I must admit that I finished this course some time ago, but really didn’t know what to write in my final essay. I have never been good at essays and to write something other than “I really liked the course and gained a lot from it”, is difficult for me. But, I’ll do my best.
I really did enjoy the course material. I love learning about different religions, or as I prefer to put it, Spiritual Paths. I truly believe that if more people took the time to investigate and learn about the different spiritual paths, we might have less of a problem in this world and more understanding and tolerance for others. I gained a world of knowledge about different religions that I never even new existed. These include, but are not limited to, Jainism and Zoasterism. Who knew? I knew of approximately 80% of the listed religions, have even studied a few, and have had some misconceptions cleared up. I have to thank Kythera for that.
Frankly, when I first read the topic title of Jainism and Zoasterism, I fully expected them to be some sort of new age religion. I was quite amazed to find out that they are old religions. The content of this course has really sparked my interest in delving deeper into each of the religions discussed. I am currently reading the Qur’an and am finding out that Islam is not what it is portrayed to be by the fanatics. It’s a religion of love and peace. That doesn’t mean that I agree with all of it, or that I am converting. It means that I can respect and appreciate those who follow the teachings of the Qur’an. Plus, I can take parts of it to incorporate into my own eclectic spirituality and thus, hopefully, become further enlightened.
What this course validated for me is that all religions, or spiritual paths, worship Deity. Whether one calls this Deity God, Allah, or whatever, it doesn’t really matter. They are all the same Deity, just given a different name. Of course this does not include Satanism. Old Lucifer was never a Deity so is discounted from the above statement.
What I didn’t like about this course is that we were asked to print out the packets which were approximately 40 pages, give or take. The cost of ink alone would have devastated my pocket book. But, I could see that a lot of research and thought went into each and every lesson so we, as students, would be given as much of a base knowledge as possible. It definitely sparked an interest in me to learn more.
Here I get on my soap box because I am so tired of people bashing other spiritual paths, especially when they know nothing about it. We are all a piece of the Divine spark, which in essence, makes us all Divine. Why would anyone want to destroy the Divine? People should be allowed to practice their religion, faith, spiritual path, whatever you want to call it, without persecution as long as it harms none. If you worship a God that tells you to kill people and do it unquestioningly, that should be the time that you question. What kind of parent (God) would demand that his children (us) kill his other children? If we are supposed to have free will, and will be judged accordingly in the after life, why is judgment carried out before then, by those who are unqualified to do so?
I don’t give myself a religious label. We have too many labels as it is and that’s what separates us as human beings. The more labels we give ourselves or others, the more we are separated. I am a spiritual person. I don’t believe in God the Father and Creator, I know God the Father and Creator. I don’t believe in Goddess the Mother and Creator, I know Goddess the Mother and Creator. To believe in something, is to leave room for doubt. To know, removes that doubt. Let’s take ourselves out of the box and unite as brothers and sisters, as children of the Divine, the way we were meant to be.
See, listen and feel with that Divine spark that resides in us all. If we have not love, we have nothing. If we can not love, we are nothing!
Rev. Kathy Bailey
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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.
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