All Religions are Not the Same

I'm currently reading "Reason to Believe," by Dr. Dr. R.C. Sproul.

I'd planned to review it anyways, but because of my last posts, I decided to move my schedule up by a week. I'm going to take license and post some quotes of Dr Sproul's because they're too profound to summarize. I hope you get a copy of this book. It's a unique book that deals with the common objections to the Christian Faith. The foward is by Lee Strobel, author of "A Case for Christ."

"Under the principle of religious tolerance, all religious systems are guaranteed freedom of expression and equal treatment under the law. No one religion has exclusive claim to legal rights and government establishment.

"With the principle of equal toleration has come the idea that no religion has exclusive claims to Truth...many have drawn the implication that equal toleration means equal validity.

When Christians...or any religions make claims of exclusivity, their claims are met with shock and anger at such narrow minded posture."

Dr. R.C.Sproul

According to Dr. Sproul, we struggle with this (narrow-mindedness) due to the impact of comparative religions that came into the colleges in the 19th century. Scholars began to study the similar characteristics of the major religions. Books began to be published in an attempt to get to the basic core of religious truth, that which founded is in a all religions.

It became that at the heart of their studies all were working, toward the God experience, their goals were the same. "Then came the famous mountain anthology." God is at the peak and man at the base. The story of religion was man's effort to get to the top.

The mountain has many roads, etc.

"There are only two possible ways to maintain the equal validity of all religions. One is by ignoring the clear contradictions between them by a flight into irrationality; the other is by assigning these contradictions to the level of insignificant nonessential. The latter approach involves us in a systematic process of reductionism. Reductionism strips each religion of elements considered vital by the adherents of religion themselves and reduces the religion to its lowest common denominator. The distinctives of each religion are obscured and waterd down to accommodate religious peace." Dr. R.C. Sproul, Reason to Believe.

In today's society people who know absolutely nothing about Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduisum, etc., declare these religions as all leading to God, and they are the same the one caviate that their road is the golden road and everyone else is diluted. They have a highway to heaven...no the supper jumbo jet and everyone else is pushing a bullcart! When I came to Christ I had to get that bullchart out of my head!

Now, that is other religions perogative to believe what they believe, but for the sake of education all sides should be reviewed with a critical and objective eye.

It's important to understand that each person is responsible for knowing God, and whorshiping God. No religion, culture, person, or guru is responsible for the individual soul. But when people are told not to seek out other answers, that's a problem for weak minded people, of which I was one.

Now, when Christians make claims of exclusivity, their claims are often met with shock or anger at such a narrow mind...

It is pointed out in the New Testament that Christ is "the ONLY--begotten of the Father, and that there is no other name under heave which men must be saved." Dr. R.C. Sproul

A church shouldn't hijack Jesus Christ and claim the Bible is not authentic, but written by corrupted men when they have no bases for the claim. This phony Jesus is seen in other religions.

Hundreds of thousands of theologists have studied and still study every word in he Bible, compare it to historical fact of that time, and have never been able to make such claims that it's not true.

There is not one single piece of evidence that Jesus went to India to learn Kriya. He was a Jew! He practiced and preached Judaism of his time! Whether someone believes he was resurrected or not is one thing, but you can't dispute his Jewishness or the references he himself makes from the Old Testament! There are historians of Jesus' time that were not part of his movement who documented his being in Judah, just as the Bible claims.

Jesus preached from the Old Testament not from the Vedas.

New Testament: "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." (Matthew 22:31-32, cf.Mark 12:26, 27, Luke 20:37-38)

Old Testament: Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God." (Exodus 3:6)

New Testament: "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." (John 6:45)

Old Testament: "All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children." (Isaiah 54:13)

How many people would take the time to refute the claims that Jesus is just a guru who taught Yoga when his biographies of the gosples there is no reference? The Bible is not written in hidden language. Because of better translations we know now what each word really meant. Jesus didn't say one thing, then, wink wink, give secrets to others. The claims are outrageous and absurd!

