We Think Too Highly Of Our Visitors

We think too highly of our visitors

The New Message from God speaks of the shock of the future and how to mitigate it. One thing I am doing is reading science-fiction novels. One book I have particularly enjoyed is the book “The Three-Body Problem,” written in 2014 by Liu Cixin, and translated into English by Ken Liu. Here is the premise.

Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.

We think too highly of our visitors

One of the main characters of the book is Ye Wenjie, an astrophysicist. During the Cultural Revolution, she witnessed her father, a physics professor, beaten to death by Red Guards. Later, through an unusual turn of events, she got to read the book “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson. This book was not readily available in China at that time. After reading Silent Spring, Ye Wenjie thought: “If this was so, then how many other acts of humankind that had seemed normal or even righteous were, in reality, evil?” As a result of these two events, Ye Wenjie lost her faith in humanity.

I have already written about the possible disastrous consequences of seeking to establish contact with aliens. The New Message from God teaches there is an extraterrestrial intervention currently underway. Part of this is an attempt to cause humanity to lose faith in human leadership and human institutions.

Perhaps we should rethink our attitude

We think too highly of our visitors. Liu Cixin wrote a postscript to The Three-Body Problem. In this postscript he shares something he considers to be an anomaly:

“There’s a strange contradiction revealed by the naïveté and kindness demonstrated by humanity when faced with the universe. On Earth, humankind can step onto another continent, and without a thought, destroy the kindred civilizations found there through warfare and disease. But when they gaze up at the stars, they turn sentimental and believe that if extraterrestrial intelligences exist, they must be civilizations bound by universal, noble moral constraints, as if cherishing and loving different forms of life are parts of a self-evident universal code of conduct.

I think it should be precisely the opposite. Let’s turn the kindness we show toward the stars to members of the human race on Earth and build up the trust and understanding between the different peoples and civilizations that make up humanity. But for the universe outside the solar system, we should be ever vigilant, and be ready to attribute the worst of intentions to any Others that might exist in space. For a fragile civilization like ours, this is without a doubt the most responsible path.”

Will we take the most responsible path?

We think too highly of our visitors. We confuse advanced technology with advanced spirituality. The Europeans had better technology than the Native Americans and the Aztecs. It didn’t make them better people. Are extraterrestrials spiritually advanced? It ain’t necessarily so. The New Message from God teaches what is currently a minority viewpoint on the subject of extraterrestrials.

1) Intelligent extraterrestrial life exists
2) Extraterrestrials are intervening in human affairs today
3) This extraterrestrial intervention is a threat to human freedom

Maybe there are other things we should work on. How about developing our vigilance? How about developing the requirements for freedom (unity, self-sufficiency and discretion)? I’m with Liu Cixin. Let’s turn the kindness we show toward the stars to members of the human race on earth. We think too highly of our visitors.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

I Will Comprehend And Study

I will comprehend and study

There are currently 32 books in the available New Message from God. Roughly half of the New Message from God is not yet available to the public. The 32 books contain a total of 416 revelations. Marshall Vian Summers received these revelations in a period between June of 1986 and November of 2021. He organized these revelations as chapters of the books. The revelations in these books cover many different subjects, both for individuals and the world. I have never gotten around to listing all of the books of the New Message, so here it is.

I will comprehend and study

Marshall received Steps to Knowledge, Steps to Knowledge Continuation Training and Secrets of Heaven in a different manner than the rest of the books. Therefore, 416 revelations are in 29 books. Some of the books have fewer chapters, and some of the books have more chapters, such as Greater Community Spirituality, and the Wisdom from the Greater Community books. On the one hand, the New Message from God declares on many occasions that following the Way of Knowledge is not merely an intellectual exercise. On the other hand, it seems to be important that students comprehend and study the New Message from God. Therefore, it is important that students read the teachings of the New Message from God, and track their efforts.

I will comprehend and study. In October of 2019, I created a spreadsheet to track my interaction with the New Message from God. At the time, there were only 297 revelations available. I had read them all at some time or another, but I didn’t do it in a systematic fashion. Someone suggested to me that I read the revelations in the order in which they received, so I did that. Sometimes I read a revelation. Other times I listened to the spoken revelation while following the text. Sometimes I watched a video that had the spoken revelation and the words of the text.

