Idea for a New Religion - Chapter 19 - The Arts & The Media

THE ARTS A 1) All of the arts, old and new, are sacred. All art is a form of divination; the voice of god speaking through the artist. 2) Art is also, like science, an agent of change because it can alter our perception of the world and by so doing change the world itself. 3) Art is a kind of solid meditation which causes us to meditate. Like meditation it can detach us from ourselves and from the world. Like meditation it can also reattach us to the world. 4) Like the peacock tail; like the bright flower or the mating songs and dances of nature, art helps to attract minds to mate; breed new thoughts and transmit the seed of new ideas. Art keeps the soul of humanity alive. 5)Art is healing. It can find a way inside our heart and mind and bring us peace, comfort, joy or enlightenment which can help to heal psychic wounds. 6) Art is a uniting and a driving force. A symbol that represents a community can unite it. A symbol which encapsulates an ideology can motivate a united people. 7) Art gives pleasure and all pleasure is an offering to the angels who are symbiants with and servants of God.

THE ARTS B 8) Art which involves a whole community and brightens a community is good for the soul of the community which is the soul of God. Theatre and filmmaking are ideal as community art because they are made by a group working together rather than by an individual. 9) Art can be an act of worship; a prayer, a ritual and an offering. A good church must be an art gallery, a theatre, a place for music and dancing; a place where the community can experience art aswell as display their own artistry. 10) No censorship - The people are the eyes and ears and mouth of God. Censorship is a blindfold and a gag for the people and thus a blindfold and a gag for God. Truth and knowledge are illumination and those who are kept from truth and knowledge live in darkness. Truth and knowledge are a wealth and power and sustainance that every adult human being has a right to. Truth and knowledge must be shared equally among the people. A censor is only a mortal human being and if a censor is not harmed by that which he censors then it is logical to assume that other adult minds will not be harmed. 11) Heresy and blasphemy must be allowed - God cannot be offended by words; only by harmful actions. A true faith has no fear of heresy. God has faith in the wisdom of her people to, with mental effort, tell right from wrong and truth from lies. Her followers must respect the views of others, not impose their views on others. Question all and apply reason to all.

THE MEDIA : THE COMMON OMNISCIENCE 1) Newspapers, radio, television, the internet and other sources of world news, have evolved into a collective sixth sense which allows individuals everywhere, who are the parts of God, to connect to the world beyond their locality. This collective sixth sense shapes their understanding of the world and their understanding of the world influences how they think, feel and act within the world and so, the individual must be able to trust the information that this sense gives them. The media has a duty to be trustworthy and to give a balanced view of the world, revealing both its darkness and its brightness; both its grimness and its beauty; both its tragedies and its reasons to be happy and hopeful. 2) If the media fails to serve the people; if it is an unreliable source of information, then it is the duty of individuals all over the world to use whatever forms of communication are at their disposal to communicate with each other and give a more accurate and balanced representation of their part of the world. Whenever the media fails the people then the people, who are God, must replace the media. 3) God takes no interest in trivia like celebrity gossip. It is not news. It is something trivial which mesmerizes and distracts the common people from real events. 3) Learn to distinguish news from propoganda. Never accept news at face value; always dig deeper and find out more.