The Desideratum

The Desideratum

by

G. Lewis Bauman

Copyright 2014 G. Lewis Bauman

Fourth Revision 2023

Smashwords Edition

License Notes

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This work is dedicated to the under-appreciated and oppressed women of the world and all, living and dead, who have helped to give this book its form and substance.

Table of Contents

Author's Preface

Chapter One–How False Religious and Social Beliefs Destroy Lives and Nations

Chapter Two–The Universal and Unifying House of the Divine Essence (UUHDE)

Chapter Three–The House Calendar and Celebrations

Chapter Four–The Quest for Inner Peace

Chapter Five–Seven Fundamentals for Soul Beautification

Chapter Six–House Rituals and the Village Worship Services Format

Chapter Seven–The Envisioned House Strata, Administrative Structure, and Elections

Chapter Eight–The Early Years

Finale

About the Author

Author's Preface

The Desideratum is a book about perversions of spiritual and social thought, the consequences thereof, and the discovery of salvation. Its underlying thesis is that most of the world's problems can be traced to the plethora of exclusive and competing religions existing in the contemporary world, each of which teaches a beguiling mix of reality and fantasy.

Over time, believers lose the ability to recognize fantasy as something that must be purged from social analyses. With minds so conditioned, the faithful unwittingly embrace diverse and tainted versions of politics, economics, morality, and government.

As a consequence of these errors in judgement, the most important and basic belief structures people the world over depend on to guide them in their everyday lives, are differentiated and rife with inconsistencies and faulty directives. They are a constant source of agitation and conflict among ethnic groups and nations, and have brought suffering and death to countless millions of people.

Regrettably, the great masses are content to accept the prevailing beliefs with little resistance. Preferring ease to the need for extensive study and activism, and constancy and familiarity to the risk and turmoil of change, the great masses accept the spiritual and social concepts they have known since childhood in much the same way as they accept the hills, trees, and sky, that surround the area in which they live.

As misfortune befalls them, they blame everyone and everything but themselves. They are blind to the cause and effect relationship between their suffering, and their deeply set but flawed spiritual and social understandings.

The Desideratum offers salvation from these errors. The Desideratum is not a sacred book, nor is it a scholarly work intended for esoteric circles. It is a practical, down-to-earth handbook written for common people seeking understanding in a confused and dangerous world. It illuminates the path that must be followed if people want to leave the present-day morass of spiritual and social horrors behind them, and turn toward a future that will provide the highest possible levels of peace, freedom, security, community, dignity, prosperity, and happiness for themselves, their loved ones, and for all of humankind.

In this book, the word God will be used mainly when referring to old religious beliefs. The new faith prefers the term Divine Essence. Both in modern times and in old, the word God has been used as a pretext for all manner of foul and dastardly deeds. Religious wars of the most savage kind have ravaged every race of people and every continent on the globe. Whole societies, over many hundreds of years, have been brutalized and enslaved, and countless numbers of people tortured and murdered, all in the name of God.

All of the old religions suffer from a common and fatal flaw. Their foundations rest on fantastic stories of ancient origins. None of them rest on the bedrock provided by the Providential Laws of Reality and Truth, and the only moral system that is consistent with the Providential Laws of Reality and Truth, which is to say, the Inferred, Naturally Occurring, Secular, Universal, and Unifying Morality (Chapter Two, Central Pillars Eight and Twelve).

Additionally, in most cultures the word God has the connotation of a personage, usually a kind of benevolent grandfather, who lives somewhere above the earth. A false picture is therefore painted in the human mind that hinders the discovery of that which is true and eternal.

It is now understood the earth is but a speck of dust in the vastness of universal space. The idea that humans enjoy a speaking relationship with God, or are somehow a reflection of its image, is the result of shallow and restricted thinking.

It should be remembered that words are mere tools that are used to convey thoughts and information. There is nothing inviolable about any particular word. When a word takes on connotations that muddle, confuse, and pervert communications and understanding, and endanger relationships, then it is time to discard it in favor of some other word or phrase. Such is the case with the word God, and all other language equivalents. However, godly and godliness remain useful words.

