Questions and Answers about Amitism

By what authority is this religion established?

This religion is established, authorized and practiced on the basis of God’s creation, in each person, a will-to-good. In each one of us exists a flame, a perpetual spark of the divine, put there by God, the creator. Combined with the natural creative will of each person, this holy spark is the basis of this religion of compassion. The initiative of caring action is the divine connection in any religion, as it is the shared characteristic of God and humankind. All other worldly objects and supernatural events that adorn any other of the world’s beautiful and marvelous religions simply serve the nurturance of that divine spark of compassion. This religion is established to cultivate the divine flame of intentional compassion, and God gives it authority by endowing that blessing to each of us. A good and Godly spirit exists in each person, and that fact authorizes this religion.

How can you have a religion without a holy revelation, a human manifestation of God to start it. It must have sacred, God authored scriptures, holy sites and a rich, ancient tradition. All you are doing is throwing out another warm and happy "feel-good", pop-psychology religion for people too lazy and self-absorbed to accept a real religion.

Amitism is different from many other religions in that it purposely avoids the authority given by those things you mention, such as a divine human manifestation, ancient traditions, sacred land, buildings or objects, a sacred text, or even a miraculous event. One reason for that is because too often, those things prove to be very useful in separating people, and Amitism’s main focus is on compassionate relationships. This Godly quality exists in all people, and is the divine aspect that transcends all the walls that get built between us.

Amitism invites you to embrace scriptures, holy lands, saviors and religious traditions if they invite in you compassion.

If nurturing the divine spark of compassion placed in us by God is pop-psychology, then the world needs a lot more of it. Amitism is a real religion because it embraces spiritual growth, love and worship of God, and manifesting the holy in our daily lives, in our material world. And its not for the lazy, it demands you take responsibility for your actions, habits and thoughts. It requires daily growth and active, intentional will-to-life, to change and evolve your spirit more like the gracious, creative spirit of God.

There is only one religion, only one revealed truth, only one pathway to salvation, and that is the one I have accepted.

I can’t argue with that, since you are unable to allow a different view. I hope your religion is one of compassion and caring, and that you are infallible in your judgement.

The religion of Amitism is never going to claim total correctness. It is not going claim to have all the answers, nor assume completeness. God’s creation is continuing, ongoing. And the emphasis of Amitism is not on the big picture, on the completion of knowledge and total Truth, but on the loving, non-violent, inviting search for truth between you and God, and between you and another.

Aren’t you causing conflict, doubt and dissention by inviting people to leave their religion for yours?

This religion as we practice it, is simply just a gift given, there is no calling away from your present faith. I think religion is a wonderful force in this world, and I just want to see more sincere practice of it. If your current faith nurtures in you that holy spark of compassion, this religion probably has nothing for you, and I would urge you not to pursue it. Dedicate yourself more strongly to your faith, and nurture the roots it has set within you. Don’t pull up that plant if it has taken hold. But if that faith is not flourishing, if that tree is not established and cannot bear fruit of intentional compassion, then this new practice may give you something you did not already have.

In any case, in this faithful practice or another, I do invite you to work harder at it, and make it a bigger part of your life. My goal has not been to establish a new religion, but to help every religion, by drawing into focus the strongest saving aspect of these faiths. That is the intentional, willful initiative of love and compassion.

Where are the churches, the services, the educational facilities?

Since Amitism is about your compassionate relationships, your very body is the temple that is most important. That’s the place to start and that’s where the work needs to be done. Wherever you find caring action of one person reaching out to another, that is where the religious practice is taking place.

Thanks to the internet, a lot of education can take place right here, that is how you are learning about Amitism now. But since the religion is about relationships, you are invited to share Amitism with others, to teach others about it in your own way as a nurturing gift. Amitism does not stress evangelizing though, there is no reward for "spreading the word". If you think Amitism could be a blessing to another person, please share. Again, Amitism does not have a sacred text, it does not have sacred objects or history books to read. Amitism is your loving and nurturing action, and wherever you are carrying out intentional compassionate action, there is all the education anyone needs from you about your practice of Amitism.

What about the afterlife and supernatural beings such as angels and devils?

Because this practice recognizes the transcendent, infinite aspect of our human being, supernatural things do exist, and do impact our lives.

Amitism as a religion believes in God, an all-powerful creator that we are all a part of, and is part of all of us. All of God is beyond the limited comprehension of any of us as mortal beings, but aspects of God that are more than mortal but still comprehensible do exist. Miracles happen a lot. The important part of a person is eternal, the loving manifestation of God’s creative will inside us lasts forever.

