WHAT IS POEGTAP?
POEGTAP IS, QUITE SIMPLY, A VISION FOR A BETTER WORLD.
‘Peace on earth’ and ‘Goodwill to all people’ are, of course, two sides of the same coin. If everyone on earth showed goodwill to everyone else on earth then peace on earth would follow. It’s as simple as that. That was the essential message of the Christmas angels, heralding what would follow.
The basic problem with this idea, however, is that we are all fallible humans.
The Poegtap project needs people to put each others' needs, the greater good, before their own desires and hopes and dreams.
But, let's face it, we're not very good at that.
- Some of us are so self-centred that we can't or won't be bothered with anything that threatens our convenience, comfort, wealth or lifestyle.
- Many of us give it a go for a time, or within certain limits, until the sacrifice makes too much of a demand on our lifestyle and aspirations, and then we quietly drop it and get on with our lives.
- Some of us make a real commitment to one or two aspects of the Poegtap 'Humanifesto', but dismiss the others.
You may recognise yourself in one of these descriptions.
Anything is better than nothing at all, but Poegtap really demands complete commitment.
Much of what Poegtap stands for is contained in many non-religious belief systems and lifestyles such as Humanism. The difference is that, whereas Humanism is a 'natural' way of life, Poegtap is a 'supernatural' way of life.
Humanism is, essentially, about trying to live God's way in God's world without God's help.
Poegtap draws on the supernatural spiritual power of God which drives humans on when the human instinct is to give up.
You will never know this power unless you try it. Unless you open your spiritual channels. That is the teaching of 'the reason for the season' . . .
IT TOOK ONE VERY SPECIAL PERSON TO SHOW HOW POEGTAP IS DONE!
This vision for a better world was first set out two thousand years ago in the years following the Christmas story.
Sadly, though, the Poegtap vision has been buried deep within church institutions by centuries of 'religion', and we think it's time to unpack it from all of that and let it loose on the world.
To give one example : the Christmas story begins with a woman, Mary, but from then on women are for the most part air-brushed out of the story.
Look at the scene in the Christmas stable. The Poegtap vision does not differentiate betwen poverty-bound indigenous shepherd and weathly foreigner, between the boy-child at the centre and the woman who made it all happen.
Poegtap has two threads running through it.
The first is ourselves and our ‘Humanifesto’. This is about how we, as individual humans, by how we live out our lives, can in our own small way work to help to bring about this vision.
Total global peace and universal goodwill is probably an impossible dream, but anything that can improve on the current climate heavy with hatred, mistrust and self-interest is to be desired.
'Peace and love' is, of course, an idea that is embraced by many religions and non-religious belief systems. It is a vision that Jesus spent his life outlining and promoting - a vision for what he called “The Kingdom of Heaven’ - in other words a heavenly kind of place where earthly values did not hold sway - a kingdom of peace and goodwill.
So our second thread, and one part of our Humanifesto, is exploring this vision, and the teaching behind it, along with other wisdom of the ages, and getting to know and understand 'the reason for the season'.