Imagine a faith, where the doctrine teaches one thing, but the behavior of the members is directed towards opposing action. Such an inconsistency is not seen from the ground level, but if we walk out a bit to see the entirety of the situation, it becomes quite obvious. What I’m talking about, are the orthodox religions and their modern approaches.

As the world get’s closer to December, Christians from around the world (especially in the United States) start gearing up for the Christmas holiday. Stores begin to have beautiful displays of wreaths, shiny gold and bright red strings, lights and the smells… those wonderful smells. It triggers great memories in many of us. It brings so much joy to children, who look for the Santa Clause figure to bring them presents… and of course the gift giving experience itself. There is a lot to relish in.

There is a problem though. Look at the world, or just look at America for a moment. While I fully understand that politics is a dirty business, I can’t take my eyes off the fact that the political rhetoric is expanded and reiterated through the churches. Yes, there are some church that break away from the political desire, in order to maintain adherence to a central faith, but they are few and far between. Instead, we see a steady stream of pulpits, where pastors pound out a sermon littered with praise of a party leader.

From the Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad is this guidance on the force of the world (Kal):

“He [Kal] also encourages miserliness, hypocrisy, perjury, misrepresentation, robbery, bribery, trickery, bigotry, self-assertion, a show of wealth and power, gaudiness in dress, and the exhibition of a domineering attitude.”

This is clear. It is the Kal (or negative) force that is guiding people this way. He stands in the middle between the ideal of a religion on one side, and the violent action on the other.

Kal is the Eckankar word for the intelligence behind negative action. It is the ruler of the lower worlds, but is also ruled by God (Eckankar refers to God by the name Sugmad). In Abrahamic faiths this force would resemble Satan/Iblis/the deceiver.

How does a religion espoused on love, connect to actions of hate? It is true that people, or individuals and we can’t blame a faith by it’s individual contributors (to a degree). But what about the rulers of the faith? The pastors, the religious leadership? What about when they align with the powers of the world?

A church that knocks on my door, leaving a handout of how God loves me, and then that very same church is led by a pastor who chooses to openly talk politics -diminishing the death of children in Gaza… or flip the script… a cleric who diminishes the deaths of children in Israel… they are misaligned. The doctrine says one thing, but the leadership does another.

In order to achieve actions contrary to the faith, a man must stand in the middle. “Thou shalt not kill,” and then the very same person who brought those tablets down, he himself kills children (Numbers 31)… or the modern example of church goers who tell the non-believer about the love of God to sacrifice his only son, but then laugh and jeer when an immigrant is falsely arrested for the 3rd time by ICE… this isn’t the same fountain from which the positive ideals flow. Pastors who praise one side of a war and dismiss the children dead as “just an after affect of cleaning the problem from the area,” this is how the old beliefs have failed us all.

We are broached with ideals never met. Loving the enemy, turning the other cheek, become recommendations instead of instructions.

My own father reflects this problem. He was a Christian minister. While a pastor, he once wanted to sell his car. As a young child I asked him curiously, “will you tell the buyer about the messed up engine?” I knew about the car problems, which is why my dad was selling the car. My father snapped angrily at me, “No, and neither will you.” “But,” I protested, “isn’t that lying?” He looked at me and said, “Business is business and church is church.” It came across that his faith didn’t apply to how he did business with others. In this case, he could cheat a man, or trick a man into buying his car by not disclosing it’s problems and still stand on righteousness. I’m not judging him here, but I am pointing out a problem.

It takes the effort of a force to stand in the middle and translate the ideals into negative action. That negative force may influence the physical form of a man or woman, they lay groundwork to say, “well Jesus said love the enemy, but if we flip to this other verse over here… it tells us that there’s a need for an eye for an eye.”

This man in the middle has destroyed so many faiths, turning them into pawns of powerful worldly agency. While there may be need for governments and companies to cut back, for those who rejoice in the suffering of others, they are not in alignment with the ideals of their faith, but with the negative force.

I once worked for a manager who loved to fire people. He called me over to his desk one day, laughing with glee. I asked what the joke was and he pointed to two laptops on his desk. I didn’t understand, and he said, “I just fired those two guys. They walked out of here with their box of possessions, doing the walk of shame,” and he burst out laughing some more. That relish is evil. That’s the same relish I see in people on X cheering as government jobs are cut by the tens of thousands. It’s quite a bit different to the manager who has to fire someone, but struggles with the decision, ultimately making a decision that is both hard and necessary. The heart is different – one serves Kal, the other serves God.

For a person to relish in the pain and suffering of others, they must be influenced by a person who stands in the middle. That person is the Kal force… or Satanic force. Some religions look for “evil” in books, in music, but it’s in their churches, pounding out a message of political alignment and calls for action. It’s the pastor who cries those crocodile tears, while blasting an “enemy” and calling for their removal from society. It never aligns with the faith’s ideals, and it takes quite a bit of effort to cherry pick their holy books, to arrive at these conclusions.

This is why I love Eckankar. It is a faith that stands on a doctrinal point that doesn’t shift. It doesn’t align with the world. Eckankar aligns with the Sugmad, with the Mahanta… in outsider lingo: it aligns with the positive spiritual force of the One True God, and it’s emissary or spiritual guide, through the Light and Sound of the Holy Spirit. Yes, members are not perfect and will make mistakes but the leadership doesn’t twist and turn to destroy perceived enemies. The Holy Book of Eckankar (the Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad) is consistent in message – it is the embodiment of Truth.