I have always, since a kid, been deeply interested in religion. Not in it’s rules and regulations, which innately often seemed unjust to me, being from a family who didn’t fit the mould, but rather I was interested in the social dynamics created by religion and it’s rules, in contrast with my own spiritual experiences and inner knowing, which were not rooted in any teachings. In my family on both sides there are stories about religious bigotry. Catholics VS Protestants. People not allowed to share love because of religious control. In fighting because of religion. For humans to evolve it is important that we become aware of, and open up about the roots of religious bigotry. Spiritual slavery. Which wreaks havoc on the world around us.

Three of the world’s major religions (Judaism, Islam and Christianity), stem from ancient records of an ancestor in the middle east, considered by some a prophet, of a higher class, named Abraham, detailing the way his inheritance was distributed. The outcome was not the fault of either of his sons, one, Issac who is seen to propagate the Jewish tribes, the other, Ishmael, the Arabic tribes.  Both Issac and Ishmael were subject to patriarchal laws which enabled sex slavery, and didn’t honour the rights of those born into sex slavery, as was Ishmael whose mother Hagar was forced to have a child with Abraham when his wife couldn’t. This slavery aspect of the story of Abraham at the root of these 3 religions is not widely acknowledged, or it is dismissed as being part of society at the time, as slavery including sex slavery was routinely utilised by all 3 of those religions and even to this day is used at times with justification from holy texts. But I digress. My point is, that because these stories and others in the book of Genesis detailing land take overs, alluding to cultural and physical genocide and slavery by Abraham were written down, they became law, each in it’s own way, according to each religion which stemmed from these early stories.

In the days of the early holy books, you could write anything and make it law. God came and spoke to me. Now it is law. Because very few people could read or write, so those who could wielded a lot of power and were able to spread these doctrines far and wide, even to those not descended from that part of the world, perpetuating the acts of genocide and land take over as they went. And that is how we, from all over the world, are expected to pledge allegiance to one side of the inheritance dispute between Israel and Palestine, basically. And how anything that was written down as the word of God, each by the version of their own religion, can not be contested in the eyes of religion. Because it is law. Abraham’s descendants asserting their right to their inheritance. Genocide flipping from one side to the other over thousands of years. Complete disregard for another’s humanity. Culminating in gob smacking genocidal acts, all justified in part by these old writings, which silenced the voice of the feminine, which destroyed so much wisdom and ancient culture, pitted one against another by asserting that the word of God of one is right the other wrong.

We need to be able to respectfully critique these old writings and teachings and their influence around the world. It is so important for world peace, and the evolution of human consciousness that we are free to acknowledge these stories from the past which represent in so many ways things we do not want to carry forward as a peaceful human society. Blasphemy laws affect over 70 countries in the world. In the more harsher cases, anyone who challenges the veracity or relevancy of these old writings can be met with imprisonment, death or mob violence. In many areas, the holy book is the only book allowed or encouraged, even for teaching science. Including in America. And some here also in Australia. And a great many impoverished countries. Which keep them conveniently in poverty.

We need to respect each other’s beliefs. But this never means we should be tyranised by them, nor enable the tyrany of others by beliefs we adopt. Spiritual slavery is real. And dangerous because when we are so deeply indoctrinated, we can’t even identify how enslaved we are.

In memory of Hagar..