Self-affecting Ministries Manifesto

Self-Affecting Ministries Manifesto -Reverend Jah – 11.26.09

A self-affecting action is, as the name implies, an action that affects only the person(s) that are willingly involved. An action is not considered self-affecting if it poses a clear and present danger to others that are unwillingly

involved,

or

if

it

greatly

pollutes

and/or

endangers

the

environment. We, Self-Affecting Ministries, do hereby declare that as manifestations and manifesters of the Divine, we are compelled to live as self-affectingly free as we ever may choose, regardless of any supposed authority and its unjust claim to the right of governing over and consentlessly punishing our performances of self-affecting actions. We declare also to be forever in church, no matter the location or circumstance, and relative to nothing. Our bodies

and

minds

are

our

temples,

and

our

self-affecting

actions,

our

sacraments. Such is the nature of peaceful, uninhibited manifestation of Self, in the name of which, we now do unify. The performance of our selfaffecting

actions

is

praise

to,

and

manifestation

of

the

Divine,

and

disrupting such peaceful activity is indeed the highest degree of blasphemy. Our reason-based-faith equates to the exact opposite of disregarding others' freedom, safety, and rights, and the specific undeniable proofs and logic of our doctrine shall heretofore be expounded upon.

The main purpose of government is, and has always been, to manage or control people. The easiest (and most unjust) way to govern people's actions is of course to make decisions for them. While it’s perfectly understandable to set interactional limits to avoid unwanted harm, (such as, murder being illegal), making personal decisions for others implies they are too stupid to make

their

own,

and

any

human

with

a

fully

conscious

mind

cannot,

and

rightfully will not tolerate such violations of personal liberty. Each person’s mind and body is their own property, and everybody has the right to do whatever they please with, and within the boundaries of, their own property, so long as it doesn't violate anyone else’s freedom, rights, or safety. If there is no harm done to non-participants from an action, the only harm is brought about when the action is suppressed and punished. Even if the action is potentially self-destructive to the person doing it, it is still their choice to make, and their life to risk. The most that can rightfully be done is to provide full and applicable information on the subject, outlining the effects, side-effects, dangers, and instructions for safe and responsible use. The matter most simply and ultimately comes down to respecting others' individual choices and minding one's own business. (The “do unto others” concept.) Only you should decide whats best for you. Some may recall a certain anti-marijuana television commercial saying, “When you give up the right to choose for yourself, you give up what makes you, you.” Obviously, the act of smoking cannabis willingly (or any other act performed willingly) very well does require the ability to choose for one's self. The true message that this flawed propaganda conveys is blatantly hypocritical; according to the U.S. government's

very

own

logic,

drug

prohibition

(and

indeed

all

other

infringements upon the freedom of self-affecting actions) clearly deprives citizens of “what makes them, them” by prohibiting their right to choose for themselves. (Tragically, this type of corrupt broadcasting serves only to increase the curiosity of unaware youths by focusing on baseless invocation of intimidation and fear, rather than informing and educating based on logic and reason.) Many

self-affecting

actions

(namely:

ingestion

of

psychotropic

substances) are privileges that come with responsibilities, because without

proper use, one's actions may become more likely to breach the definition of 'self-affecting'. The reason of some being incapable of handling a particular responsibility does not justify everyone being indiscriminately robbed of its associated privileges. Operating a motor vehicle is also a self-affecting action that is both a privilege and a responsibility, except its legal under certain conditions. Since the act of driving a vehicle can potentially, (and very often does) cause catastrophic consequences, the law requires people to obtain a driver's license, which means passing a test to ensure capability of responsible operation. It seems only reasonable to employ this same method for other

responsibility-bearing

self-affecting

actions.

An

effective

system

potentially could test people over the dangers and principles of responsible use of each drug, and revoke the 'drug-use license' when they've proven their irresponsibility, instead of destroying innocent people's lives and families at the expense of tax-payers. (This is only a rough outline of a seemingly radical idea, but employed properly, a system of drug-use licensing can prove exponentially more beneficial than our relatively ineffective system of driver licensing.) Evolution, in short, is the process of change into a more complex, progressive direction. This process is very limited without the acceptance of new, unfamiliar things. Its a primitive instinct for us to fear and defend ourselves against the unfamiliar (e.g.: racism), because of the harsh nature of the wilderness. We however no longer reside in the wilderness, so to evolve, we cannot avoid new and different things; we must embrace change and individuality and allow people to perform their own self-affecting actions, no matter how different or strange they may seem. Otherwise we,(humanity), are but a dog chasing its own tail, stuck in a loop of futility. Imagine yourself as the head of the dog, with the tail representing the part of humanity which is unfamiliar to you, and the rest of the body being the familiar part. Sometimes you get overexcited, and the first urge you get is

to

chase

your

tail,

without

even

a

thought.

