It’s been all over the news lately. A group of plump, smug Episcopal male elders, puffed with their own authority, want to create a second Episcopalean entity in the United States that will bar the ordination of gay and lesbian priests. (Why, I might ask, are the people who think this way always men?)
What are they thinking? Apparently not all religious authorities have learned that progress cannot be made by following the path of hatred, bias and exclusion. They want the comfort of sitting in services where people who are not like them are not welcome. I am not a Christian but as I understand it, Christ did not favor that kind of outlook as a path to spiritual wholeness. If heaven is populated only by the straight – well, it won’t be a very interesting place, will it?
I might refer the bigoted authorities to an article, “Churchmen Demand Negro Separation,” that appeared in the New York Times way back on October 3, 1907. Back then, an Episcopal splinter group wanted to bar African-Americans from positions of authority in their church. Today, similar retro-thinkers want to bar gay people. At least this kind of bigotry is part of a tradition – even though it is the worst kind of tradition.
Gentlemen, keep the bigger picture. Look back over the last century and see what you are doing. Has progress ever been made by bigotry? Has goodness ever resulted from hatred?
Emerson might have said that such small thinking is a natural result of the divisional structure of all religions – the “us vs. them” dichotomy that arises from the central conceit that members of one faith are entitled to enter the kingdom of heaven, while others are stopped at the door.
Emerson and Thoreau might also say that hatred will continue to exist as long as all people do not learn to walk outside, look up at the sky, and see that God is equally available to all.
That is too much to hope for in calendar year 2008 – or in calendar year 2050, for that matter. But at least we can start on that path today, by not hating our fellow travelers on the roadway of life.
Most modern religions base themselves in exclusivity, not in love. Regardless of the good intentions each started with, almost every religion has been corrupted by their own inability to accept the other beliefs. This ostracizing theology masked as righteousness detracts religion from its fundamental purpose of being a bridge between God and humans.
Whether it is in a religious or secular context, having a set of ideas that cannot be denied or disputed introduces a kind of ignorance exemplified by Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.” One only needs to extend the role of those cave dwellers to exemplify modern day religious fanatics who only know what their doctrines dictate to them. Religion will always need a basic set of principles on which to base its practices on, and religious denominations exist as a result of different interpretations of those sets. The only way for religion to exist and ultimately fulfill its original purpose of bringing people closer to God would be to make room for an inclusive element not found in today’s religious institutions.
A different, realistic solution needs to be explored for the modern world: a simple return to an individual, non-institutional relationship with God. By focusing one’s belief in God rather than in the systematic stronghold of an organized religion, a deeper, more meaningful connection with Him awaits.
Posted by: Silvia T | February 03, 2009 at 02:34 AM