I started this campaign on October 19, 2019. I engaged with only 6 revelations in 2019. In 2020, I engaged with 80 revelations. I engaged with 106 revelations in 2021. Revelations were being released in the form of books during this time. I engaged with 57 revelations in 2022. There were times where I was consistent, and times when I wasn’t. I brought forth more resolve in 2023, and I have engaged with 168 revelations. I have now engaged with all the revelations in the currently available New Message from God.

Well, what have you learned, Douglas?

I can imagine someone asking that. The New Message from God says it has a lot of repetition and a lot of self-commentary. I can attest to that. There is a message to the individual, and a message to the human family. Everyone has come to the world to fulfill a greater purpose, meet certain people and give certain gifts. In order to do this, it is necessary to reclaim Knowledge, the deeper spiritual intelligence within each person. To do this, one must practice the Steps to Knowledge. This involves a certain mental and emotional hygiene. It also involves a certain willingness to engage with mysterious things.

Humanity faces great danger from its current practices of resource consumption and environmental destruction. The destruction of our world has drawn extraterrestrial intervention to our shores. If we continue in the direction we’re headed, we face either extinction, or enslavement and exploitation by foreign powers that do not share our values. However, if enough people become strong enough with Knowledge, they can make an impact. If we unite as a race and cooperate, we can survive the difficult times ahead. We can expose and resist the extraterrestrial intervention and force it to withdraw, as it relies on secrecy and human acquiescence.

What are you going to do next?

I’m going to start reading through the available New Message from God again. This time I’m going start with God Has Spoken Again, Volume 1, Book 1, and proceed in volume and book order. This time I will see the impact of the Messenger’s organization. I will comprehend and study.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Go Back And Unite My People

Go back and unite my people

I’m not quite finished with sharing my experience of the State Fair of Minnesota in August. I visited the booth of the Independence Party of Minnesota. The Independence Party earned major party status in the state of Minnesota from 1994 to 2014.

Go back and unite my people

The gentleman I spoke with was polite and friendly. He said it would a great step forward if people in Minnesota could disagree on politics, but be otherwise friendly. I felt a common vibration with him. I shared with him my hope that people penetrate their attachments to their ethnicity, their nationality and their religion. He realized that I was talking about a larger scope than Minnesota, but he was with me. I shared a copy of The Proclamation with him. We talked about how the New Message from God could foster human unity and cooperation.

“I have a slight advantage”

We chatted a little further along these lines, and then the gentleman shared what might be the great secret of his life. He said he had a slight advantage over most people. I asked “In what way?” He then shared that he temporarily died in a car crash 12 years earlier, and had a brief experience of the afterlife. Paramedics resuscitated him shortly afterwards. His story grabbed my attention. I mentioned how many people who have similar experiences are given a message to give or a task to accomplish. Was he told anything? He said, “Go back and unite my people.”

I didn’t ask him what the phrase “my people” meant, and he didn’t tell me. Shortly after this, someone else came up to the booth. The gentleman felt he needed to stop talking with me and start talking to this new person. I don’t know if he will succeed at his mission. But he seemed to be working on it when I found him. I didn’t get any contact information, but I feel like I will meet him again before too long.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

The Greater Community Nabi

The Greater Community Nabi

Muslims in Minnesota were active in sharing their faith at the recent State Fair of Minnesota. In 2022 their booth was on the second floor of the Grandstand, and thus out of the main flow of foot traffic. In 2023 their booth was in the Education Building, a much more visited display.

The Greater Community Nabi

I seem to recall this wheel at the booth in 2022. I spun the wheel a number of times, and correctly answered the questions on the wheel. The gentleman at the booth exclaimed “You know so much about Islam! Why are you not a Muslim?” My answer was “Because I believe that God has spoken again. There is a New Message from God in the world.” I might have said something about the gentleman having trouble believing this. I might have had to think about what I was going to say for a moment, but I’m happy with what I said.

