One of the main benefits people receive from following the
social and moral laws and rules of religion is confirmation of their identity
of being a good person, so this identity can successfully ward off the feelings
of inadequacy, guilt, shame, and the feeling of being unloved. In this approach
there is no real inner experience of the deeper benefits of following these
laws, such as the pure grace and love of God, freedom in the spirit,
transcendence, etc. Following social laws is certainly of some benefit to the
individual and society, and creates order, but does not necessarily create
spirituality and love in the heart, which is the foundation of real benefit.
Also, there are all the spiritual laws to consider, and many do not even
approach these!
Progressive people often rebel against following the laws of
God when this compliance is used for ego validation. Yet their own inner
feelings of guilt result from this same attitude and approach to the laws of
God. They intellectually realize that this is a flawed approach to following
the laws of God, but emotionally it is still what has been ingrained and
conditioned into their psyche.
This approach revolves around the idea that your value and
worth is dependent upon how well you follow the letter of religious law, as it
is dictated to you by parents, teachers, and leaders of religion. In this approach,
there is no real spiritual mercy, grace, love, or forgiveness. The sense of
inadequacy engendered by falling short of this standard and other man-made
standards is the driving force behind almost all worldly accomplishments, as
people rush to compensate for this sense of weakness. The result is a hollow
and materialistic culture filled with artificial and alienated people.
No comments:
Post a Comment