Questioning the Church: In Search of Genuine Spiritual Liberty

Welcome back everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Pagan Preacher, ravensburg Sanctuary. Today's message is a message of both grief and hope. It's a message of freedom, spiritual freedom. You know, last week's message was about the difference between religion and spirituality. Today we want to talk about the freedom inside us, true spiritual freedom, but how it is in our world.

Religion, sadly, has caused more grief than I believe it has good. It has caused more harm than it has anything, and it brings grief to any soul that wants to see the human race better themselves. You know, we have so much potential. We can look outside and we can see the things that man can do when we want to, when we choose to, when we want things for money, when we want things for prosperity. We can almost do anything, can't we? But yet we can't find a way to live together in peace. Why is that Religious freedom? Even in our own country you know the United States of America Do you believe that we have real religious freedom? Because we don't. We have a centralized corporate religion that is pushed and indoctrinated or at least has been for many years in this country, and in order to assist in controlling a population by telling them or convincing them that if they didn't, we would be worse off, that we would be controlled by evil and therefore would fail. Well, we know at least most of us know, or beginning to know, beginning to wake up to the realization that we were lied to. Our parents were lied to, our grandparents were lied to. They lived a whole life. You know around a certain religion and how to function in life, how to walk, how to talk, what not to do, what to do, but no real freedom.

Ask yourself today and I've said this over and over and over and I'm sorry if I repeat myself, but you know, when you drive down the road, we're talking about religious billboards. What kind of billboards do you see? What kind of signs do you see? What kind of messages do you see? Is it wide and diverse? Is it open and availability for many different religions? Are you more centralized and focused on one?

Then ask yourself, where is the freedom? Where is that religious freedom? Could you or would you feel comfortable expressing your belief on the town square? Do you feel that you might be harmed or threatened, demeaned, condemned? What do you think the reactions of the public would be if you expressed your spiritual thoughts? Your spiritual, but spirit has laid on your heart. If you express that to the public, how do you think the reactions would be? And I don't want to hear, well, it doesn't matter the reactions, you have the freedom to do so. Because it does matter. Because when you exercise your rights, when you are faced with nothing but negativity, then you are persecuted.

And you know there's a difference, because I know there's a lot of Christians out there that want to say well, I get persecuted all the time for doing it. But there's a difference between going out and just expressing what it is that you believe in a manner of love and kindness and respect, and it is to go out and demean people and demean religions and demean their. You know the traditions that people have held for centuries, many way before even the foundation of Christianity was even considered. You know it grieves my spirit many, many times because you know that I came from a Christian background. Yes, I've studied many different things, but I consider myself I come from a Christian background because you know my mom and you know, and others, that we were somewhat. We grew up many years in the church just leave it at that and I worked in the church, functioned in the church and when I began to hear spirit and began to understand that I needed to deconstruct from those from that and began to relearn everything that I thought I had learned.

You know, there comes a grief and even, and even scripture even speaks of it. You know it talks about, you know, worth or more. With more wisdom comes much sorrow or knowledge, more grief it's, it's true, because as we begin to understand truth and the simplicity of truth, what it would take to actually make our world a peaceful place, it grieves the spirit to know that it just is so far out of reach but yet so simplistic and so easy that religion, pride, just simple arrogance, has stopped us from being in a people that's united. And it seems like outside forces, even forces that may even be considered divide in themselves, have worked to hinder humanity. It's almost as if it doesn't want humanity to rise past a certain level of enlightenment and power, once to control, once to limit, once to utilize humanity for its own purpose. But don't let it expand past a certain amount, don't let it grow beyond of a certain amount. Because when we look out we can see. We can see what we can do when we put our mind to it. But then we look out and we look at the corporate church worth billions, yet there's people on the street starving, laying in the snow because they have nowhere else to go. We have children being trafficked off and women being traded like nothing but slaves, but billions, billions going into corporate Christianity. They're going to seem like you know. People will say it seems like you're just.

You're really angry at the church, and to a degree that is true. I'm angry because for many years I would have done anything for the church and today I see the many, many wrongs that mankind has done through the church. But the church in itself, not the idea of getting together and worshiping and things of that nature, but what the church has done as a social group, as a method of profit, a method of. I think you know what I'm talking about and I know this message can get hard because we have to say things we don't necessarily want to say. We want to say things that may be hurtful. We want to say things that you know and I've heard people even come against me, saying you can't come against God because nothing will destroy God's church, and I don't doubt that. But maybe what I'm saying is I don't believe that this is God's church. I don't believe anymore that that cross is what Jesus would have wanted. I don't believe that if God were to come down right now, in the way that you understand it, and look at the church today and look at society today and say well done, because it's not well done.