In 2023, I distributed some copies of “The Proclamation,” one of many revelations of the New Message from God. Anyone who is sharing their faith gives implied consent to me to share my faith with them. I answered some of the questions on the wheel. I offered the gentleman a copy of The Proclamation. He looked at it and asked “Who is this, Marshall Vian Summers?” This time I said “He is our Nabi.”

Nabis and rasouls

In the Qur’an. the Arabic word nabi is used to speak of a Prophet. Moses (Musa) is mentioned as a prophet 136 times, and Abraham is mentioned as a prophet 69 times. The Qur’an uses the word rasoul to speak of a messenger, someone calling the people to return to what was originally revealed. Some people are a nabi but not a rasoul (Jacob, Zechariah, Elisha). Others are both a nabi and a rasoul (Moses, Jesus, Muhammad).

The New Message from God uses the words prophet and messenger in the opposite way from their use in Islam. A Messenger brings a new reality. A prophet is someone who calls the people to return to what was revealed earlier. I consider Billy Graham and Martin Luther King, Jr. to be instances of prophets in 20th Century America.

The gentleman at the booth was calm and polite. He said “I know this cannot be true, as the Qur’an teaches that Muhammad is the seal of the prophets [the final prophet]. Yet, for your sake, I will read this.” I admire his openness and nobility.

In the following days, I spoke with students of the New Message from Muslim backgrounds. I asked them if this was consistent with the New Message. I told them I wished I said “He is the nabi for our time.” Two students considered this acceptable. One student remarked “You could have said the greater community Nabi for this time.” I am saving that for a future occasion.

The New Message from God doesn’t use the phrase “Greater Community Messenger.” But one of the distinctives of the New Message from God is that it is here to prepare humanity to successfully encounter a greater community of intelligent life. Life in a larger region of space. It is therefore appropriate to refer to Marshall Vian Summers as the Greater Community Messenger.

As of today, Google reports zero results for the phrase “greater community nabi.” This post may be the first searchable mention of this phrase. I hereby prophesy that many people will use this phrase in the future.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

It’s A Mighty Long Way to Proxima b

It's a mighty long way to Proxima b

The above image was generated by the website Leonardo.ai, using information provided by ChatGPT. It might have some resemblance to the actual surface of the planet Proxima b, the closest known exoplanet.

It’s a mighty long way to Proxima b

Proxima b orbits the star Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf star. Astronomer Robert Innes (1861-1933) discovered Proxima Centauri in 1915. Proxima Centauri in turn orbits around a pair of stars, Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B. Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the sun, 4.25 light-years away. Therefore, Proxima b will most likely remain the closest exoplanet to Earth for a very long time. Guillem Anglada-Escude and his associates discovered Proxima b in 2016. They used the Doppler spectroscopy technique, also known as the “wobble method.” Proxima b has a big enough gravitational tug on its parent star to affect the light that comes from Proxima Centauri.

What do people want to know about Proxima b?

I could say more about Proxima b, but I’m interested in what my fellow humans would like to know about Proxima b. The top question asked is “Can we live there?” As far as I can tell, the answer is “No.” Yes, Proxima b is within the so-called “habitable zone” of Proxima Centauri. The temperature is such that liquid water could exist on the surface. But the habitable zone doesn’t take other factors into account.

Bring lead spacesuits and plenty of sunscreen

Strong irradiation by ultraviolet radiation and X-rays from Proxima Centauri could be a problem. Proxima b receives about 10–60 times as much of this radiation especially X-rays, as Earth. What do we call the solar wind of Proxima Centauri? The Proximal wind? Stellar winds and coronal mass ejections are an even bigger threat to an atmosphere. The amount of stellar wind impacting Proxima Centauri b may amount to 4–80 times that impacting Earth. Proxima b may not have an atmosphere at all. But if we go there, we may need lead spacesuits and plenty of sunscreen. Or is it Proxima-Centauriscreen?

Hey buddy, how far is it to Proxima b?

I have mentioned that Proxima b is 4.25 light-years away. A light-year is 5.88 trillion miles. Therefore the distance to Proxima b is roughly 25 trillion miles. The fastest spacecraft so far is the Parker Solar Probe, which travels at 101 miles per second. If a spacecraft took off for Proxima b at 101 miles per second, it would take 247 billion seconds or so. There are 31,536,000 seconds in a year, which means it would take 7,844 years to get there.

