An Eagle Caged

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Posted on February 12, 2026 by Author Richard F Holmes

Photo by Michael Manulevich: https://www.pexels.com/photo/majestic-eagle-perched-in-aviary-at-sunset-33166976/

I’ve always been very cynical regarding the amount of influence religion has on society, I should add that I can only speak about the UK, and specifically the Christian Church. What particularly bothers me is the way that vast numbers of people have bought into the concept of being judged at death. The judge in question is an all-loving God, however, there’s a catch. The all-loving God is also angry, jealous and vengeful, and “He” loves you so much that if “He” deems that you haven’t loved “Him” back in accordance with the conditions that “He” imposed on “His” love, then you are for the high jump. Or, to be more precise, an eternity of hell-fire and brimstone. Of course, this is absolute nonsense, but it’s actually good nonsense because it has given me the inspiration for another book.

I have tentatively called it, Death – A New Beginning, and it will consist of a series of poems and (very) short stories that deal with death as a process. The process that enables us to transition to our next reality. In other words it will look at death from a spiritual perspective, but minus the angry God. So, this is the way my writing will be going for the next few months. The following piece, entitled “An Eagle Caged” is one such piece that may end up in the book.

Encased in a body of flesh

I was as an eagle caged

I existed to fly

But with clipped wings?

I was but a dreamer

Spending my days pondering

On what might have been

And what might yet be

If Only I could free myself

From the living death

But, is this not life’s greatest conundrum?

To seek freedom

Only to find that one was never caged

Merely a slave to the ego

Yes, a slave to the ego was I

A believer of life’s dramas

As they played out in my mind

I was the star of the show

Stumbling around the stage

Like a drunken actor

Struggling to remember his lines

Now, as the deluded await judgement

From their angry God,

My latest adventure concluded

I dissolve into the nectarine sweetness of Divinity

The Flawed Concept Of Western Religion

Posted on September 26, 2017 by Author Richard F Holmes

The existence of the God of Western Religion is not only scientifically impossible; it is also spiritually impossible. Even the name “God”, is a term created by humans for the purpose of communicating with a deity. Does it not stand to reason? In accordance with that human habit of wanting to name and label everything, the same must surely apply to the deity. Otherwise, how would we address a nameless deity? How would the church threaten the masses with eternal damnation? But I digress…

It is generally accepted by all religions that God exists in a state of eternal bliss as Infinite Cosmic Consciousness. Even the Christian Church’s view of God bears some resemblance to this. However, the Christian Church also objectifies God as a deity that exists separately from the rest of creation; including the human race. If this was the case, that God exists as a deity, independently from the rest of creation, it would mean that Infinite Cosmic Consciousness would have to displace a piece of itself. If Consciousness displaced a piece of itself it would no longer be infinite, as by definition, infinity has no limitations or boundaries. You cannot have a cut-off point within infinity where something else exists separately. Therefore, the whole concept of Western Religion is flawed.

It’s Nearly That Time Of Year Again – Part Four

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This is the story of Adam and Eve that the church doesn’t want you to know about. I’ve split it into two videos, Would You Adam and Eve It – Parts One and Two. For my friends across the pond, the term, “Adam and Eve”, is Cockney rhyming slang for “believe”. The first video explains how the Christian Church tries to instil fear into the masses by spinning them a cock-and-bull story about being sinners. Thus using their fear of being punished by a deity to keep them under control. The second video explains the deeper meaning of what is actually a very beautiful parable. The second video is a few minutes longer than what I intended, but I hope my wit and charm stops you from falling asleep.

It’s Nearly That Time Of Year Again!

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Author Richard F Holmes

It most certainly is nearly that time of year again; when the Christian Church dusts the cobwebs off its story and peddles it once again to the unsuspecting masses. I must say that I do find the whole “epic” just a tad ironic. First of all, let me just mention that I have no doubt in my mind at all that Jesus Christ actually existed; and I have no doubts at all that he was a truly incredible soul. However, the story that organised religion wants us to believe just does not stack up.

We have to understand that Christ was not a Christian; Christianity is the man-made religion founded by unscrupulous religious leaders in an effort to control the naive and the gullible through fear. Christ was strictly non-religious, however, if you really had to pigeon-hole him, you would have to say that he was a Buddhist. He studied the teachings of Buddha in the monasteries of the Himalayas and he also hung out with the Essenes and the Nazarenes, who were religious sects that practised a form of Buddhism. Christ was attracted to these people because their religion was non-violent. It was common practise in those times for live animals to be sacrificed in the temples, and Jesus was against this (and made his feelings known in no uncertain terms). Christ was the original hippie activist and was considered to be a subversive by the religious leaders of the time.

It’s worth noting that it is because of his association with the Nazarenes that Christ is often incorrectly referred to as, “Jesus of Nazareth”. Historically, Nazareth was nothing more than a tiny hamlet that Jesus may or may not have passed through at some time or other. So, why do I find the whole Christmas story a tad ironic? It’s because the church peddles their messiah as being, “the one and only begotten Son of God”. According to Christians, God is an all-powerful entity that is separate from us mere mortals, and Jesus is his son. This theory completely contradicts the Buddhist teachings, amongst other belief systems, that Christ followed. Buddhists do not believe in a deity as such, rather in a Creative Force, or infinite consciousness that permeates the whole creation. Christ’s message was simple. He said that we are all the same as him, we are all Gods and that we will find the Kingdom of Heaven within ourselves; it is not a place we can go to.

So the Christian messiah is marketed by the church as something that he would never have considered himself to be. I also can’t help thinking (cynically perhaps) that the reason the church marketed their messiah as a meat eating wine drinker, which he wasn’t, was simply so that they could justify their own gluttonous desires.

Merry Christmas!