In place of the many religions rooted in dreams and fantasies, The Desideratum offers an inferred, universal, and unifying faith that rests firmly on the divinely sanctioned foundation stones of reality and truth. The new faith's origin is not earth or human oriented. That is a sure mark of a false religion. The Divine Essence created the universe, and the earth and what happens on it is but an insignificant part of that grand design.

The new faith's orientation is such that all intelligent beings, no matter where in the universe they may be located, will find it an acceptable, attractive, and useful spiritual path. Included in the new faith is a practical means of individual character beautification.

In place of the numerous, religion-based, and mutually exclusive moral systems that fill the world with so much strife, The Desideratum embraces the Inferred, Naturally Occurring, Secular, Universal, and Unifying Morality (Universal and Unifying Morality).

Organized, in this text, in terms of the personal pronouns, the Universal and Unifying Morality illuminates the righteous path for the conscience, thought, and behavior of the First Person Singular. The phrase First Person Singular is like an arrow, that points straight to the soul of the reader.

The solutions offered are not utopian in nature. They do not promise a happy life for all. Rather, they are predicated on the simple assumption that social organizations based upon reality, truth, and honesty will always offer the common person a better chance of living a secure and fulfilling life than those based upon spiritual fantasies and false moral systems.

The handbook separates truth from fantasy and right from wrong. It tells readers what they can safely believe in and act on, and what to turn away from. Most of the subject matter of this text has been discussed at forums and in the literature for hundreds of years. There has been enough discussion. The time has come to take up the call of reality, truth, and knowledge, and turn understanding into action.

Readers will notice an absence of people and place names in this text. True communion with the divine creator of the universe is a spontaneous feature of human life and has nothing to do with stories, time, or specific people, places, or things. The fact that these items are central features of important contemporary religions signals the presence of wide-spread spiritual deception, and reveals a shallow and deplorable state of spiritual thought on the part of the great masses.

Moral systems that derive from false religions are also false by reason of their origins, though they may contain admirable truths. Economic and political structures premised on false moral beliefs carry the deception forward and invariably lead societies to despair and ruin.

Certain contemporary spiritual and social beliefs will be repeatedly condemned throughout this book. Though the beliefs are false, and diminish the lives of all members of the human community in horrific ways, they are widely held, deeply rooted, and will yield only slowly and reluctantly to reality and truth. Every tool, including repetition, must be used to pry false ideas out of the souls of the multitudes, so ideas consistent with reality and truth may enter to take their place.

Many ideas expressed herein have been borrowed from numerous sources, and the author freely admits to standing on the shoulders of great men and women who have illuminated the paths of reality and truth. References and credits, however, are omitted because they would disrupt the purpose and format of the book, and prevent the reader from focusing on undiluted ideas. History will give the heroes and heroines the credit they deserve. If not, may divine radiance shine upon their spirits. Astute readers will readily find related literature.

Readers should be forewarned. Contemporary religious, spiritual, and moral doctrines are so distant from reality and truth, that an unprepared reader’s first reaction may be to dismiss the contents of this book as outrageous and delusional. That tendency should be tempered with the understanding that the world did not arrive at its present horrific state by observing the Providential Laws of Reality and Truth.

No doubt The Desideratum will be roundly condemned. Critics will label it as simplistic, ill-founded, and inflammatory. It is certainly audacious and strikes at the heart of many deeply held beliefs. The time has come, however, for the old beliefs to be challenged, for as long as they exist in strength they will continue to lead humankind down afflicting and destructive paths. Is this book infallible? No! Is it a major step in the right direction? Yes!

Curious readers, especially those who are unhappy with the current state of morality, economics, politics, and government in their native lands, and have inherited a spirituality they cannot embrace as genuine, will find The Desideratum a life-changing reading experience.

Your author will accept no remuneration for this work.

G. Lewis Bauman

****

Chapter One–How False Religious and Social Beliefs Destroy Lives and Nations

A Candid Survey of the Human Landscape Finds it Fraught with Anxiety and Pain, as the Great Masses Stumble Along Pathways that Deny the Providential Laws of Reality and Truth (Chapter Two, Central Pillar Eight)

False Spiritual Beliefs (Religionism)

This handbook defines religionism as false or misused spiritual beliefs. Religionism wars against reality, truth, and reason. It confounds the source of morality thereby making universal and unifying behavioral standards unavailable to the faithful. It demands blind acceptance of its doctrines and leaves no room for thoughtful analysis. It enslaves rather than liberates, divides rather than unites, and leads to conflict and war rather than accommodation and peace. Religionism is arguably the most dangerous and destructive influence at work in the contemporary world.

