of the One God, Jehovah, he
died for your sins, and if you believe in him you will go to heaven even if
you have a less than wonderful life. The majority of Christians are not
bothered with the unpeaceful and unloving sayings of Jesus like, "I did not
come to bring peace, but a sword." Mt 10:34 and "Whoever comes to me
and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and
sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be by disciple". Lk 12:49. These are
the sayings that are challenged and questioned by religious heretics, those
who are flirting with ex-communication.

The problem with religious institutions is that they claim that their founder,
and generally their founder only, was in direct communication with the One
and Only God and therefore everything that their founder said was true.
Unfortunately, a lot of what those founders said or were alleged to have
said are paradoxical and contradictory. Therefore, after the death of the
founder, the disciples and other followers began to interpret those
paradoxical sayings in an attempt to harmonize them. It seldom works.
The paradoxical words and sayings never seem to go away and generation
after generation questions them.

The institutional religious logic is that since the words of the founder came
from God, and since God is perfect and the founder is close to perfect if
not perfect, and since the religious institution is the heir to the teachings of
the founder, and the protector of the founder's teachings, the religious
institution cannot afford to have heretics, those who do not totally embrace
the official teaching of the religious institution, stirring up the average
members who do not feel compelled to concern themselves with these
paradoxical sayings of the founder as well as the actions of the religious
institution that are also paradoxical to the founder's teachings. The heretics
are like a cancer within the body of the religious institution and must be
removed for the good of and survival of the religious institution.

In the mind of the heretic, truth must be able to withstand challenges or it is
not the truth. In other words, if what the religious institution teaches is not
truth, then it should not be taught as truth. For instance, in the Bahai faith
we are told that women are equal to men. This sounds like truth and is
truth. Yet the Bahai faith which claims this as their truth refuses to allow
women to sit on their governing body, The Universal House of Justice.
The heretics demand that the Bahai faith act in accordance with its
teachings. The Bahai faith wants to maintain the double standard within its
bureaucratic structure and when it cannot stop a particular heretic from
continuing to challenge this paradox, they are forced to ex-communicate
the heretic, label him or her a "covenant breaker", and tell the general
membership to cease all relations and communication with the heretic or
face ex-communication themselves. The net effect is that
ex-communication becomes a very powerful way to keep the membership
in line. The threat of ex-communication becomes a chain around the neck
of every member.

When a religious institution claims authority from the founder, who
claimed authority from the one and only God himself, they also claim to
have the keys to heaven, in a manner of speaking, and they claim they can
bar the ex-communicated not only from participating in the earthly
religious bureaucracy but also bar them for entry into heaven. These claims
create a very powerful form of mind control.

Few rank and file members ever question what all heretics question about
all religious institutions, "why does this all powerful God need this
bureaucracy to speak for him? And why does this perfect God relate so
many paradoxical sayings and actions through his chosen founder?"

Why are these questions not asked by the rank and file member? Because
the rank and file member does not mentally separate God, the founder, the
disciples, and the religious bureaucracy. They are considered one and the
same and therefore what the bureaucracy says is what God says. And this
mindset is fostered by the religious bureaucracy because it legitimizes their
authority even though it is not true.

All heretics know that the spiritual realm of God is not the same as this
earthly realm. The religious institution is not God. The religious
institution cannot bar anyone from heaven or condemn anyone to hell. The
founders were generally anti-bureaucratic and were rebels who put their life
on the line in order to break the chains of bondage of the religion they were
born into. Jesus rebelled against the rampant bureaucracy of the Jews,
Buddha rebelled against the bureaucracy of the Hindus, Muhammad
rebelled against the polytheistic idol worshipers of the Arabs, Baha'U'llah
rebelled against the bureaucracy of the Muslims. The paradox is that these
men who realized that these bureaucracies had become little more than the
husk of spirituality, in that they emphasized their rites and rituals over
spirituality, have all had gigantic religious bureaucracies formed around
their teaching. It is just a matter of time before a new spiritual leader will
emerge, who comes with the same spiritual message of his or her
predecessors and is also labeled the arch heretic who challenges the husk of
religion that the institutional religions promote as true spirituality.

