From Merriam-Webster Online
Religion (noun) - re·li·gion | \ ri-ˈli-jən \
Definition of religion
1: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
2a(1): the service and worship of God or the supernatural
(2): commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
2b: the state of a religious
a nun in her 20th year of religion
3: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith
4archaic : scrupulous conformity : CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
History and Etymology for religion
Middle English religioun, from Anglo-French religiun, Latin religion-, religio supernatural constraint, sanction, religious practice, perhaps from religare to restrain, tie back — more at RELY
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In the modern era, the secular age, religion, primarily in The West, has declined in popularity. In America 80+% of people believe in God, in some form or another, but this number has declined from well over 90% in the 1800s and early 1900s. The statistics are much more complex on a global scale, though belief in God is found across the greater part of the planet, and even in most of Europe, belief is still over 60%, and still higher in Eastern Europe. Only about 4% of people in the United States identify as atheists, and 5% as agnostic (non-committal).
Still, with all this said, organized religion (as traditionally defined) has been diminishing steadily from the advent of the Industrial Age onward. All one has to do is visit a variety of churches, a different one each week, and you will find that the majority are sparsely attended, even near empty. Ironically, the least popular among Christian sects, from pure observation and experience, are also those that have most liberalized, while the most active churches I've encountered, with growing or steady membership, tend to be more conservative and community minded individual congregations... those that offer services other than mere sermonizing (food shelves, support and peer groups, educational services, etc).
Islam, however, is growing faster than the world population. It is even growing rapidly within supposedly secular Western societies. I believe this is due to the fact that Islam offers an entire lifestyle, with a support network throughout life -- it is a political and social viewpoint, as much as a religion, with very clear boundaries and defined roles, and is an easily understood teachings (One God, obey God's law, go to heaven), as well as having a rich history and an esoteric depth (e.g. it's not superficial). It is a refuge for disillusioned Western men and women, especially those who have become antagonistic toward the misandry of feminism. Notions of trinity and the worship of a human man, the idolatry and plurality of lesser powers (saints and angels) in Christian religion, have turned many people off to that faith. The fact that Christianity has increasingly sold out to worldliness, has become part of the system of pacification that keeps people obedient to a blatantly godless and amoral world system, stands in stark in comparison to Islam, which consistently pushes back against secularist ideals.
Yet, I've also noticed that humans increasingly religify (re-lij-uh-fye) their political-social views, as with so-called Wokism --which is a strange amalgamation of Neo-Marxism, Western Progressivism, Anarchism, Technocracy, Anti-Whiteism (aka racism), Crowlean and Luciferian spirituality, and moral ideals of Michel Foucault and Alfred Kinsey (and others of their demonic ilk).
Though, we also see this cultish fanaticism among those who are devoted to Donald Trump and/or the religification of national identity and individual leaders who personify that ideal in general (e.g. cultural norms and traditions)... often known as Identitarians.
Like the crusaders and inquisitors of old, those who hold passionate religious-like fervor for a political-social worldview, are willing to fight and die, kill, for their ideological beliefs.
Weirder still, is the fanatical embrace of police-state like practices by governments, over Covid, by those on the political left (members of Wokism) as a tool to accomplishing their socio-political (climate) goals on a grand global scale.
I would state clearly, that spiritual religions have killed far fewer people in history than secular religions have. Communism vs. Democracy, Fascism vs. Democracy have claimed hundreds of millions of lives, well after the great religious wars of antiquity had claimed their hundreds of thousands.
As of late, we see the most 'open minded' sorts crying out for the oppression of all who will not conform to the supposed public good, repressing any scientific evidence that counters their fervent and urgent mania to impose a hyped-crisis on the world, being used O'so very willingly by elites with a much larger and darker agenda than their foot-soldiers care to see.
This need to find superiority in one's own set of beliefs (political, social, religious or philosophical) is perhaps normative, even needful in some pragmatic way.
In truth, people find reasons to divide themselves, elevate themselves above others (my philosophy is better than your philosophy), separate into groups of specialness, and, ultimately, reasons to fight and kill, dominate and oppress each other. In the Urian sense, worldviews --religions of the mind and or heart, whether political, social, spiritual or philosophical-- are psychic (etheric/astral) entities, that continually struggle with one another for predominance over the collective unconscious and the souls of humanity, in order to gain control of the future, and thus, the outcomes of humanity and the earth.