Maybe there are other things we should work on

I feel the aspirations of people who hunger to travel to the stars. Some people long to be discoverers. Maybe we’re the ones being discovered. The New Message from God teaches what is currently a minority viewpoint on the subject of extraterrestrials.

1) Intelligent extraterrestrial life exists
2) Extraterrestrials are intervening in human affairs today
3) This extraterrestrial intervention is a threat to human freedom

Maybe there are other things we should work on. We have soils, waters and skies to cleanse. Perhaps we need to be more restorative of nature. We might need to cool the planet. How about working on building a united, sustainable and discreet human civilization?

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

A Step Into Space Opened His Eyes

A step into space opened his eyes

The Canadian actor William Shatner has played many roles from 1951 to the present. But the role he is most famous for is Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise. He played this role in what is now known as Star Trek: The Original Series. There were 79 episodes of this series from 1966 to 1969. It sowed the seeds for multiple movies and multiple television series.

A step into space opened his eyes

In the year 2021, at the age of 90, Shatner became the oldest living person to travel into space. The Blue Origin spacecraft flew to an altitude of 65 miles above earth before landing 11 minutes later. Shatner shares some of the technical details of the flight here. But I wish to share his testimony after the flight. He reflects upon the flight, and how it connects with his portrayal of Captain Kirk.

“Last year, I had a life-changing experience at 90 years old. I went to space, after decades of playing an iconic science-fiction character who was exploring the universe. I thought I would experience a deep connection with the immensity around us, a deep call for endless exploration.

I was absolutely wrong. The strongest feeling, that dominated everything else by far, was the deepest grief that I had ever experienced.

I understood, in the clearest possible way, that we were living on a tiny oasis of life, surrounded by an immensity of death. I didn’t see infinite possibilities of worlds to explore, of adventures to have, or living creatures to connect with. I saw the deepest darkness I could have ever imagined, contrasting so starkly with the welcoming warmth of our nurturing home planet.

This was an immensely powerful awakening for me. It filled me with sadness. I realized that we had spent decades, if not centuries, being obsessed with looking away, with looking outside. I did my share in popularizing the idea that space was the final frontier. But I had to get to space to understand that Earth is and will stay our only home. And that we have been ravaging it, relentlessly, making it uninhabitable.”

Earth is and will stay our only home

Star Trek filled countless people (including myself) with beautiful dreams of exploring space, settling other worlds, interacting with new civilizations, and so forth. The New Message from God is seeking to provide an awakening from these dreams, as politely as possible. Star Trek: The Original Series didn’t consider the possibility that the Enterprise would be perceived as part of an invasion force. They didn’t consider the possibility that nearby space would be inhabited by older and stronger nations. If we continue to make this world uninhabitable, we won’t get another one.

It is my sincere hope that Star Trek enthusiasts will consider William Shatner’s testimony. I am happy that a step into space opened his eyes.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Why Can’t You See This For What It Is?

Why can't you see this for what it is?

People from all walks of life, many nations and faith traditions, have reported seeing unknown craft in our skies. The first instance I know of was in 1947 in Washington State in the USA. Since then there have been countless sightings, most notably the sightings by Navy pilots reported in the New York Times in 2019. The most recent news item in this area is the testimony of former US intelligence official David Grusch. Reports keep appearing in the news, and people keep ignoring them. What is obvious escapes the attention of nearly everyone, and what is imaginary seems to be highly agreed upon,

Why can’t you see this for what it is?

People from many walks of life, many nations and faith traditions, have reported being taken by aliens against their will. There are people who have deeply investigated this phenomenon. The American artist Budd Hopkins (1931-2001) heard the testimony of many abductees over a 30-year period. He documented this in the book Missing Time. American psychiatrist John Mack (1929-2004) observed “experiencers” and their testimonies in the book Abduction. American historian David Jacobs recently wrote a book the book “Walking Among Us.” I have reviewed this book here.