So where does this leave those who have been ex-communicated?

First, they have not lost the love of God. This is impossible. No religious
institution is in the position to speak for God. No one who occupies a
position of authority in any religious institution is even close to the
spirituality of the founder. The founders emphasized spirituality and love
and tolerance and the religious bureaucrats emphasize the religious
bureaucracy. No bureaucrat or group of bureaucrats in any religious
institution has the power to deny heaven to anyone or condemn anyone to
hell.

Second, with ex-communication, all that has happened is that an exclusive
and elitist club has denied the heretic membership. That is all. There is no
spiritual difference between being barred from membership as a Bahai,
Catholic, Jehovah Witness, Mormon, or being barred from membership in a
local tennis club. The spiritual effect of being ex-communicated from a
religious institution is zero. What is interesting here is that if one asks a
Christian or a Muslim or a Buddhist what is the effect of being
ex-communicated by the Bahai's, the answer would be nothing. The same
is true of all religions when asked about the practices of other religions.

All institutional religious heretics who have been ex-communicated or
threatened with ex-communication need to consider that almost all of the
founders of the major religious institutions began as heretics. There is little
denying that these great souls were very close to God and true spirituality.
All heretics should derive great comfort in the realization that they, as
religious heretics, are in the company of the arch heretics of religion; and
they are also in the company of some of the greatest souls that have ever
walked this earth.

But most of all, heretics need to remember that they are at one with God
and nothing anyone can do can change that.
The institutional religious bureaucracies that have formed around the
teachings of a particular man of God, i.e., Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha,
Baha'U'llah, etc., have at times determined that, in some special cases,
certain individuals must be removed from participation in the rites and
rituals of the bureaucracy; and the rank and file membership must be
encouraged to have nothing to do with these singled out
(ex-communicated) individuals. In the search for peace and WorldPeace,
we need to consider the basis and effect of these acts of ex-communication.

What is the core reason for ex-communication? In a nutshell, a person
who is ex-communicated asks too many questions about paradoxical
teachings or advocates a position that is not in harmony with the official
teachings of his or her religious bureaucracy; and by so doing challenges
the authority and teachings of that particular religious institution of which
he or she is a member. In any organization, religious or otherwise, there is
a need for one relatively harmonious mindset of all the members. This
mindset allows the organization to distinguish itself from all its competitors
in the world society and allows a certain degree of power that comes from
having large numbers of people united in a common philosophy.

Many people who are members of religious organizations really do not
understand all the nuances of what their particular religion believes and
advocates. Their understanding is relatively simple. For instance, in
Christianity, Jesus is considered the only Son of the One God, Jehovah, he
died for your sins, and if you believe in him you will go to heaven even if
you have a less than wonderful life. The majority of Christians are not
bothered with the unpeaceful and unloving sayings of Jesus like, "I did not
come to bring peace, but a sword." Mt 10:34 and "Whoever comes to me
and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and
sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be by disciple". Lk 12:49. These are
the sayings that are challenged and questioned by religious heretics, those
who are flirting with ex-communication.

The problem with religious institutions is that they claim that their founder,
and generally their founder only, was in direct communication with the One
and Only God and therefore everything that their founder said was true.
Unfortunately, a lot of what those founders said or were alleged to have
said are paradoxical and contradictory. Therefore, after the death of the
founder, the disciples and other followers began to interpret those
paradoxical sayings in an attempt to harmonize them. It seldom works.
The paradoxical words and sayings never seem to go away and generation
after generation questions them.

The institutional religious logic is that since the words of the founder came
from God, and since God is perfect and the founder is close to perfect if
not perfect, and since the religious institution is the heir to the teachings of
the founder, and the protector of the founder's teachings, the religious
institution cannot afford to have heretics, those who do not totally embrace
the official teaching of the religious institution, stirring up the average
members who do not feel compelled to concern themselves with these
paradoxical sayings of the founder as well as the actions of the religious
institution that are also paradoxical to the founder's teachings. The heretics
are like a cancer within the body of the religious institution and must be
removed for the good of and survival of the religious institution.