1. The Different Faiths

Next to family and loved ones, spirituality (religion) is one of the most important passions of affiliation. Everyone feels the mystery of existence and stands in awe of it. A void in the human soul longs to be filled with an acceptable explanation of existence, and it is most natural to turn toward the concept of an almighty divine creator of the universe.

Over the period of human history, a wide variety of stories and texts about God and creation have emerged and gained a devoted following. Each owes its birth to an individual, or a certain race of people, living at a certain time and within a specific region of the globe. Each faith is exclusive of the others, and none seeks unity with any of the others.

2. Where Two or More Religions Meet

Danger is always present where two or more religions meet. All of the major religious differences come to the fore and become constant irritants at all levels of interaction. Those of the dominant religion, intentionally or otherwise, may not grant the faithful of the lesser religions adequate breathing room and respect. Members of the minority religions may feel they are not enjoying proportional rights or that they are not adequately represented in government.

Small irritations become amplified by the mass media and impassioned rabble-rousers. Isolated acts of violence further inflame the situation and arouse base emotions. Under such conditions, it is very difficult for individuals to hold to the moral path, even by their own standards. What is moral or immoral becomes clouded by the mixed emotions of fear, frustration, resentment, and their allegiance to their traditional faith.

Moreover, most religions are ordered from the top down. The faithful are used to being told what to believe, how to participate in ritual, and how to behave. Each view is mired in a limited and exclusive spiritual structure. Can individuals rise above their religious and moral doctrines to reach a peaceful and permanent accommodation with members of other faiths?

Most contemporary religions are intolerant of any questioning of their underlying doctrines. Each disparages or condemns nonbelievers and by inference, if not directly, all other religions. Day after day, month after month, and year after year, a one-sided dogma is fed into the hearts of devoted followers. An aura of absoluteness evolves about spiritual beliefs that precludes reasoned analysis and the receptiveness of countervailing information. Belief in one’s inherited faith is assumed to be absolute and unquestioned. It is in the nature of godly beliefs that it should be so.

Each group of believers is certain their faith comes to them directly from God and is, therefore, inherently superior to all others. Though each group is capable of interacting amicably with members of other faiths under most circumstances, suspicion, doubt, and fear lurk beneath the surface of each encounter. Each group is afflicted with the My Religion is Superior to Your Religion Syndrome, and intuitively understands they are dealing with spiritual inferiors. Each group also understands they are dealing with irreconcilable issues that will bring violence to the fore sometime in the future.

Within such a context, spiritual unease lacks only a series of flashpoints to transform it into the base emotions of bigotry and hatred. In the resulting emotional tumult, and even in the most respected of minds, the belief that one’s inherited faith must be defended, and opposing faiths wounded, becomes a given. Is it not a truism, in the minds of all believers, that God demands respect?

3. Internally Oriented Religionism

Internally oriented religionism seeks to control and regulate the lives of the faithful. Indoctrination and propaganda are pervasive. Grand houses of worship are designed and constructed to awe and mesmerize the faithful. The spacious and ornate halls, filled with beautiful symbols, idols, and paintings, lull people into thinking that palaces so grand and beautiful are surely places close to God; and the clerics who preside within them are nothing less than godly intermediaries. People are taught through ritual and tradition to worship and revere supreme clerics as though they are God substitutes. Through ritual, worshipers are asked time and again to pledge their faith to their religion, submit to its doctrines, and contribute monetarily to its sustenance. Outside influences are discouraged. Other religions are ignored, or treated with implied or overt disdain.

Mass devotional services and demonstrations, and large scale duteous pilgrimages often complement lesser rituals and can evoke powerful emotions within the souls of participants. There is no doubt gigantism is convincing. Bigness sells. People who participate in mass gatherings and demonstrations may at times work themselves into a frenzy of sound and motion. Singing devotional praises, chanting slogans, and engaging in unified motion, they willingly surrender their individuality to religious doctrine and crowd psychosis.