Don’t expect disclosure anytime soon

Again, why can’t you see this for what it is? Part of it is the activities of the governments of the world. For the past 75 years, governments have spread disinformation and discredited various observers. The governments of the world most likely continue what they have been doing for the past 75 years.

Why can’t you see this for what it is? The New Message from God offers an answer for this in the revelation “Preparing for the Greater Community.

“There is a reason that people cannot speak of these things in public because it has been discouraged in the social discourse. That foreign craft are flying in your skies is an undeniable reality, and yet people do not want to think of it. And if they do think of it, they want to think of it in a positive way—that something wonderful is happening, that you have visitors, and they are here to help you and to guide you and to prepare you to meet the difficult challenges emerging in the world today.”

I consider “discouraged in the social discourse” to be a polite way of saying something. There is an effort to portray those observing craft or reporting abduction as evil and/or insane. That they are sad, pitiful attention seekers, or people with some kind of psychosis.

Why can’t you see this for what it is? It may be beyond the intellectual or emotional capacity of some people. They just cannot entertain these things. They are too big, too challenging or too different, and so they are just rejected out of hand.

All I know is that day by day the evidence grows. The New Message from God teaches what is currently a minority viewpoint on the subject of extraterrestrials.

1) Intelligent extraterrestrial life exists
2) Extraterrestrials are intervening in human affairs today
3) This extraterrestrial intervention is a threat to human freedom

I realize some people consider this not only false, but impossible. But many things once thought to be impossible have turned out to be so. Why can’t you see this for what it is?

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

What Does It Mean If I Struggle?

What does it mean if I struggle?

I wish to continue interacting with the Religious Conditioning Self-Test. People of all religions struggle from time to time. They struggle with illness. Struggles with mental health occur from time to time. They experience financial difficulties. But some people compound the struggle by declaring, either openly or privately, that the struggle implies a lack of faith on their part. Therefore, the Religious Conditioning Self-Test asks these questions.

  • If I struggle with illness, does it mean I lack faith?
  • If I struggle with mental health issues, does it mean I lack faith?
  • If I struggle financially, does it mean I lack faith?

What does it mean if I struggle?

The New Message from God encourages its followers to build and balance strength in four particular areas of life. These are known as the Four Pillars, and they are 1) relationships, 2) career and providership, 3) health and 4) spiritual development. The New Message gives further detail as how to strengthen each of these areas.

If I struggle in my health, I believe it says nothing about my faith or the lack thereof. A health difficulty could be due to an error of omission or an error of commission on my part. Perhaps I am neglecting some aspect of self-care, such as hygiene or exercise. I might be eating too much or drinking too much. Maybe I’m eating or drinking things that aren’t good for me. This approach brings the problem much closer to my behavior, instead of anything about my relationship with God.

If I struggle in my finances, I might be living beyond my means. I might be spending money on things I can get along just fine without. I have to weigh my relationships, my activities and my possessions in the balance of my experience. Perhaps some things should be deleted if I am over budget. Maybe I really do need more money to do what I feel I must do. It works both ways. But again, I’m not waiting for God to do anything. I can do something about it.

What does it mean if I struggle? It could mean one or more of my Four Pillars are weak. It could mean I am obsessed with one particular Pillar to the expense of the others. There are countless examples of people who have failed to fully give their gifts, because of imbalance in their Four Pillars. I claim to be working on strength and balance in these areas.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

If You Refuse This Offer

In the 1913 play Pygmalion by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), phonetics professor Henry Higgins makes an offer to Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle. Professor Higgins believes he can uplift Eliza’s social status simply by improving her speech patterns. Eliza visited Professor Higgins because a flower shop rejected her because of her accent. She offered to pay for his services, even though it was a relative pittance to Higgins. After some further conversation, Higgins makes Eliza an offer that could be considered an offer of a lifetime:

“You are to stay here for the next six months…learning how to speak beautifully like a lady in a florist shop. If you’re good and do what you’re told, you’ll sleep in a proper bedroom…have lots to eat, money to buy chocolates and take rides in taxis. But if you are naughty and idle…you’ll sleep in the kitchen amongst the black beetles…and be walloped by Mrs. Pearce [the housekeeper] with a broomstick. At the end of six months, you shall be taken to Buckingham Palace…in a carriage, beautifully dressed. If the king finds out that you are not a lady…the police will take you to the Tower of London where your head will be cut off…as a warning to other presumptuous flower girls. But if you are not found out, you shall have a present of…seven and six [seven shillings and six pence, which was some money in 1913] to start life with as a lady in a shop. If you refuse this offer…you will be the most ungrateful, wicked girl…and the angels will weep for you!”