The

tail

just

wants

to

peacefully wag, but you arbitrarily chase it for its unfamiliarity, and when you've one day caught it, all you've done is bite yourself in the ass. History repeats

itself,

but

lets

stop

chasing

our

tail

and

break

this

cycle

of

ignorance and oppression, to move forward into a new age of individuality and union. Self-Affecting Ministries stands as a gateway out of this loop of blind cyclical history into the future of the All. Think of Earth as a human body, and humans as the cells within it. The cells of our composition work individually in harmony for the benefit of the

body, just as each of us must work individually in harmony for the benefit of Gaia (Earth, as a single organism). When our white blood cells encounter something like a virus, which causes harm, they attack it. But when they come across something like a red blood cell, which is a part of the whole and causes no harm, they let it be. They don't eliminate it just because its different from them and they may not understand it. Throughout history, any enforcer of laws against self-affecting actions is or was either brain-washed and ignorant (Usually the governed, oppressing others

because

of

exploited

differences

like

race,

gender,

or

personal

decisions), or acting in their own interests (Usually the governing, seeking power

and

wealth

by

monopolization

of

an

institution

or

industry,

while

maintaining their grip on the governed). If this fact does not already appear obvious, please consult a history book: the same types of conflicts are seen over and over. A few major examples are: the Romans persecuting Christians, the Nazis persecuting Jews, the Salem witch trials, and Americans persecuting Native Americans. The biggest present-day examples of these injustices are: the outlaw of gay marriages, drug prohibition, and censorship. It’s blatantly wrong to tell someone who they can’t love, what they can’t put into their own body, or what they can’t hear or see. Its like getting a ticket for dying your hair the wrong color or wearing the wrong brand of shoes, just because it offended the wrong people. Now, since most of us have finally learned that its wrong to persecute and discriminate against fellow humans just because of their race and religion, its about time to take the next step and broaden this lesson by realizing that its wrong to prohibit any person from carrying out any self-affecting action. A victimless 'crime' is no crime at all, and its disgustingly absurd that this Truth has to even be brought into argument instead of universally existing in the realm of humane, common sense. In

the

wild,

a

species'

member's

have

the

same

basic

needs,

which

accordingly encourage the same basic traits. In order to survive, the group conforms and combines individual efforts to fulfill these needs, similar to many bricks joining together to build a house. An individual that does not conform to the group will often be attacked and/or cast out. Humans, however, have the ability to fulfill their survival needs and contribute to society while still remaining diverse individuals. Some may argue fascism to have its utility in extremely unintelligent societies, but the only use of it in modern human society is to monopolize and capitalize for the benefit of only the few in power. The outlaw of self-affecting actions is an obvious beginning step towards fascist rule.

The 1st Amendment in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution states that, ”Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting

the

free

exercise

thereof.”

In

regards

to

the

fact

that

technically any action could be considered holy by one person and unholy by the other, persecution of the 'crimes' of our day previously mentioned are clearly

violations

of

this

amendment.

To

address

Amendment is in need of an update, reading:

this

paradox,

the

1 st

“Congress shall make no law

prohibiting the free and responsible exercise of any self-affecting action.” Since at the time of this text's writing no such update is expected soon, we, Self-Affecting Ministries, arise. Independent and enlightened individuals have lived our basic tenet of unencumbered, peaceful self-manifestation throughout history, yet it is only now that this union takes form for the sake of evolution and liberty. Metaphorically, every person's mind and body represents a huge boulder, just waiting to be chiseled and sculpted into a beautiful piece of art. Who has the authority to decide what kind of chisels are used and how? None but the rock. To suggest otherwise is a self-centered, ignorant, oppressive crime against humanity, the universe, and the very essence of being. We can never allow sculptors reign over our selves in any manner; our form always must emanate from within. The challenge of Now has always been to look so infinitely within while accurately and compassionately interacting and projecting so infinitely far out. This paradox is not contradictory when aware of the implications of such matters as the Gaia Hypothesis[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_hypothesis], or

of

the

various

intriguing

interpretations

of

quantum

mechanics

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpretation_of_quantum_mechanics]. As we gain ever more scientific backing for what we have Known to be True, we're called to further the undeniable cause of Consciousness and Universal Oneness. To those disenchanted by religion in general, who count themselves among the "spiritual but not religious": Our religion is that of pure spirituality. Do not allow the widespread blasphemy of the present day to degrade your world view to the point of abandoning all sense of sanctity, for this is the looming problem of our age. We are forced to stand and climb ever higher under the weight of moral obligation and necessity. We are the equal and opposite, yet infinitely more powerful

and

pure

reaction,

to

an

historically

unparalleled

force

of

debauchery and sacrilege. We are the new goddesses and gods of old, and, in

the name of Universal Love, we unrelentingly command our peaceful morals and Whims From Within to go forever unpersecuted by the many darkly deceptive forces of ignorance, tyranny, and oppression. So

please

remember:

The

next

time

you

feel

inclined

to

harass

or

imprison somebody for the performance of a self-affecting action, keep in mind the Oneness of our being, and the Freedom of Self-Affecting Actions, and ask yourself, “Should I chase my tail, or let it be?”

Endnote This manifesto began in its primitive stage in 2004, in my 10 th grade of high school, as an essay originally titled “The Freedom of Self-Affecting Actions”(Not originally created as an assignment). I felt I was onto something from the beginning, but it took 5 years to grasp the full potential of my zeal for

liberty

and

knowledge

by

recognizing

my

heartfelt

convictions

to

be

synonymous with the non-bastardized version of what is commonly referred to as ‘religious conviction’. None of the major principles contained within this work are new. They are

in

fact,

ageless

and

eternal.

These

principles

have

been

detailed

extensively by many others long before myself, and at least a few works in particular warrant mentioning: On Liberty by John Stuart Mill, The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley, the Luminist Manifesto by Dale R. Gowin, and many more which can be found in the Holy Media section of the ministry’s website.

- This manifesto is not final We are not yet officially formed as a ministry, and have an incomplete website, but to get in touch, please visit: ManifestGod.com