The duty of the church was to feed the hungry, put clothes on those that didn't have clothes home, those that didn't have homes, take care of those that were poor and that just simply didn't have. But nowadays it's just well, we give 10% to that. We look at this and we talk about spiritual freedom. There is no spiritual freedom in this corporate religion. And I speak about spiritual freedom because I want others to have it too. I want my North Peckins to have it, I want my Druids to have it, I want my Christian witches to have it. I want whatever it is that you consider yourself as. I want you to be able to walk out and walk proud. I want you to be able to teach. I want you to be able to do whatever it is the spirit lays on your heart to do.

If you are satisfied with just being what you are in your home and just then, that's great. But if you feel spirit has something more for you, that you need to go out and try to develop something that would help organize people of your particular path, then you should have how do I want to say this? You should have the comption within yourself. You should have the understanding that you won't be met with so much opposition because of freedom. Of course it's. You know, we're always going to have some opposition Because there are those that will speak negatively of you and your religion, your spirituality. That's just simply called opinion and everybody has the right to their opinion. What they don't have the right to is the right to stop you from exercising your opinion. They don't have the right to stop you from expressing yourself and expressing the things that spirit has within you. And I've said before, you know, the religion has done nothing but tie down, bind and ender society.

And when I talk about the billboards and I talk about the church, what I'm talking about here is the very things that are limiting our freedom. We have got to end what it is that we see out there right now. We see several. We see a church on every other corner. We see billboards, we see signs everywhere. We see even, especially even at Christmas time, we're going to start seeing. You know the reason for the season and people not understanding that. You realize how offended that is to some people Because, even though it may be a reason for the season, it is not the reason for the season, because many of us celebrate different festivals and different rituals at this time of year.

December is a time for many cultures and many traditions, but our freedom, our spiritual freedom, is hindered by those that feel that their spirituality is the only real spirituality and it's for our own good that we are hindered and oppressed. When do we rise up out of this? And I've said this many times before I'm not talking about violence. When I'm talking about rising up, I'm talking about just having the heart to speak, to march, to shout, to pick it if you have to, to boycott if you have to.

There's ways of dealing with situations non-wildly. It has to end, but so many of us are afraid to do it because we're afraid that things might go back the way they were. Or people like pagans and those that consider themselves within the craft, even Druids and anybody that is a part of a tradition with magical overtones, is fearful that it might go back to the days where this, where the church and the God of love would burn people at the stake, execute people in horrible, horrible sufferings and painful deaths, not just executions but torturing. They're afraid that those times might come back, the dark times when the church led a lot of what we see, because they thought that was the right way. We need to have our religious leaders basically lead the way and to do what needs to be done. Well, we've already tried that and that's what I'm talking about now. People suffered and were tortured. I mean, they're afraid to go back. They're afraid right now that if they go and start speaking out, that the church will rise up and begin to do the same things it did many years ago.

People say, well, that's not the case, because there's laws to prevent things like that. And if we fool ourselves, because laws don't change anything, look at our history, look at the last hundred years and the things that have gone on the last 200 years. We're talking about laws and whatever else, what this country has done to people, what it has done to cultures and different people, what it did not only to those that consider themselves magical, but the Native Americans it did. Horrible things have been done. In the name of what they considered the right thing to do. Most of the people that wiped through this country and tried to destroy and try to wipe out the Native American race considered themselves Christian. Most of the people that swept through Ireland, scotland, you name it all of them to drive those snakes out, supposedly we're Christian. We have to find a way to draw that line.

And am I saying to come up against the church? Yes and no, I'm not saying to launch an attack against the church. No, that's not needed. What's needed is for us to stand, simply stand, and be who it is that we are, Not be afraid to be who it is that we are and let the evil present itself, and let it present itself as evil, and then we deal with it at that time. But this is something that needs to be said and it needs to be dealt with Because, in my own honest opinion, I don't think that as a country, we will ever exceed what we are right now if we don't do something now.