Numerous rituals and codes of dress are constant reminders of the duty to submit to religious doctrine and authority, and immediately reveal those whose awareness and thinking carry them outside the confines of the doctrinal norms. Such people are subjected to scorn, threats, and even violence.

In mixed societies, many believers tend to isolate themselves due to their explicit and numerous rituals, dress, and inwardly directed traditions. Since their faith is so pervasive, and governs so many aspects of their day-to-day lives, they generally have a history of being unable to interact well with people of other persuasions, even though they may want to do so. As a result, social interactions are mostly confined to those of like kind. Marriages outside of the religion are discouraged; and when they do occur, are usually characterized by turmoil and argument, especially with regard to children.

Through the eyes of outsiders, such people are hard to see as individuals and easy to see as members of a group that wants to maintain its historical and spiritual culture and is unwilling to blend into other cultures. They are seen as people who want to be left alone. Where there is no overt desire for equality and intermixing, antagonistic emotions take easy root. The similarities, trade, and other commercial advantages that are components of peaceful social intercourse, and a mutual dread of conflict, are the only things that keep the two sides from open conflict.

Some religions are constructed around the idea of male dominance, and women are relegated to a subordinated status. They are not allowed to join the ranks of the clerics. In extreme situations, the women are told what to do and when to do it. They are told what they can wear and where and with whom they can travel. Educational opportunities are often minimal and marriages are arranged for them, sometimes at a very young age. In the case of a sexual indiscretion, the woman may pay with her life while no punishment is imposed on the man.

4. Bellicose Religionism

Bellicose religionism comes into play when faith luminaries and great multitudes of their followers allow themselves to be so consumed with religious fervor, that their feelings of self-righteousness override basic moral precepts. They become convinced the world would be a better place if their religion was dominant and everyone was persuaded or forced to join them in their doctrinal beliefs. Even the most thoughtful and educated can be caught up in the frenzy.

Passages and stories in several so-called sacred texts may be interpreted as callings to war against nonbelievers; and when historical considerations and the exhortations and promises of influential clerics are added to the mix, raw religious zealotry can easily overrule thought and conscience.

To those who take to the sword, ruling clerics promise forgiveness for their sins and favored circumstances in a place they call Heaven when they die. The authority of the clerics to make such promises is not questioned, nor is the belief in an afterlife. The rampage is even more easily justified if it results in an accumulation of power and wealth for the victors, particularly the ruling clerics.

There is nothing more fearsome in history, or more cataclysmic in its effect, than when a religion goes on a rampage. As wars ensue, soldiers are inducted into the army in the name of God and committed to battle under a holy banner. Every crime, every act of savagery, is justified as a means to a greater and more glorious end as decreed by God.

History is replete with examples of religious wars of conquest and the brutal suppression and murders of nonbelievers, and it is a rare time in history when there are not several wars raging in different parts of the globe, with religion as a main bone of contention. Whole populations have gone on aggressive rampages of murder and mayhem in response to what they believed to be a calling from their god. Though perhaps in different languages, cries of Death to the infidels and God is with us are heard from soldiers on both sides as they slay or are being slain.

Even in more peaceful times, the luminaries who sit at the top of long-established religious hierarchies can always be expected to resist any kind of revolutionary activity within the ranks, or territorial encroachments from within or without. They believe they have a sacred duty to maintain the traditional structure of their church, prevent the faithful from wandering, and promote the church they believe has been blessed and chosen by the almighty hand of God. Whether in the pursuit of their duties they oppress their faithful, or lead the faithful into turmoil and conflict, is dependent upon the balance between the leader’s good sense and zealotry.

If zealotry prevails, what are followers to do? The only moral system they have known since childhood is linked to their faith and, hence, to the faith leaders. The moral basis for resisting an errant leadership is thereby greatly weakened. Those who attempt to do so are ostracized and threatened by their peers and the faith hierarchy.

It need not always be a matter of the followers of one religion warring with the followers of another. Sometimes deep and contentious rifts develop within faiths to let loose the same dogs of conflict. Each side is convinced of the righteousness of their cause. Even amid the blood and gore, all believe they are acting as champions of God.

