Religions duty of care to the faithful

Faith is one of the most important things that we have in our lives.

We all have our own personnel views of our faith as we all have our own patron God or Goddess who gives us inspiration in our lives.

Religion has been one of the main strengths of society from the very first man.

It has the power to bring together different factions and levels of a society and in so doing can bring help when needed to those who would otherwise be failed.

This idea is far from new it is something that has been around ever since religion took its first form on this planet.

When we think of charity I would think the first place that comes to mind are the modern faiths who dominate the world today.

Yet this is in fact only the latest of religions who have taken this principle into their make up.

The main pre Christian faiths were in fact doing this in one form or another long before these faiths even emerged.

The Kemetic faith was one of these faiths who saw it as part of the religions role to look after those in need.

It was and still is percirned as an inner disposition towards our fellow human beings.

It is also seen as a means of propitiating the Gods when we go forth for the final judgement.

The Book of Going Forth by Day also tells us that giving bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty , clothes to the naked , and even the giving of a boat to one who does not have one.

These ancient teachings are as so many of the teachings of the Kemetic faith as relevant today as they were then.

Maybe even more so in a modern society that has seen the family support system disappear and the state fail those in need as the financial crisis has changed the face of state support for the worst.

When we look at the words of the Book of Going Forth we see the clear obligations that religion has to the people. To show the faithful who have the ability to do so to give to those in need.

That we have a duty not to turn away from those in need but to give help were ever we can.

Maybe we would not give a boat to someone today but if we take a long hard look at this it is telling us something as well.

If we see the boat as a metaphor for a way of creating a income so someone nolonger needs charity then we can see a clear meaning in this phrase.

If we have the means to help some one-gain work then we should offer this help.

You see when the Netjar tell us to offer help to those in need they do not only mean that we should offer food clothing shelter they are also telling us that we need to offer help that will enable these people to get out of the poverty they are in.

There are so many forms of help that we can offer and so many things that we all can do. What we do is very up to each person and their own personnel situation. Some of us can only give a little or give our time rather than money or good.

It does not matter what we give it is the fact that we have given and we have helped.

And so back to the title religions duty of care to the faithful this is our duty of care to offer the help needed but also to teach the faithful that this is a important part of our lives.

One last thing to remember and that is maybe one day we will need help. If we have done our duty to teach this principle to others and do all we can to see it is there for others. If we should ever need it we have the comforting knowledge that it will be there for us in our time of need.

Barry

Spiritual leader of the Kemetic Federation and Faith.

Are ancient principles relevant today.

The other day I was in a very interesting discussion with followers of the Kemetic faith on the concept of Ma at and the way we should live our lives today.
Many questions came up that made me think about the whole thing and also how we in the modern world should look at these concepts that were laid down thousands of years ago when much of what is around today never existed.

One of the questions that came up was is Ma'at  reverent today at all.
The ancient Egyptian concept of Ma'at was truth, balance, order, law, morality, and justice.
These are things that we can understand today and would agree we should all uphold and make a cornerstone of our faith.
We can also see that Ma'at  is the norm for nature and society, in this world and the next.
In addition to the importance of the Maat, several other principles within ancient Egyptian law were essential, including an adherence to tradition as opposed to change, the importance of rhetorical skill, and the significance of achieving impartiality, and social justice.
 the Creator declares "I made every man like his fellow". Maat called the rich to help the less fortunate rather than exploit them, echoed in tomb declarations: "I have given bread to the hungry and clothed the naked" and "I was a husband to the widow and father to the orphan"
Plus we also have to remember the negative confessions  
So here we see a concept that although thousands of years old is very relervent to us today.
The call to the rich to help the poor the pursuit of justice for all that all men are equal.

These are defiantly things that we need in today's society as much today as in the past.

So when we look at the concept of Ma'at we are in fact looking at the very cornerstones of the modern society we live in today. These simple concepts that were laid down thousands of years ago are concepts that we live by today even if we are not followers of the Kemtic faith.

They can be seen in every faith and philosophy around the globe.

So I say that we are all living by these principles even if we do not know it. 

Barry

Spiritual leader of the Kemetic Federation and Faith.

The lessons to be learned from Pope Benedict XVI resignation

As the worlds eyes fall on the Vatican and the Catholic church this week as Pope Benedict XVI's reign comes to an untimely end. We all have a chance to learn a  number of very important lessons.

These lessons are not just for the catholic church and its followers they are lessons that we can all grow from and hopefully create a better and safer world.

The first lesson is that no matter how you try to hide behind the face of religion in time what ever you are hiding will come to the surface.

We have seen that this papacy and the those before it instead of openly confronting the crimes of its priests against the young defenseless and innocent did all they could to hide their crimes and their shame if indeed they did feel shame for these acts against the innocent.