In the modern era, there is a great deal of hatred toward spiritual religion, in general, and it feels necessary for the issue to be addressed, honestly, within our forum. Urianism is a religion, after all, albeit small, although it is also a religion that emphasizes the mystical and the metaphysical.
To band together, or bind or tie together, is essential.
In all things in life, in every cause of angels, demons, elementals, or humans, there is strength in numbers, a need to band together for common interests, especially to effect any real change in society. Religions have acted as the moral conscience of nations from times immemorial, they have acted as social glue, instilling common sensibilities of right and wrong, imprinting consensus behavioral standards, thus increasing unity. More than this, religion gives the common masses a vision, a purpose that is greater than mere flesh and blood; the dream of eternity and the hope thereof, thus elevating the meaning of our often dreary and difficult existence overall.
Secular religion (political religions) lack a transcendent element and are purely rooted in the temporal, their promises are ultimately empty, shallow, and without enduring hope for the soul. Democracy/Republics tend to emphasize the value of the individual, deifying (dee-uh-fying) liberty; while Collectivist or Communistic types of ideologies diminish the individual, viewing singular people as cogs in the machine, and deifying the greater good.
I've heard it said recently, that religion is secularized metaphysics. Urianism is an attempt to create a metaphysical universal monotheism, with a kingdom-view, rather than a worldview... to elevate society to the divine, in an almost Platonic concept. The benefits of religion itself are many, but we have always sought members who were intent to live their faith through devotions to The Divine, establish a mystical personal relationship with Spirit, and thus find the guidance of Pistis Sophia (Divine Wisdom) in their lives. I've seen the path transform people into highly functional and fully matured individuals, though we rarely talk about this, caught up in current events as we've become.
I would note, that many who talk about hating religion, then glorify Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism, Eastern 'religions', because they are under the delusion that such religions are okay with certain behaviors that the monotheistic religions reject. This is completely false, as traditional Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism tended to frown on the same moral transgressions that western religions frowned upon. As many Christian and Jewish sects are increasingly pandering to popular culture, so you see this also among sects that are of Asian origin. Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism are religions, no less than Western religions, with their own prejudices, their own sense of being "truer than all others," and their own sense of right and wrong, as well as their own historical atrocities and inhumanities. Indeed, I've encountered many extremely hateful evangelizing atheists over the years, whose life and purpose is centered around their anti-religious religion -- it is their entire meaning and worldview, and thus the spirit that governs their souls.
It must also be said, that if you think that only Catholic Priests are molesting kids, you'd be a complete fool... Child molesters have infiltrated every religion, every institution and sector of society, and are most often the members of one's own family. Indeed, there are entire secret societies (The Finders Cult for instance), usually holding Luciferian ideals, centered on trafficking children. Urians, however, are clearly commanded to deal with molesters harshly, if found in our own ranks.
In the sense of Neo-Platonism, Stoicism, and original Gnosticism, our ideal is elevation -- both of the self and society, the reunion of heaven and earth, a new golden age. This cannot be achieved without unity, consensus, a common ideal... staying on the same page as it were... And thus, Urianism is religious in nature... a worldview... which is to say, a spirit that contests for the future of humanity, which we call the Light and Fire of God (or The Spirit). To unite around a common ideological vision or worldview (kingdom-view), is religious; yet, the goal is metaphysical, that is to say, the transcendence of humankind to majesty (epicness).
Important Links:
*Abrahamic Religion -- Trying to bring unity
*What Good is Religion - Beliefnet
*Did Religion Create Civilization - Huff Post
*The Intellectual Pogrom of Wokism
*Wokeism: Its Origins, Rise, and End Game
*Secularism - The Most Evil Philosophy Known To Human Government
*The violent History of Secularism
*Communism Killed 94 Million People in the 20th Century (and is still going strong)
*The Inquisition - What Really Happened?
