Inaction is Spiritual Betrayal

Many claim a spiritual belief system based on something other than traditional institutionalized religious structures. These beliefs vary from reincarnation and past lives; to the Law of Attraction. There are no strict rules or membership. People come and go as their spiritual needs develop. It is freedom to develop as you see fit. I applaud this development in light of the long history of state and church control. This openness allows for an unsullied connection to the divine.


I am saddened to say that these spiritual movements are largely apolitical. Thousands of good people do nothing. The attitude I frequently find is one of passive acceptance, and starry eyed optimism. All will be ok. Good and bad are relative. Everything happens for a reason. Don’t worry. I want to help, but you must change yourself before society will change. It will be ok if you just love life.

No. It is not ok. It is the farthest it can be from ok.

I am love. I know it. I am perfect creation. That being so, I also realize others are also perfect creations.

Do you believe that others are not?

Is the child prostitute in Panama driven to destitution by Neoliberal policies not a perfect image of the creator?

Is the Afghan family obliterated by a GE cruise missile less deserving of a life in this reality than mine?

Is the poor young addict across the bay in Oakland less a spiritual being that the progressive nearby?

If you know of the great injustices that permeate our society it is a spiritual DUTY to act. If you truly consider yourself spiritually connected to others you must act.

If you profess a love for humanity, and a desire for the betterment of our world, you must educate yourself on reality. Once you are educated you must participate.

You cannot sit in your bubble of positive thoughts without regard for the suffering of others. If you wish to stand aside you are not a spiritual person.

You are using spirituality for selfish pursuits. You feel no real connection with humanity. You only feel the sensory pleasure brought on by spiritual practice. You may be a better person than you were, but that does mean you’re a good person. You use spirituality like the addict the crack pipe, or the insatiable consumer the credit card. You are using the divine without serving the divine.

I will admit maybe people don’t know. They don’t know about the human costs for imperialism, or globalization. I want to hope this is the case.

What I have found is that people do not want to hear hard truths. They want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to feel as if they are a good person while suffering in this world directly results from their lifestyle.

No one wants to face themselves. I didn’t.

Once you do you realize that your soul was longing for it.

A truly spiritual person lives for others.

That means taking the hard road. It means living without. It means truly embracing the human family.


I love you. You are me. I am you. We are both one in the same family.

Our family includes the humble suffering child.

Can we claim spirituality while we refuse to act to help our family?

Are we truly love if were cannot bring ourselves to manifest that love?

You must realize, the effort spent to attempt to change the evil that faces us is not the answer. We must find in our own hearts individually to understand and resist 'fighting back' because that just makes us one of them. We must have faith that it will be balanced in time, as every other facet of nature does. If you find in your heart to help the weary, to myself that is honorable, but to stand up and fight the powers that are provoking violence, that is not the answer.

You're right. Action creates experience; experience is part of the creation process. To utilize universal knowledge is one thing, but to apply it in synchronicity with your physical life is the key to the soul. As is above, so is below.

reply to post by chadderson


I used to agree with you, but I changed.

Such a philosophy is only possible when one is not faced with human suffering. It is easy to preach inaction from a gilded tower far from reality. When one looks the ugly truth in the eyes it is far different.

Human suffering calls forth a deeper feeling than words can do justice. If you have lived your life far from human suffering it is easy to find comfort in platitudes.

In reality, we are losing our spirituality by our inaction. We retreat on faith because we do not have the courage to manifest the spirituality we claim to possess.

If you would research on past-life regression such as those of Dolores Cannon, Dr Michael Newton, Dr Brian Weiss etc, you will learn that much of what people get to experience in their lives is due to their soul's pre-life planning, and it very much part of their choice. Therefore, most spiritual people who know about this would not try to help so much. They focus on teaching their spiritual knowledge.

Law of Attraction and Optimism is good. It is not the fault of these philosophies if people do not have the courage to act on their highest joy - instead of just imagining it.

If people were to act on their highest joy instead of just following things that feels like slavery and things that they know don't make sense, then all would be well.

Even if people were to protest and complain (which they do), the government will not stop the harm it creates.

reply to post by timerty


I have studied such philosophy. I find it fascinating, but I cannot consider it to be a truth. I would like to believe in the Calvinistic pre-destined physical existence which will raise the universal consciousness through prearranged soul contracts.

I cannot guarantee, or ensure that is how the universe operates.

Pretend you are correct. Whether one stands up to injustice, or one passively accepts it is inconsequential. All was already decided when the choice to enter the physical world was made.

What if you are wrong? You have stood by while the greatest of crimes are committed.