Over the centuries, scholars have failed to agree on one definition of the term religion. Religion refers to a set of beliefs practiced by a community of believers (Ramsay, 2018). There are about 12 major religions in the world, with about 83% of the global population belonging to one of the religions (Sherwood,2018). Religion forms a core part of human nature and greatly influences the politics of each state.
My religion is referred to as the church of Do. Members are referred to as Doers. Our faith is in our good deeds, acts of kindness, our doings to help others, just as the name suggests. The God of Do is supreme and dwells among his people. Similar to Judaism, the Church of Do is monotheistic, believing only in one god. The god of Do is omnipresent, omniscient, and extends mercy to those who seek forgiveness.
This religion was born out of the gap that exists in almost all currently existing religions. There's too much talk and very little action to go with. Further, I have seen numerous cases of religious leaders preaching water and drinking wine. I wanted to birth a simple concept, easy to explain even to young children, and one that is black and white, not gray like other religions. The church of Do is the answer. It's a simplified religion, but one that still captures the core principles of most religions. However, the emphasis in the Church of Do is on walking and living the talk
The Church of Do believes in the god of Do who lives in each doer. He is supreme and guides our actions. Doers are called to be selfless and to spread kind deeds to their fellow Doers as well as people around them. The god of Do lives in the doer and drives the goodwill actions in our spirituality which we then have to obey. The god of Do is a god of peace and desires that doers live a life of kindness to others. The life of a doer is marked by his kind and selfless deeds directed by god. Faithful doers are entrusted with even more selfless acts of kindness which is a mark for how faithful each believer is.
Our deity, the god of do, gives our lives purpose and inclines our hearts to fulfill this divine purpose. He nudges our spirit towards the fulfillment of our purpose, after which we have to put these nudges into actions for us to fulfill our life's purpose. Also, the god of Do decides on the punishment for those who fail to adhere to the spiritual message.
The Church of Do is deeply spiritual. Like Christians, doers have set aside Sunday as their day of spiritual reflection. Doers meet at a member's house where they fellowship together and share the nudges they have received from god. At times, the nudges are mystical and require the help of the chief doers to further interpret and give direction.
Doers are required to spend time in prayer on a personal level as well as in fellowship with fellow believers. Prayers unlike other religions such as Christianity are more of listening to god and meditating than speaking to him. Doers believe that by obeying, they need not ask for what they need as the god of Do already knows and will reward their obedience by granting their desires. Essentially, prayers focus on listening to god's directives. Doers typically spend hours in quietness and isolation seeking to hear from the god of Do is a similar fashion to Buddhists. During this meditation and prayer, the Doer draws all focus to his spiritual inner self and denies himself pleasure, comfort among other things in a bid to focus only on listening to God's voice and to understand clearly what the god of Do desires the doer to fulfill.
Upon joining the church of Do, each member is given a membership number and an anointed and branded red and black shawl called "kanga". The shawl bears the membership number and is used to covers one's head during prayer and reflection to ward off all worldly voices. During the fellowship, each doer must carry their kanga. the chief doer must first cleanse the house doers are meeting using anointed saline water. Members can then gather inside for fellowship.
Typically, the fellowship starts with a reflection of the previous gathering, the nudges they received from the god of do, and how each member has been faithful in fulfilling the nudges. Members who have fallen short are given a chance to redeem themselves by fulfilling the nudges, failure to which the god of Do records these misdeeds in the spiritual records, an equivalent to the Christian book of life.
Similar to most other religions such as Islam, forgiveness, and second chances are emphasized. The god of Do and the doers as well are encouraged to show kindness to doers who have failed to adhere to god's directive. This is done with the hope that at some point they will come to a realization of their sin and turn back to god, by fulfilling the directive earlier given by the god of Do. Consequently, any misdeed is forgiven and forgotten and the person is reinstated as a faithful and obedient doer. The chief priest under god's nudge performs the ritual of reinstatement back into the fold.
The church of Do emphasizes continuous good and selfless deeds towards all human beings as well as animals and the environment. As such, doers are strictly vegetarian as they respect animal life as much as human life. Even in this modern world, doers are encouraged to live eco-friendly lives to protect god's environment. Doers believe God dwells even in the environment and therefore, we must ensure the environment is sanitary for him to dwell in. Animals are second to humans. If an animal dies within a doers compound, it must be buried facing the sunrise; a symbol of hope for the afterlife. Doers are strongly against the caging of animals, the use of animals for medicinal experiments as well as other activities that are against animal rights.
