What an interesting world we live in today! After having submitted the above letter to The Roanoke Times I came to The Oracle Institute's web site here and was SO impressed with all I read and learned that I felt I must contact Laura. Well folks, after quite a bit of back and forth correspondence and reading her most wonderful books, The Truth and The Love, I quickly realized what a courageous, intelligent, dedicated and gifted person Laura is so I felt more than compelled to join The Oracle Institute. I am now a volunteer in the capacity of writing some freelance articles for The Oracle Institute and I very much look forward to developing an ongoing dialogue with all who come here. By the way folks, we are now listed in the communities directory of The Fellowship of Intentional Communities, of which I am a member. It is a truly wonderful organization and you can check them out online at ic.org. Truth, Love and Light to all! Dod Smith
I, for one, am very excited about the Institute bringing religious understanding and hope for tolerance and open mindedness in the future to our area. I'd love to hear more about EVERYTHING that is going to be offered there!!! It would be really helpful if you could post more about the exact location and things that are going to be offered there!! I'll definitely be visiting!!!
I for one, a taxpayer of Grayson County would like to thank The Oracle Institute for not persuing any monetary settlement in this event. This shows the heart of Laura George and The Oracle Institute. Laura George I find is a soft spoken women who roars like a lioness protecting her cubs with her words and actions. Thank you for preserving the Religious Freedom in Grayson County.
Sincerely, Melissa Blevins
Dear Laura,
Thank You for keeping us informed but most of all Thank You for taking the required action to see this Beautiful mission is able to go forward. It required conviction, courage and wisdom. I have never met you (I certainly hope to ...) but I have watched your video and read your words and watched this play out ... Your heart is good and pure as is your vision. You act from Love.
I understand that there are people in the area who are afraid of this place. That fear comes not from what they know about you or what this place will be BUT from what they do not know and what they do not understand. That fear comes from what they they most fear might be behind this place ... evil. They believe with all their hearts ... it is a belief that cannot be ignored, dismissed or minimized ... it is a belief that requires respect and attention ... only time ... time for "Fruits of the tree" to bear witness as to the goodness of this place ...
This place will be a place where those with Love in their hearts, God is Love, who wish nothing more, or less, than to share the Love and make that Love manifest in this world in ways which respect all of life and all people ... to provide a place were we have the opportunity to be our best and to engage in activity of the highest intent ... allowing full transparency (nothing hidden or secretive) allowing inclusion (everyone invited) ... such a place will be filled with people with Love in their hearts and Peace as the number one goal. Yes??? Am I correct that the only thing that will not be tolerated at this place will be actions that are harmful (or initiatory force)??? If so, this is a place of Great significance and I look forward to becoming a part of this place (not sure yet how that will happen exactly).
I see this as such a truly GRAND moment in time ... a GRAND moment in history THANK YOU so very much for all that you have given, of yourself (your time and energy) ... to date ... and all that is going to be required in the days, weeks and years ahead. Time for me to start becoming more directly involved.
Much Love & Peace to All Always
Bev
dear laura, from the moment i heard of the efforts you have undertaken, i knew there could be only one outcome and that would be success! i am so proud of you and although this is just the beginning of what i am sure is to become a tremendous adventure, it surely will be a legacy and blueprint for a future full of wonder, joy, and surprise! i hope you are able to take care of yourself and breathe! well done!
Laura,
It’s been a long hard road hasn’t it?
I know at times the darkness was overwhelming
the load to heavy to bear
I know the road, at times, seemed endless
To steep to climb
Yet you did not falter nor give up
Words cannot convey how proud of you I am
My eyes are moist with tears of joy for you now
May you never again have to walk such a long dark road.
if you believe in the one true God , the God of the bible , then you should know that in these last days that we are living in, that many religions will spring up, decieving many. there is only one God,not many. Jesus said that no one will come to the father except by me. satan loves to decieve people thru fake religions.no doubt you are a highly educated person who believes in what you are doing , but unless you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ ,and accept him as your savior, then when your life is over , you will be doomed to hell.