In the mind of the heretic, truth must be able to withstand challenges or it is
not the truth. In other words, if what the religious institution teaches is not
truth, then it should not be taught as truth. For instance, in the Bahai faith
we are told that women are equal to men. This sounds like truth and is
truth. Yet the Bahai faith which claims this as their truth refuses to allow
women to sit on their governing body, The Universal House of Justice.
The heretics demand that the Bahai faith act in accordance with its
teachings. The Bahai faith wants to maintain the double standard within its
bureaucratic structure and when it cannot stop a particular heretic from
continuing to challenge this paradox, they are forced to ex-communicate
the heretic, label him or her a "covenant breaker", and tell the general
membership to cease all relations and communication with the heretic or
face ex-communication themselves. The net effect is that
ex-communication becomes a very powerful way to keep the membership
in line. The threat of ex-communication becomes a chain around the neck
of every member.

When a religious institution claims authority from the founder, who
claimed authority from the one and only God himself, they also claim to
have the keys to heaven, in a manner of speaking, and they claim they can
bar the ex-communicated not only from participating in the earthly
religious bureaucracy but also bar them for entry into heaven. These claims
create a very powerful form of mind control.

Few rank and file members ever question what all heretics question about
all religious institutions, "why does this all powerful God need this
bureaucracy to speak for him? And why does this perfect God relate so
many paradoxical sayings and actions through his chosen founder?"

Why are these questions not asked by the rank and file member? Because
the rank and file member does not mentally separate God, the founder, the
disciples, and the religious bureaucracy. They are considered one and the
same and therefore what the bureaucracy says is what God says. And this
mindset is fostered by the religious bureaucracy because it legitimizes their
authority even though it is not true.

All heretics know that the spiritual realm of God is not the same as this
earthly realm. The religious institution is not God. The religious
institution cannot bar anyone from heaven or condemn anyone to hell. The
founders were generally anti-bureaucratic and were rebels who put their life
on the line in order to break the chains of bondage of the religion they were
born into. Jesus rebelled against the rampant bureaucracy of the Jews,
Buddha rebelled against the bureaucracy of the Hindus, Muhammad
rebelled against the polytheistic idol worshipers of the Arabs, Baha'U'llah
rebelled against the bureaucracy of the Muslims. The paradox is that these
men who realized that these bureaucracies had become little more than the
husk of spirituality, in that they emphasized their rites and rituals over
spirituality, have all had gigantic religious bureaucracies formed around
their teaching. It is just a matter of time before a new spiritual leader will
emerge, who comes with the same spiritual message of his or her
predecessors and is also labeled the arch heretic who challenges the husk of
religion that the institutional religions promote as true spirituality.

So where does this leave those who have been ex-communicated?

First, they have not lost the love of God. This is impossible. No religious
institution is in the position to speak for God. No one who occupies a
position of authority in any religious institution is even close to the
spirituality of the founder. The founders emphasized spirituality and love
and tolerance and the religious bureaucrats emphasize the religious
bureaucracy. No bureaucrat or group of bureaucrats in any religious
institution has the power to deny heaven to anyone or condemn anyone to
hell.

Second, with ex-communication, all that has happened is that an exclusive
and elitist club has denied the heretic membership. That is all. There is no
spiritual difference between being barred from membership as a Bahai,
Catholic, Jehovah Witness, Mormon, or being barred from membership in a
local tennis club. The spiritual effect of being ex-communicated from a
religious institution is zero. What is interesting here is that if one asks a
Christian or a Muslim or a Buddhist what is the effect of being
ex-communicated by the Bahai's, the answer would be nothing. The same
is true of all religions when asked about the practices of other religions.

All institutional religious heretics who have been ex-communicated or
threatened with ex-communication need to consider that almost all of the
founders of the major religious institutions began as heretics. There is little
denying that these great souls were very close to God and true spirituality.
All heretics should derive great comfort in the realization that they, as
religious heretics, are in the company of the arch heretics of religion; and
they are also in the company of some of the greatest souls that have ever
walked this earth.

But most of all, heretics need to remember that they are at one with God
and nothing anyone can do can change that.