Jesus tells us in the Bible who he was, and I encourage you to read the Bible and books like "Reason to Believe." Get a good study Bible, such as the new English Standard Version.

Jesus did not become the Christ as an adult but rather was the one and only Christ from the very beginning. Christ did not say to people, "You too can have Christ within." *

*ESV Study Bible

One God -- One Son of Man

I've been very honest about my past religious experience simply to share how difficult some religions can make knowing God. There is no special "anything" to know God other than pray to him. We don't have to get into positions, do weird breathing, take lessons, be involved in secret ceremonies, or chant. No human man can tell us that we will be lost to God if we leave their teachings. That is a lie.

It is possible to leave the idea of pantheistic belief and turn to Jesus Christ, but those believers are rare because they'll find transition into One God, and salvation through Jesus Christ, the only son of God, to be a step backwards. And you can see why.

But it's not hopeless. It does take time and some willingness to be patient. Patience means willingness to let God heal us, and forgiveness of ourselves and others who led us astray. Make a habit of reading the Bible and praying for understanding. Remember what dangers awaited Jesus Christ, even in his birth to save us from our sins.

Remember we can't change anyone, but we can educate those who haven't yet gotten involved. Jesus said, "Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you." NIV Matthew 7:6-7

We must be at peace no matter where we've been. My only objective was to bring secret teachings into the light for better understanding of what Turtle-Dove is about, and how it got started.

Going forward, I am going to be writing about my personal restoration through Jesus Christ, and how other religions have hijacked Jesus Christ.

So stay tuned for some wonderful messages. There are many other sites on the Internet that address cults and manipulative emotional teachings and you can further your own personal research.

The purpose of this blog is to share my own personal testimony.

In the meantime, my advice to everyone is read the Bible. Find out for yourself, and don't go by what a guru tells you. There are many easy to read interpretations. Ask God to reveal the Truth to you. You don't need a middle-man, or a middle-guru.

The Guru Criteria

It’s common psychotherapy babble today to talk about our rotten childhoods and how many of us were ruined by them. Our childhoods can also be influenced by the religion of our parents. There are many Christians who suffered under toxic family religion passed down generationally.

During the 1960's young people rejected the religions of their parents in search of a religion that would give them the freedoms that they wanted to experience. The Jesus Revolution was one such rebellion. Rather than shuffling into a drafty cold church and forced to sit on hard benches and listen to someone talk about sin, the young people took Jesus outside, into the parks, to celebrate in a joyous manner, focusing on his message of love rather than damnation! They were against the established religion, the blandness and hypocrisy, and rather drew on the counterculture to create a movement. Then there was another shift...

When music became the signature of the boomers, the Beatles' music (in particular) opened up undreamed of spiritual possibilities. We wanted to emulate our rock heroes, and that’s when many of us experimented with drugs. We also wanted their kind of spiritual experiences, and at that time the Beatles were studying with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. More than that, we wanted a religion different from our parents, and something they wouldn't understand. This would set us apart in a generation that defined ourselves as "not trusting anyone over 30."

“All Things Must Pass,” started my inquiry into eastern religion. The *** line of gurus showed up on the now famous Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Many of us were scrambling to read the founding guru's book, The Autobiography of a Yogi.

That is how we (and some friends) ended up at Self Realization Fellowship–by wanting to be part of a counter-culture movement that had already passed most major city players. Guru’s were not aplenty in conservative Orange County at that time. The Dutch cows had just left.

In 1967 Self Realization Fellowship bought a church building in Fullerton, California. In a small community, word got out amongst the younger crowd that the gurus on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album had set up shop nearby, and this was the only criteria for us to attend. This seems a very irresponsible way to chose one’s religion, but many things are done in youth that we come to regret.

Now, in today’s world, new-age, eastern alternative religion is everywhere and it’s no longer counter-culture the way it was then. Self Realization Fellowship isn’t the same either. Over 30 years I witnessed many changes to accommodate the modern world-view.