I would like to express our best wishes for your endeavours in Grayson County. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to stand up to people who are determined to quash your beliefs and eradicate your right to answer your own spiritual calling--especially when you're making your stand in a place where people feel that the rest of the world is not watching. People commit the most heinous crimes when they believe no one is looking... My advice would be to make sure the good people of Grayson know the world is watching--and that they will have to answer for their actions.
Below is the letter I sent to The Roanoke Times on July 13, 2011:
To the Editor:
I was truly appalled after reading your article concerning Laura George's interfaith retreat and the about-face taken by Grayson County. It is obvious to me that the Grayson County Planning Commission had given a green light to Ms. George's educational center only to be unduly swayed by certain religious groups.
I am certain that the original framers of the constitution did not intend for any particular religious group to be able to say who could or could not practice their own religion, even in Grayson County! I found it especially disturbing that a responsible public official such as the sheriff would attempt to label her Oracle Intitute as "another Branch Davidian compound". Seriously, what does he really know about the Oracle Institute or even the Branch Davidians for that matter? I suspect few of those who chose to protest against the retreat have a clue what it's really about but I suspect it's based on fear that it is different from their own religion. It is not only hypocrisy but unconstitutional.
Perhaps those opposed to Ms. George should pray for true enlightenment, then maybe they would learn to "Love thy neighbor as thyself". I'll take peace over ignorance any time.
Imagine you've been a Christian all your life and you move to a new city. They have lots of churches, but none of them are Christian. You and your family and friends want to start a Christian Church so you can worship there. BUT the town council says you can't do that because people around there won't like it. You're not like them. They come to the planning meeting and call you a heretic, a witch, refuse to shake your hand or talk to you. Doesn't sound good does it? You'd try to change it wouldn't you?
I know many people like you. I'm one of them. If it weren't for people like Laura, we would have to keep hiding for fear of being called names, refused jobs, and have our neighbors shun us. She is one of the people trying to change this. We are all good people, searching for God on our own terms. Religion without Politics, just the Love of Light and Goodness. There are many of us waiting for this country to recognize our right to Worship in the Church of OUR choice, not theirs. Still waiting for our Freedom of Religion. Still waiting...
Look up Communism.
My ancestors fled Europe to gain Freedom of Religion, and are still being oppressed. You are afraid of anyone who doesn't think exactly like you. That is called being paranoid (look it up also). No one is trying to take away YOUR beliefs, they are just fighting for theirs. Do you think Jesus asked the sick and blind what religion they were in before he healed them? No, he only asked that they have FAITH!
The people at Oracle have faith, and a lot of hope that they will be allowed to practice it.
Why ask where the IRS is when it comes to a group that wants to help people find God on their terms? Does anyone in Fundamentalist religion question the 700 Club? Billy Graham? the Empire of Jerry Falwell?
Those groups, and many others, funnel MILLIONS of your dollars to LOBBYISTS in WASHINGTON! Do you really believe that God needs money? Do the preachers live in single-wide trailers behind modest churches? No, they are wealthy and political. Open your eyes! The Oracle does not seek wealth or political power. They only seek FREEDOM OF RELIGION.
You may benefit from reading our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Nothing communist about religious freedom - in fact the opposite.
It is communist countries that restrict religious expression.
I am but one of a number of people on the same spiritual journey: folks who have found that as they get older, the religion they were raised to believe in no longer fits. Folks who discover the hypocracy and are trying to discover the truth about God. There is but one God who serves all faiths, many paths to the same end. I have been searching to start a "church" that would embrace all people, free everyone from the God of fear and retribution and discover the God of light who is glorified by all of creation. I would like to talk to and join with like-minded people. More and more frequently I encounter people who are traveling the same road of discovery or questioning. Who else is out there?
Great the perfect place for all of those who believe they've enlightened themselves to being their own god. Where they can take all the best from all religions and meld them into a NON-religion. More pablem puking liberals running around thrusting their distorted views on religion on the Christian world. The problem here is that your views are severely distorted. It's not religion you so much as fear, but the fact being a christian is a relationship with Christ. You'd no sooner have that kind of relationship than to determine that you do only what feels good to you. Melding all religions together doesn't make them all right. There is only one way to the Father,and heaven, and that's through Christ alone, not budda, mohamed, et al.
