Something Big is Brewing...Uh-Oh, Not a New Religion

I don't know about you guys, but I don't watch the news, read the paper, or listen to NPR and I watch very little TV (mostly just Survivor and sit com reruns like Seinfeld and Scrubs) so what I hear about current events comes 100% from friends and family.

A friend forwarded me a youtube video today, and I got bored with it about a minute in (shocking, I know with my attention span) but something in the "related video" section next to it caught my eye. It was called "The Church of Oprah Exposed" and for some reason, I felt called to click on it.

At first, I was impressed. The video was pretty well done, good editing, and what sounds like professional voiceover work.

It seemed like a cool video, showing that Oprah is embracing new thought teachings, and helping to spread the word about a freedom of beliefs.

I found myself nodding a bit as I read what the church of Oprah is teaching (like I said, I rarely watch TV, and the last time I TiVo'd Oprah's show was when people from The Secret were featured. What was that, a year ago or so?)

This is what the video claims Oprah believes -- might be fun to play along and see if you agree with these statements:

Who you are requires no belief.

Heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness.

The man on the cross is an archetypal image. He is every man and every woman.

My mind is part of God. I am very holy.

My salvation comes from me.

Let me remember that there is no sin.

Do not make the pathetic error of "clinging to the old cross."

So I'm reading and listening to this and thinking, "Yeah, this is very congruent with my own beliefs. In fact, it kind of sounds a lot like what Unity teaches: 'We are all one. We are all good. The only power and presence in my life is God, the good omnipotent.'"

But then about a minute into the video, I realized that the video was actually made by fundamentalist Christians who believe Oprah is off her rocker, and downright "dangerous." In fact, the purpose of the video was to "warn" people to stay away from Oprah and her so-called "new age religion repackaged."

It struck me as so interesting -- that someone was stating facts (the beliefs expressed by Oprah -- what's in bold above) and trying to show me it was bad, and yet, while I was reading the facts, it seemed perfectly normal and fine to me.

It wasn't until the video moved away from fact and got into opinion (i.e., "Oprah is dangerous, don't be brainwashed") that I even noticed the video's creator and I had differing opinions about the whole topic.

Then I started to notice what other videos were in the "related topics" list and I realized there is a whole movement slamming Oprah for her choice of beliefs.

Some were even accusing her of creating her OWN religion. As if that were a bad thing!

Personally, I think people would be a lot happier and get along a whole lot better if we all realized that religion is an extremely personal thing, and each is entitled to his or her own choices of belief.

Then I wouldn't have other people trying to cram THEIR beliefs down my throat all the time, telling me their way is the one true way.

Who says?!??

I can remember being a young girl, not even a teenager, and sitting in the Catholic church our family went to, listening to the priest.

I had a similar moment as what Oprah describes in the video I referenced above -- something this church leader said just didn't resonate with me.

He said (I'm paraphrasing -- this was quite a while ago) "If you don't believe that Jesus is your savior, you cannot get into heaven."

I specifically remember thinking, "but what about all those Jewish people? Are they just misguided? Confused? Are they going to go to hell for all eternity because they checked the wrong box? And what about the fact that they think THEY are right -- that THEIR religion is the chosen one, and that everyone else is delusional?"

That was the start of my journey of questions.

Would God really send people to hell just because they made a mistake and picked the "wrong" religion?

Are ALL the people who don't pick the "right" religion really doomed to be kept outside Heaven forever?

Who can really know which religion is "right"? BEcause they all think they are, and they just can't ALL be right!

It was then, at that young tender age, that I started to create my own religion. I figured if these religious leaders couldn't seem to agree on something, then I would just explore it all and see what felt best for me.

The first thing I decided was that God really is good, and he really does love us.

The second thing I decided was that if there really was a heaven, then believing in God was the way to get there. Just God -- it didn't matter if you believed in Buddha or Jesus or Elijah the prophet -- as long as you believed that there was a GOOD force driving things, then you were a shoo-in for heaven.

The other big thing that never quite sat with me about Catholicism was this idea that you died and then went to heaven. Even at a very young age, I felt like I had memories and experiences and wisdom that didn't quite match up with anything I had experienced in this lifetime.

So I kinda figured that reincarnation was a real thing, and I believed in it.

But then when I told people that, they tried to tell me that it was crazy to think that if I didn't do a "good" job in this lifetime, I would come back as a cockroach, or a flea on a donkey.

That didn't seem to fit with my idea of this all-good, all-loving god, so I made up my own ideas about reincarnation. I figure if God is so good, and we really do have free will, then we could come back as whatever we wanted, or not at all (i.e., just hang out in heaven).

For awhile I believed that God didn't sent people to hell, people sent themselves to hell by choosing it.

But that just seemed stupid. Who the hell would CHOOSE to go to hell? That didn't seem to fit, and I grappled with that concept for a long time.

Then I met Andy, who would later become my husband. Since he was raised Jewish, he had a completely different perspective on a lot of things about God, etc. First off, he told me Jews don't believe in hell.

Wow. I remember thinking, "now THAT's a refreshing concept!" So what happens when you die? Nothing, because they're all still waiting for the savior to come. OK, that struck me as kind of a bummer. Because what if Jesus really WAS the Savior and all the Jews are kind of missing out on the fun by not getting that?

But then Andy told me he didn't believe that either. He believed in Heaven, and basically, everyone who wanted to go there got to go there. He also believed in reincarnation, of our own free will.

Yeah, now THIS was getting good. I was digging this idea for sure.

So I revamped my idea of hell, and decided that there was no hell, except for those who just refused to see that it was OK for them to be in heaven. But definitely, I believed there was no devil with a pitchfork, and there was no thermostat turned all the way up, and no "down there" and "up there"

I could say that my beliefs evolved into what I believe today, but today is just a snapshot of what I believe -- it's ever in flux, constantly changing.

My heart and my spirit tell me what is true for me.

And please understand -- I am not slamming organized religion. If your heart tells you the teachings of a particular religion are true for you, then so it shall be. But remember, religion and spirituality are very personal things -- you don't have to read this blog, and I'm not telling you that YOU have to believe what I believe, so don't tell me that about yours either.

But if your heart tells you that maybe -- just maybe -- your religion of choice might have missed the mark on one or more topics, then I would invite you to speak to God directly and get the truth straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

That's what I did and it set me free. And we're all free to choose. We're even free to create our own religions. I highly recommend it, it's quite an enlightening and empowering space to be in.

So I say to Oprah, you go girl! And don't think you've got to be an Amy Scott Grant or an Oprah to create YOUR own religion. You've got everything you need to get started right now. And if you've been searching for a religion that fits you,I would invite you to consider that nothing will be a 100% match. You are an individual, and you deserve an individualized religion.

Because God is personal. Very personal. And you can fit into each other, instead of YOU cramming yourself into something that isn't really a match.

Capisce?

And you're free to disregard, disagree with or discount anything I've said here. Because it may not be true for YOU anyway. It's true for ME, and that's all I write in this blog, is what's true for me.

You're free to create your own opinions. Adopt what fits for you, and leave the rest.

Now THAT's freedom! And man, I love freedom. Thank you God for freedom!!!! Yeeee-hah!!!

P.S. Now if you happen to mostly agree with me, and you want to get that icky-video taste out of your mind, check out this one. Hang in there, the ending is WELL WORTH it - trust me!.

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