*You Thought the Crusades Were Evil... Until You Read This
*Wokeism - The New Religion of the West
Reply to Nephemithel:
Yep. I have to agree. Trump has always been very much pro-LGBTQ, he had gender neutral latrines in Trump Tower before anyone ever made an issue of it, and had an ambassador going around the world championing gay marriage and gay rights in general. I think, however, people make a mistake in thinking that Trump is the Trump-movement... Most Trump-types will tell you, that they support him as a way of sticking it to the establishment... which is united in its hatred of Trump.
Having been on both sides of the party line, so to speak, in my voting habits, and having grown up in a redneck conservative type home, God/Country/Guns with traditional stoic-Christian values, was standard to the rural population (in theory); but the Republican Party before the Tea Party movement was always about Country Clubs, the Chamber of Commerce (Business), and Internationalism, in bed with the so-called Military Industrial Complex. Many religious conservatives used to vote Democrat, because they cared for the poor and working class, and there was such a thing as Blue Dog Democrats (Christian Democrats), who have now been driven out of the Socialist Democratic Party (DNC). Remember, it was Bill Clinton who passed The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), though the Clintons have abandoned former positions as the popular culture has shifted.
The Tea Party Movement was a weird ideology, socially conservative in many ways, very much rooted in Evangelical Christianity, but at the same time mostly focused on anti-regulation, as in dropping taxation and all government infringement on people's personal liberty. It morphed into the Libertarian Movement, which is very dark in my view, and indeed, even a dark form of liberalism... Libertarians care only about personal liberty -- they don't care about abortion, personal sexual choices, whether you beat your dog or not... they only care about being free of over-taxation and government regulation of almost every part of life and society. It's a live and let live, mentality, but also a Do As Thou Wilt, but don't impose your shyte on me, mentality. In other words, utterly self-focused (selfish).
Trumpites are a new form of Republicans, however, who are not truly aligned with Trump's actual policies (they seem oblivious to this truth)... They are pro-family, pro-self-defense (guns), pro-Stoic-Christianity, pro-working class (blue collar), pro-originalist-constitutionalists, and anti-globalist. They tend to be anti-abortion and pro-Christian values. Trump is not even a Christian, but more of a liberal Gentile Jew, but he does believe in a very originalist and nationalistic Constitutionalist vision. He is Anti-WEF, Anti-CCP, and Anti-Woke, but more live and let live.
Remember, the American Right to Bear Arms, was established to give the citizens the power to insure the continuity of the Constitution, in the event that the government became tyrannical. Yet, most so-called conservatives, despite stockpiling weapons and ammo like woobies (safety blankets or stuffed toys), are not about to risk their 'stuff' to defend liberty.
Neo-Conservatives, as in the Turning Point USA (Charlie Kirk) movement, are more like the libertarians, being for lower taxes, raw capitalism, and yet, also very much a live and let live attitude in regards to things like first-second term abortion and gay rights. They are not libertarian in the sense that they are very pro-law/order, and do believe in a strong military and national power. They are more aligned to Trump and Trumpism, than the Establishment GOP or the Libertarian GOP.
Urianism really can't, in the totality of its religio-socio-political views, fit into any of these categories.
If you read the Kingdom portion of the teachings, it is for things like the Right to Bear Arms, but then again, everyone in the society is part of the National Militia (thus trained and disciplined in the use of firearms), more like Israel and Swiss model. We have many liberal ideals, such as animal rights (which, oddly, is now more of a conservative ideal), environmentalism (pragmatic and realistic), and equality between men and women. We are very much against things like torture and support a humane justice system approach (current models in the U.S. and Canada might be viewed as quite cruel).
In The Kingdom vision, homosexuality is not actually outlawed, one must note... neither atheism, or even the regulated and taxed use of things like alcohol and marijuana, or state overseen prostitution in a clinical way. We reject the notion of thought police, or the over-policing of people's private lives. So, quite liberal in many regards.
We also allow for abortion, in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mothers' life, within the first 40 days of pregnancy, which would include the use of a so-called abortion pill in such cases... Moreover, we are very much in support of the use of contraceptives, to prevent pregnancy, and believe in reasonable population management, at least until methods can be found to start colonizing other planets (then all limits would be off -- lol). So, again, very liberal/left thinking.
