The Religion of the State

12.19.19.15.01 10 IMIX 10.23.2012 Ome Acatl - Detroit, Michigan

There are many definitions for the word "religion" and for the purpose of this paper I will use the definition of anthropologist Clifford Geertz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion): "a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic." We will return to this basic definition throughout the paper. The Religion of the State is a way of life or worldview based on an allegiance to the socioeconomic system in which we live. This system is marked by its life-blood, which is money and is manifest through technological tools and know-how and finding its ultimate expression in machines, phones, computers and the internet.

As a child I attended a private school, Plymouth Christian Academy. At PCA we were obliged to say TWO pledge of allegiances every morning. Now, there is some irony in this fact. It is my understanding that "pledging allegiance" is to make an undivided and whole-hearted allegiance to that particular thing or ideal. The second fact of note is that we were always obliged to say the pledge of allegiance to the "Flag of the United States of America" first. The second pledge of allegiance was to the Christian Flag. Since allegiance is an all or nothing thing, there are only two possible explanations for this strange practice. Either both the "Flag of the United States of America" and the "Christian Flag" are one and the same or, since we pledged allegiance to the "Flag of the United States of America" first, we were being forced to give our true allegiance to the United States of America and not to our Faith. The first option does not seem feasible due to the separation of Church and State so that leaves option two. We were forced as children to give our allegiance through the spoken word together with the hand gestures of the hand over heart to the State.

Why do I mention this and of what importance is it? Since the State itself pledges no allegiance to any known religion then it must establish itself as the new religion and the only thing worth pledging our allegiance to. This subtle mind-control technique has a tremendous negative

impact on Man's Spirit and almost 100% of the time it's goal is accomplished; the allegiance of the people is to the State and the instruments of mechanisation. This new religion is the most potent of its kind as its adherents are not even aware they are involved in or part of a global religion. Although there is ignorance of the socio-economic religion we are all familiar with the terms used to describe it; Consumerism, Capitalism, Communism, Nazism, Fascism, Democracy, Patriotism, Freedom, Socialism, etc. Although these terms may not seem to be related at first glance, they are indeed intimately intertwined and describe the same overarching system of governance and control. The first step to freedom from the binds of a socio-economic global religion is seeing it for what it is; a super-structure designed to control minds in order to produce enormous wealth and power for the designers of this religion.

The allegiance to this religion is based on a reactionary mindset to the "reality" of day-to-day life. Most humans live their entire life unaware that they are continually in a state of reaction to external stimuli and therefore rarely, if ever, experience self-awareness. As a child, I was not even aware that I had a choice to not pledge my allegiance to the State. We are often not aware that we do not have to pledge our allegiance to the system. We have been fooled into believing we need the system to survive because we buy our food from their stores, we use their infrastructure to move around and to communicate, we use their energy for our daily

survival. To stand up and say, "I no longer need you" is seen as a suicide mission. The second step in liberation from this global religion is to answer, do I really need it to survive? Back to the definition of religion as provided at the beginning of the paper; "a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic." World religions have several marks; devotion, acceptance of rules and laws, a manual or book, belief and faith, tithes, a fight against and the evangelising of non-adherents, use of symbols, gatherings, leaders (or a Leader), celebrations, rituals and sacraments.

The Religion of the State is marked by these same traits. There is an undivided devotion to the system and its customs by the vast majority of humanity. There is acceptance to the rules and laws provided by our global system. The manual or book is the Magna-Carter and all National, State and City-wide Constitutions and Legislature since. The belief and faith is in the global monetary system and is not tied to a particular currency. Any one who does not wish to live under the rules of this system is quickly labeled and attacked as a conspiracy theorist, hippie, terrorist, anarchist, non-conformist, rebel, fanatic, hater, etc etc. Those people across the globe who have not yet entered our socio-economic system are evangelised through economic hegemony and the advancement of political agendas, a process I witnessed and experienced first hand while living with the Mazatec people of Oaxaca, Mexico. The tithe is called tax and instead of ten percent it is thirty percent and mandatory and strictly enforced. The

use of symbols are wide spread and most obvious in logos and flags but also common in hand gestures and body movements. The rituals of this Religion of the State are many but the most obvious are sports of any and all kinds. Here we have massive gatherings of people who wildly exalt their respective teams in a frenzy of religious fanaticism. In some cases, it is even taken to a life and death struggle. The celebrations of this religion are most evident in the entertainment industry, especially through music and film. The leaders are the politicians, athletes, business tycoons and movie stars, just to name a few. And the sacraments are voting, being given a Social Security ID (a new form of baptism) and using the monetary system of this beast. Are we not all a part of this global Religion of the State?!? The Third step to liberation is joining with like-minded individuals to create a parallel reality, an Interactive, that can function with the system but does not rely on it.

The reality is the Religion of the State has been around for a long time and has been utilized for a specific agenda. That agenda doesn't have the best interests of the people in mind, even though the vast majority of humans subscribe to this religion in some way. As we approach the long prophesied terminal date of December 21, 2012, the question becomes, "what message has been sent to us from the past to remind us of the present?" Are we here on planet Earth merely as robots programmed by unknown designers with unknown intents? Or are we here to manifest the full spectrum of the possibilities of Life? Since the Religion of the State is so prevalent across the globe, how can we be IN the world but not of the world? Is it possible to survive without the "life-support" system offered by the "system"? These are open questions but one thing is for sure, it will take a community wide and fully interactive effort to find and implement the answers. As the Religion of the State is world wide, so is the antithesis; the movement to find answers to honor and cultivate Life.