But this isn’t about the church per say, as there are toxic Christian religions, as well. My goal has always been to educate about eastern religions, specifically those that have a guru-figurehead, someone (or people in a group) whom we allow to control us, usually subliminally.

Because I got involved at 18, I was young and impressionable enough to have lasting effects of the relationship. I took a vow at 19 that I would accept the guru as my own, and I renewed this vow many times over the years in secret ceremonies.

There is no greater sin than the one I committed. I denounced Jesus Christ for an Indian guru and I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I always loved Jesus, and believed through the teachings of the guru, that what I was doing was in harmony with Jesus, that East could meet West in a harmonious way.

"Those with toxic faith use it to avoid reality and responsibity. It often results in perfectionism; people are driven to perform and work in an attempt to earn their way to heaven or at least to gain favor with God. Like other addictions, it cause great damage, but the addicted continue to purse it." Toxic Faith, Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felton

Cult? Who, me? No way!

A cult is any group that holds you mentally and spiritually hostage and lies to you about truth. That truth doesn't just mean spiritual Truths. It can be anything, from diet, to marriage to how you raise your children.



The first sign you’re in a cult is when you’re told (quite often) you’re not part of a cult, and they usually have a darn good argument to prove their point. Cults work hard to debunk the theory that they aren't a cult or a sect. Since there are so many kinds of cults out there, I'm not going to start a list. There are many websites out there with suspected cult lists. The religion I belonged to for many years fell beneath that radar. You can dig deeper into this blog for more about that experience. A cult does not have to be media mainstream consciousness to be a cult.

Ironically, even after you leave a cult, you might continue to deny you were ever in a cult. Admitting the "cult" part is really, really hard to accept. Especially if you’ve defended your cult for years, lost friends, family members over it, created strife for your children who were marginalized for being “different, or even satanic for your beliefs,” and the list goes on. It’s hard to reconcile one had a serious relationship with a cult and their cannons. That’s scary stuff. Of course, it's scary, or it wouldn't be a cult.

Frankly I’m surprised there aren’t more suicides by people who leave cults. When you leave you leave community. You leave the fabric of your life. It’s an isolating experience because you have no where to go, no one to talk to, no one who'll understand the gravity of your situation. The last thing many ex-cult members can accept is another teaching, church or philosophy. Everyone becomes suspect. They can roam around for years in a state of denial. Some people might become atheists because they just don’t want to take a chance that they’ll get it wrong again.

You have to understand that part of being in a cult is watching out for the kooks in Christianity who come around with their Bibles. You also know, and sometimes memorize all the gruesome suffering that’s come in the name of Jesus Christ. Christians call it apologetics, cults call it TRUTH, and they are masters of it because it's part of the brainwashing.

Their ego is always gigantic, but they deny the ego in their teachings. They think they're God, and well, what can you do with that?

The minute someone utters the word "cult" people in them tend to shut down, turn off, walk out and disassociate with the word. They can't hear CULT. Part of the brainwashing is to block that word from their minds. You might stop reading right HERE. That’s because the word CULT immediately brings to mind Charlie Manson and Jones Town, and, well, you’re certainly are not part of something so evil. That’s front page news evil. That kind of evil isn’t so insidious. It takes out a few people and it’s over.

Savvy cults aren’t run by psychotics; they’re run by ordinary folks. Nice folks. Good looking people with pleasant homes and nice cars. They live next door. They take care of your cat when you’re on vacation and bring you casseroles when you’re sick. They’re your friend, your brother, your mother. They could be just about anyone, and that’s really daunting.

Being a writer, I've never had a problem telling my stories, but this wasn't something I could so easily write about. I had to face some truths that were painful. One doesn’t just walk away from a belief system without some serious scars. When you’re taught something, study, mediate, focus on something for years, it takes root. You might cut the weeds by no longer attending, but the roots are still down in the dirt and it doesn’t take much water to sprout doubts.

Cult members are brainwashed into thinking they're special and chosen. That's a powerful, euphoric emotion. The road to Damascus for cult members isn't usually a revelation through Jesus Christ.

(Reprint from original TD 2007)