5. Bigotry, Hatred, Murder, and Torture in the Name of God

There are many examples in human history of people driven by religious fervor to murder and torture in the name of God. Religious tyrants and their cohorts have often used murder and torture to consolidate their power, subjugate the faithful, and terrorize nonbelievers. When spiritual luminaries come to believe they are God’s emissaries, they feel an implied duty to control their flock and move against those who resist.

The murder and torture may or may not involve a regard for procedures and ceremony. Hearings and trials are sometimes held to lend an air of formality and legitimacy to the process. Victims are given their day in court before being led away to their fate. Other victims may be dragged out of their homes and taken directly to their deaths.

However, if it is accepted that God is the embodiment of righteousness, then bigotry, hatred, murder, and torture in the name of God are grand contradictions of that understanding. An error has been committed, and it is not God’s error. It can only be that the error lies deep in the structures of the old faiths, in the demented minds of designing and ambitious clerics, and in the minds of followers who allow themselves to be reduced to unthinking automatons.

Though great masses may think otherwise, when base religious passions are elevated to a feverish pitch, godliness is nowhere to be seen.

Where are the interests of unity and peace in such a fragmented and mutually exclusive spiritual world? If there is but one God, why do humans support so many different and competing spiritual structures and traditions? Would a true God bequeath onto humankind such a contentious spiritual environment? Is humankind condemned to everlasting spiritual disunity and tumult?

How is it that such simple and obvious questions are rarely addressed by believers and never addressed by clerics? Can it be that practitioners of the established faiths are unwilling to consider their most basic beliefs may be false? Can it be that bigotry, hatred, murder, and torture in the name of God are the simple consequences of ignorance and false beliefs? Isn’t it more likely the fault lies with humans than with God?

There is no such thing as the devil; but if there were, one of the things it would want to do is overwhelm the souls of humans and encourage bigotry, hatred, murder, and torture in the name of God, knowing full well such evils are the very antithesis of God’s real message and intent.

Though the old religions may cry for peace, what they leave in their wake is another matter. The misery, strife, ruin, and death the old religions have brought onto the pages of human history cannot be overstated. They stand as obstacles between humankind and the quest for world community and peace.

What is the heart of the reader saying?

6. So-called Sacred Texts, Places, and Objects

Since people of old are presumed to be closer to the time of creation than are people in contemporary times, it is generally assumed they possessed a more intimate knowledge of it, and experienced a closer relationship with the god or gods responsible for it. However, in terms of the universal time frame, a few hundred or even thousands of years have little meaning. People of today are not meaningfully further from the time of creation than were the first Homo sapiens to walk the face of the earth.

Even so, ancient religious manuscripts or engravings never fail to strike a romantic chord in the human soul. For all people, they provide a hypnotic and spiritual link to forebears and the past, and there is no doubt scribes of old were as capable as any in modern times of writing beautiful, even intoxicating, verse and prose. But does it follow that ancient religious writings are automatically sacred and true, and should be accepted as the basis for a spiritual edifice?

Why are so many different and competing spiritual texts labeled as sacred? Why is each of them considered the ultimate word of God? If there is but one God, why is there not but one sacred text? How have texts designated as sacred obtained that designation? If the sacredness was bestowed by God, where is the proof it was bestowed by God? If the sacredness was bestowed by humans, why is the designation assumed to be valid? Are humans the equal of God, that they may say what is sacred and what is not sacred?

Why is it that the appearance of all texts considered sacred, coincided with, or followed, the very human invention of writing? Why were the earliest sacred texts written in the earliest forms of writing, and later sacred texts written in later forms of writing? Was God learning how to write alongside humans?

Would God direct that a text be written in a particular language and couched in thought patterns, knowledge, and customs appropriate only to a particular time and place in history? In the early days of writing, the vast majority of people did not know how to read. Would not a true God want to communicate directly with them? Why would God leave written messages only in ancient times?

Is the godly world a tyrant world, demanding that humans should not use their minds to question the authenticity of so-called sacred texts? Some ancient texts, regarded by many as sacred, speak of godly involvement in enslavement, brutal wars, and acts of mass slaughter. Is it not an act of madness to assign sacredness to such a text? Are such gods worthy of worship?