But this faith’s focus is on your interaction with others, it is about the love you manifest in relationships, it is about how you express God’s creative, boundless connection to others. It is not about earning some otherworldy reward. The reward is found in the strengthening of our connection to our Creator God by our holy acts of compassion right here, right now. God is here, God is now, as we strengthen our ability to react to this world with love and caring, and as we realize our vision of a world of peace and bounty.

Why does religion matter?

Religion matters because, whether or not you believe in God, you have to believe that the is MORE than you, and that the quest for knowledge is unending, creation is unending. Even if science explains everything we know of now, they cannot explain how there is always MORE than everything... the bar is always moving. There is no observed instance of total finiteness, there is no logical or rational conclusion of finiteness, there is always the experience and conclusion of MORE. And religion matters because its how we approach that more, that more than us. Religion is the vehicle to more than us. If you accept that evolution, creation and possibilities are halted and/or will halt, then religion doesn't even exist for you. But if you recognize that there is more to you than you can know, then religion can be a real blessing to you.

What do I get out of it?

You get a relentless thrill. When you take your attention away from the distant, fabricated, market-driven, manufactured values that inundate you in our world, and start measuring and critiquing yourself based on the most personal, intimate and individual thing in your life, then its going to be a much more fulfilling, joyful, vibrant and thrilling life.

We are used to believing and seeing the world as mattering in ways that are far off from us. We judge and measure our own worth by our political views, our jobs, our material possessions, our fashion sense, our race, and a hundred outside, made up, propped up, marketed things. All of those things, all of our regrets of the past, our aspirations of the future, all of them funnel though one spot. And all of those things are so loud, so glaring, so blindingly "important" that we cannot even see that one point that they all balance on. That one point is that spot in your mind, in your heart, where YOU relate to the world, where you connect to the otherness you recognize. You understand that what you call you exists ONLY as you relate to something else. So at that point, at that relating point, at that connection point, is where everything else exists.

Amitism brings your energy and attention and creative power back to that point, to the point of relationship. There is nothing more personal to you, there is nothing more YOU, than that. From there, you are connected. From there, you relate to the universe, to God, to all things. Amitism is about strengthening and nurturing that creative point in you, its about measuring yourself by your ability to connect intentionally to the world with compassion right at that point of relationship. If you do that, you are in for a thrill, because from that point, you are God’s creative energy acting on the outside world. Life becomes very, very good.

What do you do in this religion?

Amitism, this website and what you share with others about this practice, is about getting better at compassion. It needs to be a habit. Intentionally caring needs to be a habit for us. So there are prayers and celebrations to remind us, to let us exercise these skills, and to strengthen us in our ability to care. Compassion and caring is like any other skill, it improves with practice. Amitism encourages prayer and action.

The first thing you do is keep in mind that it is your relationships that are your whole world. They need to be approached with the respect and reverence they deserve. From the relationship you shape your world, so reach out to others with unconditional caring, a promise of non-violence and non-threat, and invite them to work with you to make a positive change.

Because you realize that you are not all-knowing and completely right always, you interact with a willingness to change, to grow in the relationship. Always be willing to take the burden of change upon yourself, you must be able to sacrifice to have a real relationship. Anything else is merely manipulation. This is the act of intentional compassion.

From there, you recreate the world through compassion. Are there rules and laws? Just interact and relate to each other through intentional compassion. Promise non-violence, be ready to sacrifice, create opportunities for others to do the same. Relate to others the way you want to be treated, stay non-violent, be ready to sacrifice first. Amazingly simple, amazingly creative. The potential is boundless.

Unfortunately, it requires you to think, to judge, and to decide on your own, to measure your thoughts, actions and habits by this simple guide. What you do in Amitism is you intentionally act with others to create a better world for yourselves. It demands that responsibility begin and end with you, by reaching out with care to others. Fortunately, doing this is a great joy. It makes your whole world, your whole universe, very real, very personal, very yours.

Is there a clergy, a hierarchy of authority?

This is a religion about your relationship to the God of Life. Its practices concentrate on that. It requires you to take responsibility for increasing your strength to respond to life’s challenges, to perfect your vision for a better world, and to be compassionate to others. Your relationship to God, and your relationship to this world of life are your responsibility and Amitism helps you nurture that response ability. There is no sacred text to be interpreted or proclaimed, there are no rules to be defined. No one has authority over your communion with God and life.

How does Amitism explain the creation of the world and what happens when you die?

Amitism doesn’t explain those things. Amitism is concerned and focused on God Here and God Now. Amitism takes for granted the universe was created and understands that the creation is still going on. God’s creation is forever and infinite. Amitism understands that God’s spirit lives in each life, and since that spirit is eternal, then that life is eternal. Amitism is about you’re here and now relationships in this ongoing creation, the details are up to the individual soul in God’s nurturing creation. Amitism is about relating to God in the present.