In doing this they have enabled abusers to carry on their crimes unchallenged making the institution of the Vatican and the catholic church a party to these crimes and as such as guilty as those who committed them.  

Pope Benedict XVI has presided over a church that has been shrouded in secrecy who centuries the walls of the Vatican and its churches around the world did not only house the faithful they kept the eyes of the world at bay hiding from them that which should have been open and on view for all to see.

When a faith feels that it has to hide behind its wall and conduct its business hidden from its followers the question has to be ask is it really there for the faithful are its priests really acting for them or for themselves a question that I am unable to answer and I am sure many followers of many different faiths are unable to answer as well.    

We here every day of the church condemning aspects of human life of telling the world in general that these things such as homosexuality sex out side of marriage hatred towards others of different faiths.

Yet during this Popes time in office we have seen all of these sins committed by his own priests bishops and even cardinals . It is sad to say that this is not even a new thing to this church these acts have been part of the church and its priests lives for centuries.

I could go on but we will stop here and try to look for the lesson that I have mentioned at the start.

The first one is the we should not conduct our affairs of faith behind closed doors in so doing we open the doors to corruption and abuse which when carried out in a closed and secretive organization can go on for years with out detection.

The leaders of our faiths should not put themselves high above their followers accept that we all have failings and that we are all human that is the way we have been created.Do not declare others to be evil or sinners when they have committed no crime. When you are looking to heal the world first of all look into your home and solve the problems there first and when your home is pure and in harmony then look to the world outside.

But finally I think that the lesson that we have all learned from this is that the catholic church is far from perfect and has no place in leading the morals of this world as it in so many cases has failed to live by those very morals itself.

We can all hope the next Pope will bring change to maybe one of the most immoral and hypercritical faiths the world has ever known but I have my doubts and I will leave you to make up your own mind.

What I do know and what I as spiritual leader of the Kemetic federation and faith have done my best to ensure over the 35yrs I have lead the federation is that we are open we are truth full we are understanding of others and were we see injustice to others we do all we can to stamp it out and to ensure that the means that enabled such crimes are removed so that in the future it can not and will not happen again.

Barry

Spiritual leader of the Kemetic Federation and Faith.

Show tolerance, respect & forgiveness of our failings.

We all have failing. That is the way the Netjar created the world they even had failings during their time here in this world.

When we look around us we see others failing. Do we truly see our own and if we did would we change the way we judge others.

Yes I think we would. This is the key. First of all look at your own failing then you will see that the failings of others are not that different from your own.

Once you have done this ask the question how would I want others to deal with my failings.

The answer to this is simple and one we will all answer the same.

I want others to look at my failings with tolerance understanding and forgiveness.

If that is how you want others to deal with you then you have to do the same.

You can not expect this from your fellows if they see that you deal with others failings with bigotry disrespect and even resentment.

These are very negative feelings ones that belong to the realms of chaos. Feelings that the disrupt Ma At .

The real thing to remember is that we can not expect others to treat us well if we fail to do the same.

A failing in a natural aspect of human nature if we did not have them we would be divine and therefore not human.

So remember a failing is not a great crime and it should be approached with tolerance respect and forgiveness. In this way we will be able to help others and in return others will help us.

Barry

Spiritual leader of the Kemetic Federation and Faith.

To make a more peaceful world we have to develop a concern for others.

To build a more peaceful world has been the aim of humanity from the dawn of time.

Today we seam to be further than ever from this great goal. Why is that? Why do we get so near only to fail.

Well we can find part of the answer on the Kemetic teachings that answer is to show a genuine concern for others as all times.

I think that everyone can honestly say that they have shown concern for others at one time in their great life’s journey but how many can say they have shown concern for everyone and every time.

It is hard to do so, we look at others and maybe our first thoughts can be negative. We have to look past these first thought and look for the positive in others. Once we have found this then we will soon find genuine concerns for their situation .

When you look at another person do not look as them as a follower of a faith or as a citizen of a nation or of a certain race or even their sexual orientation. You have to look at them as a fellow human one who has the right to peace in their life to know what fellowship and love is.

It is easy to put concerns for yourself before others but then if you were in trouble would you not hope that others would show concern for you and offer help.

We have to put others maybe not before us but alongside us. If we are concerned that we do not have clean drinking water then we should also be concerned others do not as well. These concerns will then lead us to help both ourselves and others.

This applies to all things if we would be concerned if we do not have these things then we should be concerned that others do not.

Then we must act.

This may only be a very small step but every small step will take us all nearer to that final step peace and harmony for all.

Barry

Spiritual leader of the Kemetic Federation and Faith