Best wishes for you all, on your national holiday, April Fool's day. For only a fool says there is no God!
I'll say a prayer for you.
My wife and I, who have produced one good Catholic citizen (and a Special Minister to boot) are starting to get a little irritated at being told that celibacy (which is not synonymous with chastity) is somehow superior to the married state. Those who extol the virtues of celibacy need to remember that they owe their very existence to the (presumably) inferior married state. Jesus may have said that if a man looks upon a woman to lust after her, verily he says unto us that he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. That may indeed be so, but what Jesus does not make clear is whether the man has thereby done anything wrong. And, did he not also say that a man "shall leave his mother and cleave to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh"? A good job that nobody took a lot of notice of St. Paul's pronouncements on the subject - otherwise the human race would have died out during the first century AD.
My God does not object to anything at all. My God is the spirit of love and IS life. My God allows all things into existence. Importantly, my God makes no moral or social demands and owns no dogma. We, as human beings, create our own moral compasses. We decide our own pracitical set of rules. When we all understand that we are all one being and put that understanding into practice, that will be enlightenment. My God couldn't care less. No matter how we proceed, My God is eternal and I am also as I exist within My God. So do you. My God looks at me through your eyes and looks at you through mine.
What an interesting world we live in today! After having submitted the above letter to The Roanoke Times I came to The Oracle Institute's web site here and was SO impressed with all I read and learned that I felt I must contact Laura. Well folks, after quite a bit of back and forth correspondence and reading her most wonderful books, The Truth and The Love, I quickly realized what a courageous, intelligent, dedicated and gifted person Laura is so I felt more than compelled to join The Oracle Institute. I am now a volunteer in the capacity of writing some freelance articles for The Oracle Institute and I very much look forward to developing an ongoing dialogue with all who come here. By the way folks, we are now listed in the communities directory of The Fellowship of Intentional Communities, of which I am a member. It is a truly wonderful organization and you can check them out online at ic.org. Truth, Love and Light to all! Dod Smith
I, for one, am very excited about the Institute bringing religious understanding and hope for tolerance and open mindedness in the future to our area. I'd love to hear more about EVERYTHING that is going to be offered there!!! It would be really helpful if you could post more about the exact location and things that are going to be offered there!! I'll definitely be visiting!!!
I for one, a taxpayer of Grayson County would like to thank The Oracle Institute for not persuing any monetary settlement in this event. This shows the heart of Laura George and The Oracle Institute. Laura George I find is a soft spoken women who roars like a lioness protecting her cubs with her words and actions. Thank you for preserving the Religious Freedom in Grayson County.
Sincerely, Melissa Blevins
Dear Laura,
Thank You for keeping us informed but most of all Thank You for taking the required action to see this Beautiful mission is able to go forward. It required conviction, courage and wisdom. I have never met you (I certainly hope to ...) but I have watched your video and read your words and watched this play out ... Your heart is good and pure as is your vision. You act from Love.
I understand that there are people in the area who are afraid of this place. That fear comes not from what they know about you or what this place will be BUT from what they do not know and what they do not understand. That fear comes from what they they most fear might be behind this place ... evil. They believe with all their hearts ... it is a belief that cannot be ignored, dismissed or minimized ... it is a belief that requires respect and attention ... only time ... time for "Fruits of the tree" to bear witness as to the goodness of this place ...
This place will be a place where those with Love in their hearts, God is Love, who wish nothing more, or less, than to share the Love and make that Love manifest in this world in ways which respect all of life and all people ... to provide a place were we have the opportunity to be our best and to engage in activity of the highest intent ... allowing full transparency (nothing hidden or secretive) allowing inclusion (everyone invited) ... such a place will be filled with people with Love in their hearts and Peace as the number one goal. Yes??? Am I correct that the only thing that will not be tolerated at this place will be actions that are harmful (or initiatory force)??? If so, this is a place of Great significance and I look forward to becoming a part of this place (not sure yet how that will happen exactly).
