The Antichrist and Anti-Christ attitudes

Eventually, in discussions about Maitreya, the question of the Antichrist comes up among many Christians because we have popularized and sensationalized our expectations of the return of Christ confusing the concepts and the stakes.   The Antichrist is thought to be a deceiver who would come in sheep’s clothing and lead the unwary away from the truth and the life found in Christ – found in the expression of the Divine Absolute Perfect Unconditional Love that Christ is. In fact the Antichrist isa deceiver leading the unwary away but it is not a person. The Antichrist is an energy / spirit that manifests in human form as an attitude of greed and exclusivity. This Antichrist crops up time and again through out history taking on many forms and fooling the unwary, the unthinking masses. This is why it is so important to think critically and decipher the meanings of the teachings that attract our attention.

Recent examples come to mind such as Hitler and the temporary sway he exercised over the masses. Notice the roll fear played and how he used it to convince the masses to tolerate his means. Note that not Hitler himself was the Antichrist but I suggest he was infected by that energy and in turn infected many more. There are times in the history of the Church where it seems it was fear that was wielded as a tactic by the authorities to keep certain inconvenient truths from gaining momentum and so keep the ignorant masses as just that – ignorant and easily influenced by the Church authorities. Galileo comes to mind.

Today, it seems greed and exclusivity rule in the way we do business, church and government. It may behoove us to look for the Antichrist in those places if that is what we fear. I see no sign of anything anti-Christ in what I have heard about Maitreya but I do see fear used in church to convince people to believe. What kind of message needs fear as a tactic to gain followers? I see exclusivity where there should be none. Jesus welcomed and accepted all who came to Him. The only time I can recall that he had less than kind words were for demons and certain of the Church authorities of His day.

I am a church goer myself. I was raised in the Church and am greatly appreciative of the religious education I got in my childhood and of the support I get from the Church today through its ministry. Being critical of the Church in no way indicates that I am anti-Church or anti-Christian. I am actually just the opposite. I care so much about how my religion is represented to others and to its own constituents that I am openly critical of it. Open, honest, sincere and detached criticism of something is a gift of love that needs not resentment as a reaction but rather a responsible dialog of what can be done to improve that which is criticized.

I mean not to demonize today’s Church but only to make wary and to encourage thinking through thoroughly the faith we put in those we take to be authorities in our lives. The Church of Jesus’ day were so wrapped up in expecting things to work out in the way they had come to believe in that for those of us who have come to believe in Christ’s representation through Jesus think that they were blinded by tradition and fear of what they did not know. We think of them as having been anti-Christ to the point of crucifixion. (This is not to say I am any more anti-Jewish than I am anti-Christian.) How much more are we today steeped in tradition, fearing the unknown, afraid for our own salvation, exclusive towards those that do not think or believe in the exact same way we do? Where do faith, love and wisdom have a place among such anti-Christ attitudes?

“Churches” of all faiths play an important role in the world. Christ has many names and I believe is common to every faith that is based in love and compassion. If you detect anti-Christ activity in yours don’t leave your church but work instead to transform it by your own contagious and courageous example of Christ centered consciousness in Divine Absolute Perfect Unconditional Love. This, I believe is what Maitreya is here to encourage whether it be in our church, our government, our community at large, in our business dealings or in the way we treat the environment, other nations, other races, other religions, or other attitudes and orientations.