Why do you Believe What you Believe? My religious training started when I was two weeks old and my parents dedicated me to God in a conservative Southern Baptist church. I became the church pianist when I was fifteen, and by then my identity was wrapped up in my religious community.

Throughout my teen years, I frequently balked at the strict rules and moral beliefs of our church and my family. However, I felt a place of belonging among church goers, so I continued to attend services even after I left home at seventeen to marry and create a life of my own.

I took a position as pianist at an Independent Fundamental Baptist Church closer to home. Before long, my husband and I realized that this church held even more restrictive beliefs than my home church. Women were not allowed to wear pants, men couldn't sing in the choir if they had facial hair, and going to movies was grounds for dismissal from any position of leadership within the church. It was taught from the pulpit that rock music was Satanic because if it were played backward it contained subliminal messages! The youth group had a ceremonial bon-fire to burn all their vinyl records and cassettes. I once questioned our pastor as to why he thought it sinful for the soloist to use pre-recorded accompaniment music. He told me it was because not all those who played as a studio musician on the recording were Christians and this might have an evil influence upon our congregation.

We soon left that church but did not stray far from the closed mindset because we had been taught that going to a different denomination (even a different type of Baptist church) would cause us to lose our salvation or cause God to punish us. Our new church held similar standards, but seemed to be a little more relaxed. Still, I felt like a misfit because inwardly I didn't really agree with most of the rules. However, I learned not to question the authority of the leadership or break the church's rules because I wanted to be accepted by them and the God they espoused.

Fundamentalists honor martyrdom to the point that they teach codependency, female subservience, and total allegiance to their leaders. In this type of religion, I was taught that a wife should submit to the rule of her husband, to never question God or her pastor, and that the circumstances in my life were not my fault-it was simply God's will for me to suffer. I was disempowered to believe that I was not responsible for my miserable life, so I kept waiting for God to bail me out or change my situation. I was miserable, but nothing changed.

When my first marriage ended, I began to question everything I had been taught and found that most of my religious beliefs simply did not make sense. Still praying for hours each day, religion and doctrine could not help me as I plummeted into depression and despair. In fact, those who had been my church friends scolded me for not having enough faith to prevent my divorce. So much for Christians being known for their love; judgment was all I received in the darkest hour of my soul. I had broken the rules of my religion and my religion no longer accepted me.

After forty years of indoctrination, I ended my relationship with religious establishments and sought my own path to find my connection that already existed with my Creator. That connection was not based on rules or tradition. As I moved away from the system of religion, and put aside the "to-do" list of the Church, I began to trust my intuition and heed the inner voice I had been ignoring for years. I began to take personal responsibility for my choices and regained my power as I exercised my own free will. I stopped allowing people to walk all over me or tell me what I should believe and what I could and could not do. I researched and studied all types of religion and found both truth and myths in each one. I found that the Bible has been altered many times to serve the agendas of politicians and leaders of the early Church and Roman government. In fact, Christianity has gone through many transformations over the years and the religion people in the U.S. practice today is not at all like it was in the beginning.

True Christianity has Jesus Christ as its focal point, not rules and regulation; not dogma or doctrine. Christianity began with the gentle, non-violent teachings of Jesus Christ for whom the religion is named. Jesus' teachings were in alignment with Buddhist, Tibetan and Eastern thought that did not adhere to religious or political authority but rather supported an anti-materialist, non-political lifestyle. Jews who followed the teachings of Christ were just beginning to adapt the principles into their culture when non-Jews (Greeks and Romans) began to adopt the religion as their own. The Gospels which give account of the life of Christ were written between 30 and 70 years after the death of Jesus. Paul of Tarsus is one of the earliest founders of the Greek/Roman version of Christianity who penned parts of the New Testament. Paul's writings which espouse subjection of women and paying homage to pastors and church leaders actually oppose the early teachings of Jesus.

The compassionate and tender principles contained in the early history of true Christianity, started to fade as the Orthodox Church of Rome continued to develop a doctrine that would enable political rulers to enslave citizens and force the congregation to materially support pastors and obey them without question. Arius was a major opponent of a new doctrine which taught that humans are sinners as a result of the fall of Adam and Eve. This doctrine of "original sin" has been carried over to neoconservative, ultra right-wing religions today who teach that people are destined to hell if they do not believe a certain way or become submit to their church leaders. These pastors, bishops and elders were said to be the only ones who could forgive sin and save people from hell. They required people to do service for the church, give a tithe to support the pastors and even take up arms against the enemies of the church.

Another ruling of the emerging Christian religion declared the human body sinful and prohibited a couple to have sexual relations without permission from the Church. This is where belief in the virgin birth (that Mary the mother of Jesus conceived and gave birth without losing her virginity) was manufactured. Children who were conceived and born without the Church's permission were not eligible for Baptism or forgiveness of sins-of course unless the parents paid penance or gave money to the bishop. This is also when the belief began that Jesus is the only son of God. And, that really doesn't make sense to me. The peace-loving Jesus himself stated that we are all sons and daughters of God; equal to Him-joint heirs with full rights and responsibilities as co-creators of our lives and our circumstances. The teaching of separateness from God is strange. How can anything exist if the Creative Source is not in it?

The idea of humans being depraved sinners has placed leaders of certain religious sects in a lofty place of superiority. Believing that one is exclusive and special to God for having believed the mandates of a certain religious doctrine isolates people from others who believe they are sparks of creative life force expressing in a variety of ways: human and animal form, plant life, elemental and nature spirits, and any number of deities or other manifestations of All That Is.

This altered version of Christianity is still powerful in our world today-especially in politics. Neo-Conservatives and Fundamentalists of the right-wing group wield a great influence in our government as they try to legislate morality and determine what behavior is socially acceptable and what is not. They believe they should have a say about what goes on in another person's bedroom and who can and cannot be married. They have also delayed funding for a very important biology that has great potential to help people with illness and medical conditions. The term "embryonic" stem cell research is a misnomer because the research is not performed on a fish-like embryo; it is conducted in a laboratory on a clump of cells known as a blastocyst. The right-wing position that a tiny baby embryo is being destroyed by blastocystic stem cell research is a blatant lie yet many of these people cannot say why they believe this. It may be because someone they look to for leadership has told them it is true and they have not questioned it or done any research to find out otherwise.

I have spent hundreds of hours researching all types of stem cell research for my book Right to Recover: Winning the Political and Religious Wars over Stem Cell Research in America (see www.right2recover.com). I have exposed the false claims of the right-wing party, who say that adult (multipotent) stem cells hold the same potential as blastocystic (pluripotent) stem cells. I give reasons why it is not scientifically possible for an embryo to exist in a Petri lab dish. I have presented all the facts needed to help people make an informed decision and "own" what they believe about blastocystic stem cell research.

Generations have passed down their traditions and beliefs without having traced those ideas back to their root. What about you? Do you know the origins of your religion? Are your beliefs your own or do they belong to an organization that seeks to control your mind and free will? Are the tenets of your religion really worth keeping? When you are able to step back from your belief system and assess it for what it's worth, you may find that you really don't agree with certain rules or dogma. And, you may find that some of your beliefs are no longer serving your highest good.

I can't over emphasize how dangerous it is to give away your free will and personal power to any religion or political leader. Whether it pertains to stem cell research or your religious dogma, it is important to know why you believe what you believe, and then claim your own truth.