How should we use higher consciousness in our secular world?

Secularism has no religious or spiritual basis and therefore refers to the so-called “separation of church and state”.  The state, or more precisely the government, is a system of people in charge of making and implementing laws for a country.  There are many forms of government, but in this blog I will focus on the democratic republic of the United States.

In our secular society we all exist among people of various religious faiths, spiritual beliefs and humanist followings.  Some people show their religious faith or spiritualism by wearing particular garments, jewelry or even body art.  Other people might not display their religious faith or spirituality at all on the outside, believing that it is their personal choice and therefore no one else’s business to know.  Either way, the display or non-display is accepted and is a civil right.

It is compassion that forms the basis of meaningful negotiation for most anything. 

Do not confuse religious beliefs with ideology…To equate the two will lead to a very slippery slope.  Ideology is a system of ideals forming the basis of economic or political theory.  A religion is only concerned with Devine nature and typically has its own rules or laws.  Spirituality is a frame of mind in relation to nature and emotional experience, sometimes with or without the use of a God or Higher Power.  It is easy for humans to put much time, energy and money into an ideology because the results are typically concrete.  It is less easy for most humans to put forth a similar effort toward religious beliefs because the results are far less tangeable.  Interestingly, when the two systems intersect the implementation of secular laws and systems can be difficult to negotiate.  But we must negotiate them within the context of our Constitution.

In the United States the majority of people whether they are citizens or not are using civility to live among eachother.  Sensationalist politicians and media would have us believe otherwise.  It is therefore important to develop a personal sense of higher consciousness to put human needs into perspective…This awareness helps us to tap into true compassion for our fellow humans.  It is compassion that forms the basis of meaningful negotiation for most anything.  And, higher consciousness will never require you to apologize for past experience since it’s only concern is for the present good and a mindfulness toward future possibilities.  Emotions are separated from facts, yet both are honored in the negotiation process.  We know we have lost this ability because we see the break down of communication among our governmental leaders, within much of the  mainstream media, and in protested campus debate.  Pure and simple, the ideologies of Socialism, Nazism, ecologism, and tribalism do not work easily in our system of governance.

However, what is wonderful about our system of government is that privately run civic organizations are allowed to operate and fill this intersection of need where secular government is unable to please everyone.  Unfortunately we are allowing ourselves to forget about this important aspect of secular engagement…Blanket solutions by government elites using commingled tax dollars do not solve all issues fairly.  Civic involvement can.

Ideology alone should not form the basis of government policy and law.  Where ideology intersects with religious beliefs, civic organizations should step in with their compassionate approaches.  Our Constitution provides for this if we are able to see the wisdom within it.