Marriage is a vital aspect of the church of do, one that is also guided by god. Doers may not marry immediate family members as this is against god's directives. The chief doer is given divine insight by god on who should marry. He then relays this information to the couple involved, who then receive the news with joy. A marriage ceremony presided over by the chief priest is then organized. Unlike most religions where the wedding is marked with feasting and a huge ceremony, the couple, assisted by other members, celebrate their wedding ceremony by distributing food, clothes, and other necessities to the needy within their society. the gifting lasts a whole day and the wedding party moves from one house to another sharing their gifts. The party later gather at a designated place where they perform a marriage ritual and proclaim the couple man and wife. The couple is then given the freedom to start living together and build a family. Children are a blessing from God, they are considered a reward from the god of Do for obedience to him.
Similar to the Egyptian religion, a person's deeds are vital in determining their afterlife, where, and how they spend it. As soon as a person dies, their soul moves to reside in heaven, the home of the god of Do. Heaven has various categories, each with its privileges. A person's good deeds on earth and how selfless they were being used as a guideline for which category they spend their eternity.
The church of Do believes that persons who failed and disobeyed are given one chance to be born again on earth to right their wrongs and still get a chance to live in heaven. Doers who abuse this second chance and disobey gods nudges are doomed and roam around the universe in their afterlife; they never find rest. Besides, the nudges received from the god of Do for doers given a second chance require more self-sacrifice and are often more demanding. For this reason, doers are encouraged to be obedient right from the beginning.
Unlike most contemporary religions, doers are not required to give tithes and offerings. The church runs on a minimum budget with members-only giving what is required as directed by God, similar to other nudges. The church leaders are not entitled to any salary or income from the church. On the contrary, they are nudged to give from what they have for the sake of the church. Acts of kindness and good deeds are deemed sacrifices to god and received as the equivalent of offerings. The church leaders, as well as the chief Doer, are required to be self-sustaining and not dependent on doers for their daily bread. Doers may, however, give to the leaders as God directs, and this in the public light.
Religion greatly shapes the politics, peace, security, and even general physical and mental well being of a state. In the Middle East, for instance, Islamic extremists have birthed a war that continues to date (Sherwood,2018). More often than not, religious leaders will direct their members to take a stand on emerging issues such as the big debate about abortion, the LGBTQ community, same-sex marriages among other controversial topics.
The church of Do plays a significant role in society. by targeting needy persons and showing kindness and love, doers restore humanity, a virtue that seems to have disappeared with most religions. The focus is on alleviating suffering, putting food on the table for a family that isn't able to, visiting the sick, and helping offset hospital bills. As opposed to amassing wealth for a few individuals, the church of Do seeks to restore some level of equilibrium one deed at a time. Doers must decorate their lives by doing good to others, even those who are seemingly undeserving.
Doers are strongly advised not to wage war even on issues where they disagree with other religions. Our mission is to spread love to people who are hungry for love, even when we do not agree on how to live our lives. We love and pray that the god of Do may reveal himself to the lost souls and bring them to light and life.
Further, the church of Do plays a significant role in the promotion of environmental restoration. Essentially, doers are mandated to be environmental champions as God dwells within. Nature is under threat from the emissions resulting from industrialization as well as from human negligence. Doers seek to nurture the soul of the universe back to its glory.
For the church of do, life is mainly about service to God and fellow human beings. Each member's life is marked by selfless acts of mercy and charity extended to deserving human beings as directed by the god of Do. This is the core purpose of life and its what marks intimacy with god. Each human being is strategically put on earth to make a difference in the lives of others in a small or big way. Buddhists believe in the Four Noble Truths (K Masel et al., 2012), life is full of suffering. Similar to the church of do, Buddhists teach about being selfless and detaching from material things to achieve full enlightenment (K Masel et al., 2012). The nudges given by god are unique and distinct from one person to the other. Each doer receives their own unique experience with god. The church of do emphasizes individual intimacy between God and his followers in a unique and deeply spiritual experience where he talks to them directly.
Life for doers is not just about one person; it revolves greatly around the impact each person makes in other peoples' lives. Life for just self has no meaning at all and most people derive more meaning from living for others (Ramsay, 2018). Each person is born with a divine mission to impact the lives of others and to share the love and show kindness. In contrast to Christianity that mainly focuses on the gospel of prosperity, the church of Do emphasizes being selfless, sharing and giving, and not living lavish lives.
Conclusively, the church of Do offers a religion that goes beyond the spiritual. Hearers must also be doers. Each human being has a divine purpose to play in the universe. Life is about service to others and to god as opposed to f...
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