Jelly Babies, Allsorts, Chocolate covered Raisins AND fizzy cola bottles

It is my day off from work so I am using this opportunity to update my blog! However, I thought I'd bring up a previous topic that really gets my goat ometimes! I read an article this morning in a woman's magazine that really got me thinking. It relates to a previous post as I harped on about pick and mix spirituality and this article basically is justifying it saying it is in fact a basic need of humanity, and contributes to the whole 'survival of the fittest' thing etc all because research has shown there is a 'God gene'.

The point of the article is really to say you don't need to belong to a specific religion, all you need to do is meditate first thing in the morning and it has the same effect as '4 or 5 cups of coffee' and actually makes you healthier, less likely to get high blood pressure, relieves stress etc. Is it me or does it just feel like there's something inherently wrong with promoting spirituality solely on the basis of it will make you live longer? Also, the article claims that the sense that a holy being is present is something that only happens because the right temporal lobe of the brain is being stimulated. There apparently is a study that shows that when electrical impulses are given to the right temporal lobe 80% of the individuals in the experiment had the sense of the presence of a holy being just behind their left shoulder (the whole right half of the brain effecting the left side of your body etc).The article then goes on to say that Moses therefore is just having some sort of seizure that affected his right temporal lobe making him hallucinate and think the bush was burning and that God was speaking to him.

The article also talks about prayer and how strangers praying for someone doesn't actually improve their health, well, one response to this is to say that prayer doesn't work like that! Just because you pray and ask for something doesn't mean God is going to grant it! God is still answering those prayers that result in the patient not getting better but the answer is NO, that person is obviously ill for some reason that is wholly wrapped up in God's divine and perfect plan. You can't do an experiment on prayer because when people do they assume one thing, that if prayer works, God will grant whatever you ask for which isn't true. It makes it sound like God is really mean and says no to things which anyone would think there is no problem in granting but they aren't God, they don't know if what they're asking is what's best.

The writer of this article claims that her browsing the 'religion aisle at Barnes & Noble' attitude towards spirituality is just a product of the fact that she has this God gene and because she wasn't brought up in any particular religion she has no immediate outlet in which to express this gene. Religion, spirituality, the personal relationship people believe they have with their God cannot I would argue, be explained away by this existence of the so called 'God gene', to use the statistics she quotes, 84% of the world's population are religious, 9 out of 10 Americans say they pray daily, 43% of American attend religious services weekly and 2 billion people are Christians! These huge numbers of people who believe in the existence of something higher and greater than themselves, this world is so much more complicated than just it's in their genes, as this scientist who discovered the God gene says that only 50% of the population have it!

There are so many people who resist religion, spirituality in all forms, but some do become religious, they feel they have no choice in the matter in the sense that they can't carry on ignoring what is so obviously real and wants to be a part of your life. The writer of this article is saying that her pick and mix spirituality is fine because it satisfies her 'spiritual cravings' and will actually improve her physical and mental health, it's not like there's one religion in particular that improves your health more so than any other. I really don't think you can simplify religion to this extent. I just think this kind of article will remove the personal element of religion, people will be religious because they want to make themselves healthier, but I think religion will only make you healthier, if indeed does, if you throw yourself into it, let it change the way you live your life and that involves really believing it, not simply practicing it hoping it will have an affect, but making it affect every area of your life, daily, like the Christian prays and talks to God very often, goes to church to worship God, involves God in their relationships, work, decisions, everything! Rant over! Thanks for reading if you got to the end!

Jelly Babies, Allsorts and Chocolate covered Raisins

As the title may suggest my post today has something to do with pick and mix! The topic of choice today is spirtual pick and mix! I was having a discussion about it with a friend the other day and I realised I knew someone who is a perfect example of pick and mix spirituality.

Spiritual pick and mix is very privatised, it's all about what makes sense to you, what you like and has nothing to do with what anyone else says, you get to choose how much of one particular discipline you want to believe in, which makes you feel good about yourself.

I think one of the main problems people have with the fact that Christianity is an organised religion is that you can't choose what you do and do not believe within it, you take it all or you leave it. It also involves, as my friend put it, taking yourself off the throne and placing God on it. As a Christian, you live your life trying to do what God wants you to do which may not always be what you want to do, a thing called temptation will tell you that! Most people would probably see becoming a Christian as making a sacrifice, giving up the things that are most pleasurable in life in order to do what someone else is telling you to do.

I would have thought that spirituality is about something above and beyond the physical but it seems to be wholly involved in pick and mix sprituality, I'll believe in it only if I like it, only if it makes myself feel better but surely someone would be willing to sacrifice a few things in order to grasp something that is purer, higher, more powerful, bigger than themselves. Jelly babies, allsorts, chocolate covered raisins, bit of buddhism, bit of wicca, bit of new age how can it work?