Posted by:
madeguy
(
)
Date: February 08, 2012 05:27PM
Religions have one central message, not usually stated, but resembling the following: ‘You need to improve, and you need us to help you; You’re no good as you are; Do what we say and you’ll have great reward; disobey and you go to hell.’ This seems to me to be the opposite of what church is supposed to be. Isn’t it about love, forgiveness, tolerance? If churches were really tolerant, they would love and respect people just as they are. If churches really understood love, they would love people whose beliefs and lifestyles are different.
There is something called unconditional love. This is supposed to be better than ‘regular’ love. Unconditional love is accepting of everything. Jesus was a model of unconditional love. He turned water into wine to help out his Mom at the wedding, spoke openly with a Samaritan woman, healed anyone who asked, and sat down to eat with ‘sinners’. Unconditional love is a somewhat rare quality.
What I’ve realized is that unconditional love is the only love. There is no other kind. Anything professed as ‘love’, but with conditions is not love. It is a counterfeit, professed by someone who wants you as part of their personal support system. Fail to provide what is wanted, and the ’love’ is withdrawn.
So, if it’s not unconditional love, it’s not really love at all. The purpose of religion should be to help people find unconditional love. If they’re going to stand in judgment of you for being a sinner, slacker or non-conformist, what do you need them for? You can get that anywhere.
So, has all the striving through years Mormonism improved me? When I sit quietly by myself in a dark room, eyes closed, I sense I’m exactly the same person I’ve always been. Awareness of the world is still the same. But letting go the belief that I need to improve or attain has been totally liberating. I have not devolved into evil. I exist. I am.
If I believe in a God, it is one who accepts me totally, just as I am, just as the sun shines on everyone the same, no questions asked.