Fear

"So much of religion seems to be about fear:  

fear of going to hell; 
fear of having bad theology; 
fear of not satisfying your end of the bargain so God will favor you and bless you; 
fear of others finding out how much you're not really like the person you project and pretend to be; 
fear of trusting your own inner guidance and fear of thinking for yourself; 
fear of not upholding the expectations of your religious sub-culture; 
fear of sexuality; 
fear of people who are different; fear of the world; 
fear of messing up; 
fear of not being good enough... spiritual enough... godly enough.  

I don't know which is worse - the way religion makes us afraid to die, or the way it makes us afraid to live."  

- Jim Palmer, Notes from (Over) The Edge

Compassion trumps "perfect" theology

Theology bows down at the feet of compassion. 

Read this article - In disfigured man, Pope Francis saw Jesus

Clanging Cymbals...

“See the light in others, and treat them as if that is all you see.” - Wayne Dyer 

This thought that I came across today, was a good reminder for me. 

Focusing on darkness, soils one's mind. Unchecked, it morphs into another manifestation of a "right-er/better-er than thou" mentality. 

Thanks, but no thanks. 

It's no news that religion has always put people in bondage, under the banner of God. But fighting negativity with negativity has never yielded freedom for anyone. 

Rocked by the revelation of grace, the German priest Martin Luther broke out of the Catholic system (this, by the way, triggered the Protestant movement, which is now splintered into thousands of denominations). But since he was primarily driven by dogma and his rightness, rather than love, he was known for his deep anti-Semitism. 

So, the ultimate goal is not about having a "correct" theology (Christianity has plenty of versions of what "correct" is and isn't). It is, and has always been, love. Without love (who God is), we are merely clanging cymbals, whether we are proficient Bible thumpers, or “deep” contemplatives.