Church attendance is falling everywhere except in the evangelical/ fundamentalist churches. I notice some RC churches are now burning sweet grass and turning to the four directions as part of their service. Priests and nuns are going on vision quests and some ministers like Rev Dancing Hawk are no doubt using their new found knowledge to booster attendance. I realize this line of discussion is like kicking over a bees nest but I really wander how sincere Dancing Hawk is. Is his ministry really a disingenuous attempt to latch onto the NDN cultural revival ?
Wanted to reply, thought it best to do it here.
But now I don't know what it was I wanted to say. Specifically. On the lines of that.. the religions of type like Christianity are bound to fail. It is based on separatism and intolerance. I sincerely believe in the spirit within, and I sincerely believe that as that being within opens with time, evolution or whatever whathaveyou... it is going to compel people to seek something that resonates with it.
I believe fear is the driving factor among the deep evangelist. I believe it because I have seen it. If they feel threatened they will swarm to their churches.. and, they will kill in the name of their God.
Well.. whatever.
I've been doing some searches online, looking for beliefs that predate Christianity in Russia area. If spiritual um... awareness? gifts? are passed down genetically.. I believe my spirituality came from that area. But, I also have my own beliefs of this which is not based in genetics.
The NDN peoples are fortunate. Imagine if you were born on another continent with your spiritual ancestor's .. or your spirituality intact. And imagine if that spirituality had no place in the world you are born into. Meaning, no elders, no community.. nothing. Just you. And imagine after 50 years you finally find that your spirituality comes from another continent, and you search and find that there is no real written information that predates Christianity.. and even if you could find traces, bits and pieces, you are perpetually poor and have no possible way to reach there, go there.
All you have is your self, and your spiritual ties to ancestors.. which you have no community or elders to speak with to help sort it out.. to understand.
I have to believe I was not born on this continent, in this country, in this time, in this society for no reason. This is where I am. It's fact. I have been alone spiritually all my life. This is not for pity. This is fact. I'm nomadic in nature, another fact.
I have beliefs that I'm not sure they come from ancestor spiritual ties.. but I believe some things because of experience. Past lives for example. Although, I recall my deaths more than the lives. But I will not be arrogant to say what happens to me at death will be for all. But I do know what happens to me when I die. Some could say it is fancy of imagination. Eh.
The point is that, what I believe doesn't quite fit in with the belief systems I've looked at. Parts are similar, parts not. But I have no authority on anything, no formal training by another human being. I am not into rituals, but I understand the purpose for having them.
Well, this spilled into a ramble of sorts. But the religion that came and wiped out so much is bound to fall. I believe in the Spirit and I believe in the spirit within humans/all beings.. and it's only a matter of time before something deeper emerges.. unfortunately, it's almost always met with fear.
It's true the knowledgeable people I have met in life, who have helped me.. do not run a business. They don't trade their spiritual 'gifts' for dollars. They know selling the gifts is well, selling them.. and then you no longer have the gifts because they've been traded in for something else. Usually dollars and/or notoriety. I wouldn't trade what I have for anything in the world.
Even though I am alone most of the time. The last time I physically touched another human was 4 months ago. Before that a year. Most people cannot live what I have.. I was born without being held, or cuddled. Contact was when I needed to be fed or changed, and then I was left alone. My earliest memory is of learning to walk and being afraid to be found out as I didn't believe I was 'supposed' to walk.
I survived the suicide years because an unseen being, spirit?, gave me vision and a promise.. it was the only way to keep me alive. 30 years later when I found it was a trick to keep me in this world I felt betrayed by/of my spirituality, Spirit itself. Every thing crashed, leaving me open to vicious attacks. Again, I survived. It's a long story, and most would seem sci fi/fantasy and not acceptable to most human beings as any sort of reality. It was. I again survived, and survived more suicide years.
Mostly I feel I have been rearranged. Sometimes, I know how to do something, if it flows, I do it. But I don't put a price tag on it, nor do I go around advertising because it's not that kind of a thing. It is not at my beck and call, nor is it for sale or trade.
These people putting up businesses and claiming to utilize spirit or spirituality as a commodity are quite insane. I don't care who you are, Spirit, and spirits, are not at your beck and call. And to me, this is one of the fundamental issues of religions such as Christianity. God owes them.
Well, I guess if you give your soul to some unseen being, then I guess you would feel entitled that that unseen being owes you something in return. The belief is flawed. And it will fall.
So.. you have masses turning to something indigenous... yet.. trying to keep it still within the frame of their religion. You can't have it both ways. One or the other.
The indigenous peoples who do have their community, their elders.. people to connect and relate to, they are most fortunate. Those who do not, but feel the religions empty.. have a long road. Some will die, some will swap this for that but without really doing so (nuagers) and some will survive finding their own way..