All Societal Problems Are Ultimately Spiritual

Unfortunately, modern Christianity has failed us in leading the way.

Warning: What I say here may be a bit rambling and disjointed. I have a lot more to say on this topic, but I just wanted to get the ball rolling here.

A good portion of the problems of modern “democratic” society can ultimately be boiled down to the following mindset:

If only I can get that person over there to do what I want by voting, then everything will be OK.

The corollary to this mindset is this:

I’m not personally responsible for the greater good. But I’m a good person because I support the good guys (insert political party or cause).

Meanwhile, the main bit of activism engaged in involves posting memes or putting a flag on a social media profile...perhaps donating a few extra dollars to a political candidate, and once in a while showing up at a protest, maybe, if at all.

The answer, however, is not in forcing other people to vote for your political party or become outwardly approving about your pet cause.

Real change doesn’t happen because we’ve ceded our power to politicians. But that’s what we’ve done, given our power away, and we expect things to go differently.

I believe our western culture has been circling the drain for a while and America is probably one of the worst places to find meaning on the planet. We’ve gotten far too materially focused. We worry about our looks and our bank accounts. We tried to ease our existential crises through drugs and alcohol. We then try to elevate our vices as virtues, such as claiming that an excess usage of marijuana is a sign of enlightenment as opposed to dependency.

Our free time is filled up with entertainment, much of which is nasty and demeaning. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against entertainment and I have my share of TV shows and movies that I’m a fan of. However, they must be put into proper context. When you consider that the average American is spending hours each day consuming lower vibrational content in the form of non-spiritual television shows and shallow social media posts, you can see that we have a lot of spiritual junk food that we need to overcome.

When our top “yoga teachers” on Instagram are glammed up young women showing off scorpion pose in a bikini, we’ve lost our spiritual compass.

In the place of a deep and mature spirituality, Americans have turned to politics for meaning. This has led to a massive increase in division as political parties become de facto religions for people who otherwise have no sense of connection to a greater good.

Sides are drawn...and depending on your affiliation, you may believe that all Republicans are racists or all Democrats are communists. In other words, whoever is on the opposite end of the political spectrum must be evil. We’ve lost our ability to be compassionate and hear other viewpoints without completely demonizing the other and dismissing them out of hand.

They say a divided house cannot stand. Some say we’re on the brink of a civil war, but will violence solve anything? The deep underlying spiritual rot that fuels such division would still be there.

And politics is ultimately passive for most people. You might donate to your favorite political party or cause, show up to vote once in a while, and maybe stick a sign in your lawn.

What people aren’t doing...and what would make the biggest difference for everyone, without the help of politicians, would be boots on the ground volunteers. And not necessarily even being a formal volunteer such as someone who shows up at a beach cleanup once a month.

I mean, living a service-focused life.

Following Jesus, literally.

We need more healthy spirituality, and fast.

Many years ago, I lived in Seattle, Washington, in a posh area of Capitol Hill. I was walking around looking at all the large houses, some old mansions, and it suddenly struck me that if the average well-off person simply made do with a little less, and was a bit more generous, we could have already solved a lot of problems such as homelessness.

A lot of people criticize Elon Musk for not giving away money directly to people instead of buying Twitter, but it’s not necessarily just money that’s the cure.

We have a heart problem.

When I lived in Austin, Texas in the ‘10s, a lot of signs started popping up in upper-middle-class neighborhoods saying things like “Refugees welcome here.” But were they really? If a homeless person knocked on that person’s door, would the homeowners actually give the person a room to live in? Not likely.

Granted, it can be dangerous to allow a stranger who potentially has a serious drug addiction access to your home. But how many people who complain about homelessness are actually literally opening their doors to those who need help?

Very few.

We’re all selfish. Let’s face it, I am too. I wouldn’t want to have a homeless person living with me, and the fact that I do not shows me I have a lot more spiritual work to do.

But this is an extreme example perhaps. On a more basic level, the Western world has completely lost touch with the spiritual on a whole. We are materialistic and focused on making ourselves as comfortable and pampered as possible.

People are disengaged in their communities, and not taking the steps they could and should take to give back.