I see this as such a truly GRAND moment in time ... a GRAND moment in history THANK YOU so very much for all that you have given, of yourself (your time and energy) ... to date ... and all that is going to be required in the days, weeks and years ahead. Time for me to start becoming more directly involved.
Much Love & Peace to All Always
Bev
I am so happy for your successful accomplishment. I believe that many will benefit from your hard work, even long after you have gone home.
Love and Light,
Nazeelah
dear laura, from the moment i heard of the efforts you have undertaken, i knew there could be only one outcome and that would be success! i am so proud of you and although this is just the beginning of what i am sure is to become a tremendous adventure, it surely will be a legacy and blueprint for a future full of wonder, joy, and surprise! i hope you are able to take care of yourself and breathe! well done!
all my love to you and yours,
gary r. welsh
Laura,
It’s been a long hard road hasn’t it?
I know at times the darkness was overwhelming
the load to heavy to bear
I know the road, at times, seemed endless
To steep to climb
Yet you did not falter nor give up
Words cannot convey how proud of you I am
My eyes are moist with tears of joy for you now
May you never again have to walk such a long dark road.
Mystic Dave
Ecuador
I am so moved by your words... and your vision...
Love,
Olivia
if you believe in the one true God , the God of the bible , then you should know that in these last days that we are living in, that many religions will spring up, decieving many. there is only one God,not many. Jesus said that no one will come to the father except by me. satan loves to decieve people thru fake religions.no doubt you are a highly educated person who believes in what you are doing , but unless you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ ,and accept him as your savior, then when your life is over , you will be doomed to hell.
I would like to express our best wishes for your endeavours in Grayson County. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to stand up to people who are determined to quash your beliefs and eradicate your right to answer your own spiritual calling--especially when you're making your stand in a place where people feel that the rest of the world is not watching. People commit the most heinous crimes when they believe no one is looking... My advice would be to make sure the good people of Grayson know the world is watching--and that they will have to answer for their actions.
Morgaine, ADO
Below is the letter I sent to The Roanoke Times on July 13, 2011:
To the Editor:
I was truly appalled after reading your article concerning Laura George's interfaith retreat and the about-face taken by Grayson County. It is obvious to me that the Grayson County Planning Commission had given a green light to Ms. George's educational center only to be unduly swayed by certain religious groups.
I am certain that the original framers of the constitution did not intend for any particular religious group to be able to say who could or could not practice their own religion, even in Grayson County! I found it especially disturbing that a responsible public official such as the sheriff would attempt to label her Oracle Intitute as "another Branch Davidian compound". Seriously, what does he really know about the Oracle Institute or even the Branch Davidians for that matter? I suspect few of those who chose to protest against the retreat have a clue what it's really about but I suspect it's based on fear that it is different from their own religion. It is not only hypocrisy but unconstitutional.
Perhaps those opposed to Ms. George should pray for true enlightenment, then maybe they would learn to "Love thy neighbor as thyself". I'll take peace over ignorance any time.
William T. Smith
Imagine you've been a Christian all your life and you move to a new city. They have lots of churches, but none of them are Christian. You and your family and friends want to start a Christian Church so you can worship there. BUT the town council says you can't do that because people around there won't like it. You're not like them. They come to the planning meeting and call you a heretic, a witch, refuse to shake your hand or talk to you. Doesn't sound good does it? You'd try to change it wouldn't you?
I know many people like you. I'm one of them. If it weren't for people like Laura, we would have to keep hiding for fear of being called names, refused jobs, and have our neighbors shun us. She is one of the people trying to change this. We are all good people, searching for God on our own terms. Religion without Politics, just the Love of Light and Goodness. There are many of us waiting for this country to recognize our right to Worship in the Church of OUR choice, not theirs. Still waiting for our Freedom of Religion. Still waiting...
Look up Communism.
My ancestors fled Europe to gain Freedom of Religion, and are still being oppressed. You are afraid of anyone who doesn't think exactly like you. That is called being paranoid (look it up also). No one is trying to take away YOUR beliefs, they are just fighting for theirs. Do you think Jesus asked the sick and blind what religion they were in before he healed them? No, he only asked that they have FAITH!
