Many Paths One Enlightenment

ONE ENLIGHTENMENT 1 Running head: MANY PATHS, ONE ENLIGHTENMENT

Many Paths, One Enlightenment David "Toby" Meyers American Popular Culture University of Phoenix July 19, 2009

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Abstract With this essay my intent is to show that many religions are becoming more tolerant of one another as spiritual and personal beliefs have become more diverse and accepting. While ethnic mixture and social hierarchy are becoming blurred, people are becoming more open to input by a wide range of different beliefs and worship. This is the learning of many paths and one enlightenment, that everyone is finding their own path to god and their higher self.

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Many Paths, One Enlightenment Not so long ago in France a very spoiled entitled man, one who called himself a Mason, though did not build anything but a monarchy; he cast his crown into the fire and pulled out a ring. (Cyberpoint Limited, 2004) With this he claimed that God set him to be the king of the earth. (Big Site of History, 2008) His name was Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (272337 A.D.) and he was the first of many, many holy kings of earth. His claim to fame, Christianity or rather the outlawing of all other religions besides Christianity, was long lived and was held as an example to Western Europe's Masonic brotherhood of how to attain and keep political power. Purity and Persecution. It is a lie that Rome persecuted Christians for any long period of time. Historically the persecution lasted about twelve years. (Humphreys, 2008) For control of the population the holy church was formed: “Wherever we look, bishops were encouraging the landed elites... to take firm and coercive action to make the peasantry Christian... Miracles, wonders, exorcisms, temple-torching and shrine-smashing were in themselves acts of evangelization." (Fletcher, 1998) How can we forget our own American History? Religious persecution brought a majority of Western Europeans to America. When they signed the Declaration of Independence they refused the holy king his divine province in the New World. However grim it looked, the Treaty of Paris signed in September 1783, meant that there was no hand in America for the European Monarchy. The first Amendment to the Constitution (Delegates of the Philadelphia Convention, 1787) gave the peasants who were once persecuted because they were Pagan, or did not accept the orthodox, a separation of powers and a respect for the individual through democracy and self-rule.

ONE ENLIGHTENMENT 4 How the world was converted. Years of inquisition and coup d’état by literally making men bow down and accept either death by sword or to kneel before the cross, Christianity swept across Europe. (Fletcher, 1998) When the American Revolutionary War happened, the Monarchy of Europe, whose precedence was founded on the tenant that they were picked by God to rule, the inquisitions had bankrupted and were without funds to side in a war against the new country. Fearless men, haggard and worn by injustices they had suffered, who believed they would die at the hands of the trained and obedient, that their plight was futile, marched out to meet the red coats and then slaughtered them with prejudice. Tragedy and Triumph. With a few tragedies like the Salem Witch Trials (1692-93) largely citizens are free to practice Magick. There are still a few people who do not think they should have to live near people that do not believe as they do. Just recently I wrote a petition on behalf of a high school girl who was kicked out of school for wearing a pentacle that her teachers could not take. (Meyers, 2007) In the "Texas Department of Criminal Justice (T.D.C.J.) Prisoners within this state are not allowed to study or use the runes in anyway. They are not allowed to receive publication which contains runes…” (The Odinic Rite, 2008) Unfounded claims of Satanic Ritual Abuse and razors in Halloween candy still float around despite being completely incredulous (Midwinter & Allen, 2002; Young, 2004; Aquino, 1993; Ney, 1995). In April of last year Americans United for Separation of Church and State won in its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for barring the inscription of the Wiccan religious symbol on government-issued memorial markers for deceased veterans (Stewart, 2007). Performing marriage ceremonies for people of Pagan faith has become common place. With the invention of the internet a wide variety of Pagans have came out of the broom closet in droves. All of the

ONE ENLIGHTENMENT 5 sudden so-called family groups are surrounded by people of different faiths as soon as they log on to the internet (Witches Voice, 2008).

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Conclusion: We have Grown Up. We have grown up and have not found it necessary to kill each other because we do not see eye to eye about who that god is. There are more than just Pagans and Christians anymore; there are Muslims, Hindu, Sufi’s and just as there are Catholics, Protestants, and Mormons; there is Odinists, Druids and Wiccans as well. We get along a little better mostly due to this law that says that we can practice whatever religion that we see fit. Maybe it is a sign from God or whatever higher power that there are many paths to take there is only one enlightenment, one truth and that is love and tolerance.

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References Aquino, M. A. (1993, March 26). The "Satanic Scare" of the 1980s. Retrieved December 2, 2008, from Official website of the Temple of Set: http://www.holysmoke.org/sdhok/sat33.htm. Big Site of History. (2008, June 4). Summary: The Problem of Divine-Right Monarchy. Retrieved December 2, 2008, from Big Site of History: http://www.bigsiteofhistory.com/summary-the-problem-of-divine-right-monarchy Cyberpoint Limited. (2004). Masonic Rings and Watches. Retrieved December 2, 2008, from Letchworth's (Freemasons' Hall, London): http://www.letchworthshop.co.uk/products.php?g1=4a52f2. Delegates of the Philadelphia Convention. (1787). Constitution of the United States of America. Philadelphia, Washington D.C.: United States of America. Fletcher (1998). The Conversion of Europe. London: Fontana Press. Humphreys, K. (2008). Persecution, Holy Mother Church invents heroic origins. Retrieved Dec 02, 2008, from Jesus Never Existed: http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/persecutions.html Meyers, T. N. (2007). Pagan Children Targeted by School Administration. Retrieved Dec 02, 2008, from Get Real: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.Confirm&friendID=9816568&actio n=subscribe

ONE ENLIGHTENMENT 8 Midwinter & Allen (2002). Michelle Remembers: The Debunking of a Myth. Retrieved December 2, 2008, from Official site of the Temple of Set: http://www.xeper.org. Ney (1995). True and False Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse. New York: Brunner/Mazel Inc. Stewart v. Nicholson (2007). The Supreme Court of the United States. The Odinic Rite. (2008). Religious and Racial persecution in Texas. Retrieved Dec 2, 2008, from The Odinic Rite: http://www.odinic-rite.org/texas.html Witches Voice. (2008). Clergy of the world. Retrieved Dec 2, 2008, from Witchvox: http://www.witchvox.com/vn/vn_index/xclergy.html Young, M. D. (2004). The Day Care Ritual Abuse Moral Panic. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.