No Brainer?

(This is the text of a podcast I recorded a few years ago.)

There’s a popular expression doing the rounds these days. You’ve probably heard of it. It’s used to suggest that something is axiomatic – that whatever is being referred to is sooo obvious… that it goes without saying. The expression is ‘no brainer’. This is how you might have heard it used. ‘And when asked who he’d most trust in a penalty shoot out he replied by saying: That’s a no brainer – David Beckham of course!’. You get the idea – it’s like the answer is so obvious that – well it’s soooo obvious.

Now try this for a no brainer: if people kill other people in the name of God, are they really working for God, or are they working out there own nasty prejudices and then seeking to justify their actions in the name of God? Duh… a no brainer, right? The answer is sooo obvious that you instantly know what it is. So how come some people still do such things?

What’s more…how come, for as long as history records… is it that people have bullied, raped, butchered and subjugated those weaker than they, supposedly in the name of God? And isn’t it about time humanity together shouted ‘stop!’ and refused to get caught up in any more petty (yet lethal) vendettas? I think so. And if you’re listening to this it’s likely that you do too.

Now, I’m not going to pretend that I have all of the answers. Actually, I don’t believe anyone does. But I do believe, personally, in a God of Love. And my belief tells me that all of the hate that’s committed in the name of Love can’t ever really be acting for Love. Can it? It’s a no – brainer, right?

Imagine if the world began to change to the degree that people the world over started to live with a Spirit of Love. I mean really live with Love as the most important goal in their lives, in deed and in thought. How much better things would be.

Let me share something with you. If you study the dynamics of Mind Control Cults you’ll discover that a person in one cult will be able to recognise that other people in other cults are in cults – but they don’t recognise the fact that they are too. How about that! They can see that ‘everyone else’ is ‘wrong’, so to speak, but they’re not open-minded enough to spot their own errors of belief. Isn’t that a lot like what happens sometimes amongst the larger religions too?

You know it seems to me – that despite what some people in some religions think – they can’t all be the most complete individual revelation from On High, the truest version of the Truth, or whatever other expression may be used to imply that one sect has a monopoly on God. If only one so-called ‘Truth’ can be ‘Truth’ than all the others can’t be ‘Truth’ can they? But the thing about sectarianism is that those in such sects would agree that every other sect is wrong, but that's where they stop, and that’s often where the problems start. Because they don’t include themselves in the equation! Which means that when you consider all of the opinions of this nature found within all of the disparate, sometimes, hostile, factions, sects and faiths - everyone knows everyone else is wrong. Which means that no one can be truly 'right'! Right? Because everyone else can see the flaws in any one set of beliefs if they look hard enough – just as any person can see the flaws in anyone else’s.

Which means that somewhere in amongst all of this theologising - human error must be creeping in some how. Which is why I suspect God has had to keep sending wise men and women to the world with the same message of Love, because human nature, being what it is, it doesn’t take too long before someone will turn an inspired message of Love into a dispirited dogma of some kind, which then gets used to exclude others as it’s power expands and more people fall under its control - to the extent that the teaching which was at first truly inspired becomes instead so distorted that the original message of Love gets warped into an excuse to hate. Of course, in reality, Love can never be used as an excuse to hate. Love is love. Hate is hate. End of story.

There’s a saying I’ve used many times, which I first heard used by a minister in a church years go. Here it is: If you want to know what someone believes – look at what they do. When you apply this measurement to sectarianism it really shines a light on what’s going on - doesn’t it? Take away all of the theorising and all of the theologians’ convoluted arguments and what you get is something quite stark, something that’s easy to spot. Is peace being promoted? Or do they promote hate? Are they nurturing? Or do they destroy?

I’m going to ask you a question. If there is a spiritual realm might this mean that there could be evil spirits as well as good? And might this mean that anyone, in any religion, sect, or whatever, who purports to be 'doing the work of God' while committing atrocities is more likely to be under the influence of an evil spirit, rather than being inspired by the Spirit of Love? It’s a question. Just think about your answer for a moment.

Now! Wouldn’t it be better if all people of faith, all around the world, worked together for peace – instead of often (it seems) working against each other to one degree or another? I think so.

I suspect that one of the quickest ways to be wrong is to be entrenched in the belief that you’re always 'right'. Religion is often talked about as being a ‘mystery’. I heard a Christian speaker recently somewhere explain that in the current world our understanding of the word ‘mystery’ often implies a puzzle that can be completed just by finding all of the required parts, whereas, the word ‘mystery’ translated in the context that it was used in Bible, he suggested, actually meant something that could never be fully fathomed on this side of life. Wouldn’t it be better if many of the most dogmatic theologians of the world were, then, a little bit more humble and accepted that they might not fully understand even some things that appear to them to be obvious? After all – remember, a person in a cult (and cults often attract intelligent people) will know that other people in other cults are in cults without realising that they themselves are too. They will believe themselves to be right – so right they will even die for their beliefs – which are in actual fact wrong. Deeply flawed. In error.

Isn’t it better then, to live in a loving way, because, whatever religion you’re a member of, you might want, when your time in this world is up, to be ultimately judged on how constructive you’ve been – not on how destructive you were, particularly if it turns out that the religion you follow is not, after all, one that’s as high up on the ‘faith ladder’ as some of the others, if that’s how things work (according to the beliefs of some).

I believe that we’re all in need of GRACE, free unmerited pardon. And that when we live by Grace, and this means with Love, we can forget about whether or not our spiritual interpretation is Numero Uno amongst all of the faiths which currently exist, because ultimately God can and does work through many faiths – and the core ideal to be discovered in any messages that remain which were originally sent to us by God and the Spirit World is that the best way to live is with Love.

Let me ask you. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone, no matter what their nationality, ethnicity, gender, age, or religion - lived in such a way that meant they were doing their level best to express peace and fair dealings with their fellow human beings? If everyone sought to live with Love. Maybe that sounds like a question of the obvious? Maybe it’s another no brainer – right?

Kerin Webb, Clairvoyant, Psychic, Medium.  Bournemouth, UK.

For free articles written about spiritual, humanitarian, and social justice issues visit www.kerin.co.uk.