Excerpt 1: “Stuart Wilde in The Quickening, illustrates the general willingness to blindly accept religious dogma as absolute truth.
If you knew nothing about Christianity and you had never heard of the Bible, you would pick up the book and ask the critical question, ‘Who wrote this stuff.’ Err…well, actually no one knows. But, it’s the sacred channeled word of God.8
The very questioning of the origin of the Bible is often considered sacrilegious by many a devout Christian, but is it unreasonable to want to know who wrote such an important literary work? Of course not.”
[8 Stuart Wilde, The Quickening, (Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Inc., 1996), p. 94]
Excerpt 2: “What if the God-Force isn’t the judging, punishing Creator that is described in the Old Testament of the Bible and referred to similarly in other religious texts as well?What if, instead, God is actually ‘universal intelligence flowing through everything, inspiring the natural process to unfold’?”10
[10 Wayne Dyer, Manifest Your Destiny, (New York: HarperCollins, 1997), p. 22]
Excerpt 3: “This view of God is strongly expressed in the NY Times bestseller Conversations with God, Book 1 by Neale Donald Walsch. In this first installment of the critically acclaimed three-book series, Mr. Walsch claims that God directly made this statement to him regarding His/Her/Its true nature:
If you believe that God is some omnipotent being who hears all prayers, says “yes” to some, “no” to others, and “maybe, but not now” to the rest, you are mistaken. By what rule of thumb would God decide? If you believe that God is the creator and decider of all things in your life, you are mistaken. God is the observer, not the creator.11
This is clearly nowhere close to the description of God that is provided by most traditional religions, and yet from all that I have read and learned on the path of self-discovery, it makes great sense. Why would God give us free will and then punish us for doing something against a set of commandments?”
[11 Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 1 (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1996) p. 13]
Excerpt 4: “If you find yourself wanting to branch out and develop your own spiritual philosophy, but are concerned about any repercussions that may result, remember that ultimately being true to yourself (i.e., seeking self-approval) is far more important than living for the approval of others. While this may sound like clichéd advice, consider this: throughout your life, has receiving the approval of others ever really provided you with any real peace-of-mind or long-lasting contentment?”
Excerpt 5: “But is it really possible to have an undying faith that your most heartfelt desires will be fulfilled? In a word, YES! If you doubt this is true, ask yourself the following questions: Do you believe that the most recent meal you consumed will be automatically and efficiently digested, or do you know it? Do you believe that your heart will instantly adjust its beat rate to accommodate for increased physical activity, or do you know it?”