The people at Oracle have faith, and a lot of hope that they will be allowed to practice it.
Why ask where the IRS is when it comes to a group that wants to help people find God on their terms? Does anyone in Fundamentalist religion question the 700 Club? Billy Graham? the Empire of Jerry Falwell?
Those groups, and many others, funnel MILLIONS of your dollars to LOBBYISTS in WASHINGTON! Do you really believe that God needs money? Do the preachers live in single-wide trailers behind modest churches? No, they are wealthy and political. Open your eyes! The Oracle does not seek wealth or political power. They only seek FREEDOM OF RELIGION.
You may benefit from reading our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Nothing communist about religious freedom - in fact the opposite.
It is communist countries that restrict religious expression.
Laura
I am but one of a number of people on the same spiritual journey: folks who have found that as they get older, the religion they were raised to believe in no longer fits. Folks who discover the hypocracy and are trying to discover the truth about God. There is but one God who serves all faiths, many paths to the same end. I have been searching to start a "church" that would embrace all people, free everyone from the God of fear and retribution and discover the God of light who is glorified by all of creation. I would like to talk to and join with like-minded people. More and more frequently I encounter people who are traveling the same road of discovery or questioning. Who else is out there?
I just recently heard of this Group Laura, Good luck to you.
It amazes me how some people are ruled By fear and absolutism.
How is it that people are intimidated by other folks Worshiping in the way they choose ?
It is strange to me, I simply am not offended by someone being Christian BUT Some (not all) Christians just can not Tolerate others.
Anyway before I rant (haha!) good Luck to you and Blessed Be
Brave and Noble Anonymous, were is your name.
My name is Daniel Michael.
I am of What some call an Alternative religious Leaning.
You say were is the IRS I say were is your name.
If you are going to Troll good people you mine as well use some kind of name.
"The “Peace Pentagon” will be a place of interfaith study and worship, and a research center for issues of social justice."
SOUNDS LIKE COMMUNISM!!
WHERE'S THE IRS? WHY ARE NON-PROFIT SO CALLED RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS ALLOWED TO PROFIT? WHAT KIND OF SCAM/SHAM IS THIS??
Great the perfect place for all of those who believe they've enlightened themselves to being their own god. Where they can take all the best from all religions and meld them into a NON-religion. More pablem puking liberals running around thrusting their distorted views on religion on the Christian world. The problem here is that your views are severely distorted. It's not religion you so much as fear, but the fact being a christian is a relationship with Christ. You'd no sooner have that kind of relationship than to determine that you do only what feels good to you. Melding all religions together doesn't make them all right. There is only one way to the Father,and heaven, and that's through Christ alone, not budda, mohamed, et al.
Best wishes for you all, on your national holiday, April Fool's day. For only a fool says there is no God!
I'll say a prayer for you.
Rob K.
My wife and I, who have produced one good Catholic citizen (and a Special Minister to boot) are starting to get a little irritated at being told that celibacy (which is not synonymous with chastity) is somehow superior to the married state. Those who extol the virtues of celibacy need to remember that they owe their very existence to the (presumably) inferior married state. Jesus may have said that if a man looks upon a woman to lust after her, verily he says unto us that he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. That may indeed be so, but what Jesus does not make clear is whether the man has thereby done anything wrong. And, did he not also say that a man "shall leave his mother and cleave to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh"? A good job that nobody took a lot of notice of St. Paul's pronouncements on the subject - otherwise the human race would have died out during the first century AD.
Michael Barley
My God does not object to anything at all. My God is the spirit of love and IS life. My God allows all things into existence. Importantly, my God makes no moral or social demands and owns no dogma. We, as human beings, create our own moral compasses. We decide our own pracitical set of rules. When we all understand that we are all one being and put that understanding into practice, that will be enlightenment. My God couldn't care less. No matter how we proceed, My God is eternal and I am also as I exist within My God. So do you. My God looks at me through your eyes and looks at you through mine.
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