If you refuse this offer

Why am I telling you this? I am telling you this because I feel like I should tell you my answers to some of the questions in the Religious Conditioning Self-Test. I mentioned this in the previous post. I am focusing on questions 2 through 4. Question 2 is “If I continue to follow my religion, will I gain something?” I don’t believe I will necessarily become wealthier, more beautiful or more charming. I do believe that I will become simpler and deeper. I believe that I will become stronger and more competent. Question 3 is “If I stop following my religion, will I lose something?” I might lose the trail of Knowledge within me. I might become more affected by the conditioning of my culture, the mental environment in which I live, and the shadows of the past. Question 4 is “If I stop following my religion, will something bad happen to me?” There is no punishment involved, but I might have to try again in fulfilling my purpose.

I wish for every practitioner of every religion to feel the way I feel about my studenthood of the New Message from God. Like the offer of Henry Higgins to Eliza Doolittle, the chance to study Steps to Knowledge feels like the offer of a lifetime to me. I don’t really know why this is something I am being offered. But here it is. All I know is that if I were to stop following the Greater Community Way of Knowledge, I feel like the angels would weep for me.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

What Is The Strength Of Your Religious Conditioning?

What is the strength of your religious conditioning?

I have written here on more than one occasion that people must penetrate their attachment to their ethnicity, nationality and religion. The New Message from God encourages people to be global citizens. Exactly how does one do that, exactly? All I know is that any religious custom that interferes with a person experiencing and expressing their deepest inclinations is part of the problem. Psychologist Vincent Smith has created a series of questions for exploring the extent of one’s religious investment. I will put it in the form of an image and text.

What is the strength of your religious conditioning?

What is the strength of your religious conditioning?

Am I allowed to read these questions?
If I continue to follow my religion, will I gain something?
If I stop following my religion, will I lose something?
If I stop following my religion, will something bad happen to me?
Does my religion welcome all human beings regardless of what they do for fun?
Does my religion welcome all human beings regardless of culture and ethnicity?
Does my religion welcome all human beings regardless of sexual orientation?
Do these questions make me feel uncomfortable?
Does my religion encourage serving those who follow other/no religions?
Does my religion encourage fellowship with those who follow other/no religions?
Does my religion encourage separation from those who follow other/no religions?
When I do things that make me feel guilty, is it temptation by evil?
Am I in a battle against evil?
Are people who follow other/no religions evil?
Would I share these questions with my loved ones?
If I struggle with illness, does it mean I lack faith?
If I struggle with mental health issues, does it mean I lack faith?
If I struggle financially, does it mean I lack faith?
If I lack faith, will my community accept me?
If I lack faith, does that make me a bad person?
If I lack faith, does that make me evil?
If I lack faith, will I be punished?
Does reading these questions make me a bad person?
If I had no faith, would I still love my loved ones?
If I had no faith, would I value my own life?
If I had no faith, would I love myself?
If who I worship did not exist, would my life have any value?
If who I worship did not exist, would I still love my loved ones?
If who I worship did not exist, would I still love myself?
If I had no religion, would I care about other people?
If my religion was taken away from me, would my life still be worth living?
Would I share these questions openly?
If I left my religion, would my family still openly welcome me?
If I left my religion, are there any friends I would lose?
If I left my religion, would my community still openly welcome me?
Am I worried someone may find out I am thinking about these questions?
Does my religion serve humanity, or does humanity serve my religion?

What is the strength of your religious conditioning? It is well-known and well-documented that religious participation damages some people’s wholeness and integrity. I can appreciate people wanting to demonstrate that they are devoted, but they might just want to sit with the cool kids. Sometimes religion is used as a weapon to coerce people into doing things. Perhaps these questions will help some people get untangled.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.