Surely, if the inscriptions were of divine origin, the godly author would have no reason to hide or restrict such a proof. Surely, a truly divine text would be an omnipresent feature of human life, and not linked by its content to a particular time, language, place, or race of people. Its language would be a godly, universal language that all humans could understand. It would be addressed to people of all languages, races, and locations. Its divine origin would be proven by content far ahead of its time, rather than current with it.

Even the most skeptical, inquisitive, and scientific minds would respond with awe and wonder, and have no choice but surrender and belief. In spite of wide spread belief to the contrary, all texts designated as sacred, reek of human origins.

Similarly, many religions claim certain locations or things are especially sacred. Believers are taught these sacred places or things are a necessary and vital part of their religious inheritance, and must be defended against all encroachments. The sacred places or things become bones of contention between competing religions, races, and nations. They put otherwise reasonable people at each other’s throats, and have been the cause of many protracted and savage wars throughout human history.

Religious devotees often focus on a symbol they feel embodies their spiritual beliefs. The symbol will likely be a thing of great beauty, may be large or small, and old enough to be regarded as a traditional object. A beautiful and traditional symbol may elicit feelings of awe and wonder, even in the hearts of nonbelievers. In the long course of time and events, the symbol may become an object of veneration and worship. Representations of people, places, or things easily find their way into spiritual structures as believers seek simplicity and a way of bypassing the clerics and theological formalities.

Objects they can touch and feel close to are more personal. The focus of worship drifts away from its textual or storied origins and finds a home in the object of veneration and worship. As that happens, the symbol becomes an idol and is considered sacred. Doubts that may have been harbored in the original focus of worship are dispelled by the simplicity and directness of the beloved idol. Idols, however, are indicative of false theologies centered around people, places, or things, whether real or imagined.

True faith is not storied and has nothing to do with specific people, places, time, symbols, idols, or books. True faith is omnipresent and comes to humans directly from The Divine Essence. There is no idol that can represent it or act as a substitute for it, nor would any devotee of the true faith have reason to search for such an object. Communion with the Divine Essence is as close and direct as it can be, and understanding precludes any desire for the use of artificial substitutes.

7. So-Called Prophets

Many so-called prophets have claimed that God has communicated orally or visually with them at certain times and in certain places. Such tales permeate many religious texts regarded as sacred, and devotees learn to accept the tales as true. The prophets are not necessarily outright liars or fakers. They may truly believe with all of their hearts that they have communicated with God or have received instructions from God. Anomalous and mysterious happenings within the brain may lead to such beliefs and make such communications or instructions as real to the person concerned as though they had actually occurred.

When people who believe they are prophets of God set out to teach, success depends upon their message and their rhetorical and/or writing skills. If the messengers are inarticulate and unconvincing, their incessant ranting soon isolates them from the rest of society. They are labeled and dismissed as crackpots.

If they tell a captivating story however, are skilled with words and expression, and have a good measure of charisma, they soon gather a following. As they succeed in winning converts and establishing their reputations, they become even more convinced of their special place in the world. Some may climb to states of religious prominence and may even start new religions.

When large numbers of people are ready to respond to such claims, the door is open for every charlatan or despot, or anyone with a deranged or hallucinatory mind, to make the claim they too have spoken with God or have otherwise been selected as a godly messenger. In recent history, there are numerous examples of prophets enriching themselves at the expense of their followers, and others who have led their followers to ruin and death.

Unfortunately, the old religions cannot protect their faithful from such self-styled or falsely revered prophets, disciples, or god incarnates, for it is within the structure of the old beliefs for such things to happen. If sacred texts tell of prophets of old, can new prophets be denied? If sacred texts tell of godly offspring in ancient times, why shouldn’t God have offspring in modern times as well? If there were disciples in times of old, why shouldn’t there be disciples in the modern era?

This great structural defect in the prevailing regional and ethnic religions, has resulted in countless numbers of spiritual offshoots, which in turn, have added to the already weighty problem of spiritual and moral dilution and confusion.

Always the test must be applied, what sense does it make? Would a single god or a number of gods speak only to a chosen few, who are then called prophets, leaving countless numbers of