I am surrounded by retired people right now. Mostly able bodied. Many bored out of their minds. Why don’t they volunteer to tutor school children or something? I don’t know. I guess some are afraid of catching covid, but then why not volunteer over video?

Most people just don’t get involved, though. The irony is that some of the people who most vocally lament the politics of so-called selfishness are the ones least likely to step foot in a nonprofit and ask if anyone needs some help.

Now, if you are a Christian, you need to bear with me here, and don’t take this all personally. I have plenty of criticism to go around, from yoga to new age.

But Christianity has been the main cultural religious tradition, and it has utterly failed. Into the vacuum has come an increasing tendency to make politics a religion.

The problem is, the main Western spirituality tradition, Christianity, is simply not equipped to deal with the modern world.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against Christianity per se and in many ways consider myself a “Christian.” But mainstream Christianity has some major Achilles heels, which make it a poor solution to the West’s spiritual disconnect.

Jesus’s main teachings are certainly ones that we can and should follow:

• Love thy neighbor as thyself.

• Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul.

• Forgive.

• The kingdom of heaven is within you.

However, it’s the baggage that goes along with this message that turns off too many people these days.

One key piece of baggage Christianity carries is its exclusivity.

The idea that not believing in Jesus will send you to hell is probably the biggest weakness of modern Christianity. It is what drove me to leave my childhood faith while I was in high school. The doctrine made no sense to me then, and it makes no sense to me now.

I remember playing tennis with a friend in high school friend having a discussion along these lines: “Why would God send people to hell who never heard of Jesus?”

The idea that not believing in Jesus is a veritable death sentence is also not what Jesus taught. If that really were his message, he would have said it loud and clear rather than literally hiding from crowds when he wanted a break from his gig as Messiah. I’ll try to write up a separate article analyzing John 3:16 (For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life), but here’s part of what Jesus said:

Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again...Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

Notwithstanding the confusing “Son of Man” reference later, there is nothing in this statement that says, “you need to believe in me personally to see the kingdom of God.”

“Born again” refers to letting go of ego attachments, but I’ll expound a lot more on that in the future.

So this is one of the biggest reasons why modern people leave the church, the incessant insistence on eternal hellfire and damnation for not buying into a certain aspect of misunderstood theology.

But we have another problem. The often-inflammatory mainstream Christian reaction to the culture war is also not helping the Christian cause. Many (not all) conservative Christians do a poor job representing their faith, especially since the advent of social media. It’s far too easy to insult and lash out.

Hey, when it comes to making snarky comments online, we’ve all done it, at least most of us, in various ways.

But it has a cost.

Sorry to stick my nose into one of the most hot-button topics right now, gender ideology. The more that conservative Christians react out of hatred and fear to trans people and all things drag, the more they give credence to the idea of “transphobia.” And this turns people off of any nuanced discussion.

Immediately leaping to denigrating language by calling people “groomers” – as in those who support LGBTQ+ rights – is perhaps satisfying. But it does nothing to spread the Gospel, ostensibly to the people you think might most need it.

There are many people in the middle, people who might agree that giving cross-sex hormones to young children is perhaps not a great way to treat gender dysphoria...but these moderates are going to shut down and take the side of the trans activists over all the attacking “groomer” language.

Recently, the Libs of TikTok founder Chaya Raichik really stepped into it by claiming trans activists were “evil” in her Tucker interview. She needs a PR person. That was a stupid, horrible thing to say, and just fueled a narrative that anyone who has an issue with gender ideology is a bigot and a hater.

If there is such a thing as elites purposefully using the grassroots and inflaming social division to divide us, Chaya Raichik just handed them a free gift. When I saw the clip I literally cringed (about 3:44 in the video below).

If LGBTQ+ has become a powerful “cult” it’s because young people aren’t finding love, community, meaning, and validation elsewhere...and demonizing them isn’t going to bring them over to Christ.

What would Jesus do? I think he’d be kinder and more measured in his response. You can criticize various aspects of gender ideology and treatment without spewing insults and hatred at people.

So this is the second area where Christianity is not succeeding in America.