You know, the church has had many, many years to make change, to make peace, to make the world a better place, to make our country a better place, and there's always a reason we're going to blame the devil and we're going to blame evil, blame evil people. But obviously that's not the case, because in 2023, things are worse now than they ever were Homelessness, poverty, crime. You know, it's all based upon a centralized method of capitalism and greed, selfishness. But when I look out and think, okay, god, where is this God that's all-powerful, all-night present, I'm like where are you? Then they say, well, you're supposed to look to the church. Okay, I'm looking at the church. All I see is the church building is getting bigger and richer. I see humongous hundred thousand dollar sound systems and video systems and elaborate buses and school systems in their place and I see that but yet absolutely nothing going back to the public other than a small percentage.

And I want to talk to you that most of the people that are doing this, you realize that taxpayers are of many different religions. The people driving on the road are of many different religions, and when the church is not giving back into paying taxes, then all those people of other religions suffer. You're going to say, well, the church doesn't have to give any of that because of the tax exemption. Well, we do understand that the church was not tax exempt until 1950, something or another I don't remember the exact, but it was in the 1950s that the church was able to go under the nonprofit status and be tax exempt. Because even the Bible says give unto Caesar's what is Caesar's and the money is Caesar's. Money is not belong to God, it does not belong to the church, it is a function of society and has nothing to do with religious matters. And just because you are religious or you function in a religious way when I understand what the president was saying when they gave the church 501C status, it was basically will allow you to be tax exempt if you stay out of government affairs.

But as the church stayed out of government affairs, no, all we got to do is listen to the news. You know it was able to. Church in itself stays out, but the church appoints different people to speak for the church. The church is involved, but yet others are afraid to stand up, and I guess you know this message. I know this message is a hard one because it seems like I'm a little bit everywhere.

Maybe go back and kind of re listen, but the whole thing is about spiritual freedom and that grief that I feel and I think that others feel it too that we just don't quite have that spiritual freedom that we want, that we need, and it's because we are being oppressed, because we are being pushed back, because we are being told that we cannot speak as they can speak, that we cannot act as they act, that we, what, we don't have the same privileges that they have, that because they are right and we are wrong, and they will continuously act that act, that part, that we are wrong and they are right, that they are powerful and we are not. But that's not the case. Just consider what I've said and I know there's many people out there and they've said it before, it's a matter of opinion. I was like well, we don't want to stir the bees nest, we don't want to kick that wasp nest and get all kinds of stuff started, we just want to stay silent, we just want to do our thing. But then we don't have any change. You know why we have what we have today is because somebody stood up many years back, but then we just quit standing, we quit marching, we quit protesting, we quit all of a sudden. It was just too much, it was just too hard. We didn't want to be in the spotlight, we didn't want to be seen. We just want to cower back into our homes and do our thing. And then the few brave souls that go out and start metal, metaphysical businesses or whatever it is, and they're attacked. I see it every day, you know, and it's. Spiritual freedom is lacking, and when spiritual leaders begin to attack spiritual leaders in a way that is oppressive and hindering, that's when the line must be drawn and we say no more.

You cannot create laws that say that I cannot practice. You cannot create laws that say I cannot do this in my religious aspect and you cannot approve of someone standing on the street corner preaching that my children were go to hell if I don't change or allow them to be changed. You cannot cast fear into my children without repercussions. You cannot, in my own sense, lie to the children for your benefit and for the benefit of your church, for the benefit of your faith and your religion. You're gonna say, well, I have to say this because this is what? But you don't have that right. You simply don't have it. I have the right to protect children, my children. Others have the right to protect their children and when you're walking down the street in this street, preachers out there with signs telling everybody that you know homosexuals are gonna burn. And if you don't, you know, if you don't submit under certain guidelines and doctrines that you're gonna, you're gonna go to hell and the God doesn't love you. And those things are absolutely not true. Straight out bold lies, even though they may come from a good heart and good intention, their lies nevertheless, and you have no right to do it.

I hope I've made some kind of impression today, some kind of of where my heart is right now, because it's not that I want to attack any religion, but that I want all religions to have equal, equal opportunity. But when any religion feels it acceptable to oppress or quench or hinder other religions, then that religion must be stopped. It must be, or there is no such thing as spiritual freedom. What you say behind the four walls of your churches or temple, your organization, that's your business, but what you do out in the public, that's our business. Thank you everyone for just taking the time to listen. Pray that I have made some message out of what spirit has be. Blessed everyone and blessed be.