It must also be stated, that we do not support the idea of the nuclear family as much as the extended family model, as was the standard model of living from times immemorial, until the 20th Century... with multiple generations of people living and working together for the common good of the entire family unit, which is better and healthier for society as a whole... indeed, "It takes a village" is an idea that is very much in keeping with the Urian vision, as all of society should care about and seek to guide and support the mental, spiritual, and physical health and wellbeing of children in their proper upbringing.
Unlike Libertarians and Liberals, we do believe that society should have a set and immutable moral code, that is non-negotiable across generations and ages. With the Constitution and Bill of Rights, there should have been a Writ of Responsibilities and/or a National Code of Conduct, laying out what is expected of citizens to promote a healthy, stable, harmonious, and moral/ethical society... In that the founding fathers and mothers were Stoic Judeo-Christians, Freemasons, in a Judeo-Christian/Stoic society, they did not see the need, because they just assumed that was the standard norm going forward.
Anyway, whether a Urian supports Trump or not, should be based on what is best for our goals and vision -- and in that he is anti-WEF (an autocratic and communistic vision of global government), the argument could be made... But we certainly cannot support any candidate that is rampantly pro-abortion, even unto the day before the child is born... thus supporting ripping a child limb from limb, while its screams go unheard, muffled within the womb of death... or any candidate that supports a godless, amoral world government bent on enslaving humankind to a cruel autocracy. Unfortunately, there are Pro-WEF candidates in both U.S. Parties, and who have infiltrated governments around the globe -- a point the WEF leadership openly brags about... And Justin Trudeau not least among them.
What should Urians do in the face of a probable takeover by extreme Leftist/WEF/CCP ideals and agents, as seems inevitable at this point?
We could all move to one place... seems unlikely. Raethan and I will probably make our stand where we are, in our home, as we have little money, and no real way to escape what's coming. The populations of the West will face increasing limitations of food, electricity, and basic goods, in the coming months and years... Increasing limits on personal liberty, freedom of movement, and pressure from direct government scrutiny .. Christians in the ancient world, faced far worse, in honesty. The Left does not care about human rights or fair play, and are ignoring things like the Constitution with ever increasing boldness.
This is the time of Anti-Christ/Anti-God, the rule of the Sith (lol - metaphor). If we could, if you can, retreat to wilderness places and go among people that are strongly Anti-WEF/Anti-CCP, and into under-populated reaches, lonely places, and stay off grid as much as possible (out of sight and out of mind). NETWORK with others who share the common cause (the anti-Trudeau protest movement in Canada for instance), make your common cause with them.
Alternatively, just be loud and proud and stand your ground, and welcome a potential early exit to eternity as a result. They will come from those on the lists, eventually.
It's the way of things. We Urians are not about thinking positive, or negative, but realistically, pragmatically... So plan what you will do with an eye to the way things really are, not the way things should be. Unlikely any of us are going to win the lottery and help save the rest of us, by whisking us away to some paradise safe space. We must choose to be or not to be, stand or bow down, surrender, hide, or resist. Keep faith in the future and place your hopes in eternity. God wins in the end, because time is always on God's side.
I have a love-hate relationship with American conservatives: they rightfully oppose the liberal degeneracy of the modern era, yet they put their faith in celebrities who they think will overturn the agenda. Indeed, it is the opposite. Trump can be seen as a liberal in many ways; in fact, he used to be aligned with the Democrats before switching parties to get more popular. This is the same for many Republicans, and at this point, most candidates and party officials are aligned with the liberal agenda, such as becoming tolerant towards gay culture, and the remaining claim to be opposing it while doing nothing. At this point, there is essentially no distinction between the two parties (or, I could even say, the two branches of the ruling party) of the United States. Both have been infiltrated by the corporate elite with their own agenda, and both are spewing out rhetoric to distract the American citizens. The Republicans used to have the right stance on culture (for the most part), but now they are either turning to the liberal agenda, or opposing it by word while tolerating it by their actions.
Another problem with modern conservatives, even for those who are still fighting, are that they are divided. Most conservatives in the world are too preoccupied with associating with their nation (as is common with Americans) or religion (as we see in the modern Christian-Muslim conflict, despite both sides holding similar cultural views). For us to even have a chance of pushing back against secularism, those who still hold onto their roots have to unite to combat the liberal threat.