Finally, the Christian culture is simply not attractive to many people. Many self-styled “smart” people need something meatier than the fast-food theology that dominations today’s rock band nondenominational churches.

Someone who listens to staid NPR announcers calmly speaking in pseudo-intellectual voices on a regular basis is not likely to find solace in an emotive Jesus revival with people shouting, “Jesus Saves!” and the like.

I haven’t even gotten into all the issues with the Catholic Church, which deserves its own article.

Unfortunately, progressive attempts to create a more intellectual Christianity too often end up wiping away all the mysticism and spirituality in favor of a soulless social justice version of religion...one where you don’t really believe in anything literally spiritual but happen to like the idea of a “progressive” church.

Many years ago, in my early twenties, I briefly went to a Unitarian-Universalist church in Santa Monica. I stopped going...I don’t remember exactly why, but it felt weird to sing hymns in an environment that was effectively atheist. Why bother?

In these “nondogmatic” churches, God becomes an abstract thought, and spirituality becomes political, where the focus is to shoehorn Christian teachings into leftist causes, such as environmentalism (now narrowed down to “climate change”), anti-gun activism, and LGBTQ+ promotion...a mirror image of the religious right...those very same divisive social issues that further tear down the social cohesion in the country.

I ended up leaving the Episcopal Church over this obsessive focus on political issues over the simple teachings of Jesus. I was initially proud of the ordination of gays. However, the Episcopal Church turned into a political club, and me, wanting spiritual fuel, was not interested in going to church only to be reminded of all the divisive and tiring social issues that we get hammered over the head with daily.

When politics gets put in front of God, the end result is often, paradoxically, not more love and compassion...but fear and a desire to control.

Ultimately, wanting people to vote your way is an attempt to control others as a way to make you feel more at ease in the world.

I’m not saying all voting is bad or pointless, but we put too much power into institutions. If progressive churches really wanted to make more impact, they should be engaging in less talk and more action. Feed and clothe and house the homeless.

I’m sure some of the churches do take some action, don’t get me wrong. I also know more evangelical churches that also get their hands dirty...one small congregation I know locally goes up to Baltimore every week to care for people at the methadone clinics.

But far too often, when politics and religion mix...and people fall into the trap of trying to control other people as opposed to being the light themselves...the end result is more hate and division, and a bigger disconnection from God.

For these reasons, and more, I eventually found myself politically and spiritually homeless, not quite fitting into the increasingly polarized church...but also finding new age to be increasingly materialistic. Yoga in America is also filled with a lot of pablum...with some exceptions.

For example, for a while in the 2000s, I went to satsangs at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in Los Angeles (previously in Marina de Rey)...which was far more authentic than most modern yoga. It was actually quite helpful at the time, although I still didn’t feel quite like I fit in.

Eventually I landed in Sufism, which is a topic for many more articles. This has forced me to reconsider negative judgments I previously held about the Islamic religion, although I am still not a fan of mainstream Islam.

Sufism is linked with Islam, but in many ways it is a continuation of spiritual traditions that existed for thousands of years prior to Islam. Almost everything that Paramahansa Yoga has taught is in line with Sufism, and he even wrote a book analyzing one of the most famous Sufi poems, the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

In my exploration of various spiritual traditions, including Christianity, yoga, Hinduism, Buddhism, Kabbalah, Sikhism, and Sufism, I have found some common threads that might help shift the spiritual darkness we are currently wading in, which I hope to articulate as well as I can in future posts.

But we do need a new perspective on spirituality in order to reach people who will never, ever be drawn in to God by a dead or judgmental Christianity.

I do believe there are many People of the Light, who can come from these varied traditions I’ve mentioned. Don’t fall into the divide and conquer tactics of the elites by, for example, making Muslims your enemy if you are Christian. Don’t automatically write off the Christian if you are a Wiccan, etc.

I’ll explain more in future articles where I believe the line is between good and evil, and to me it’s not along religious denominational lines...and some of what I write may surprise you.

In the meantime, let’s try to find a way to articulate some thoughtful, warm, genuine spirituality to an increasingly soul-starved world.

Stay tuned.

PS I was pleasantly surprised by the positive reception to the inception of this Substack. Thank you so much!