Life of the spirit

It's a wonderful thing to discover true spiritual life. There are many different ways to have this experience and they are not all via formal religious belief or practise. The Christian story inspires many and for these people, this is their path if it leads them to humility, loving-kindness to all beings and the ability to refrain from judging others.

What worries me about Christianity and the other "religions of the book" Judaism and Muslim belief, is that too many times this does not seem to be the outcome. In fact often it appears to be the opposite, with not only a general condemnation of all who do not subscribe to their particular set of beliefs, but also with some, a tendency towards a lack of compassion when faced with problems such as refugees and displaced people, or anyone who they encounter who is a little different from them.

And yet there are many, many practitioners of these faiths who are not like this, but are humble, compassionate, merciful and giving people. So I wonder what it is that causes others within these traditions to so obviously lack these qualities. 

With Christianity, I think that it is the escape clause that says we are all sinners by nature, but if we "believe" in the risen Christ, we will be saved fom our sins. That means as long as you "believe" and keep on repeating how much you do believe, you can basically do whatever you like to your fellow human because you have met your selection criteria for an eternal life by simply believing the Christian story. This doesn't require much reflection or discipline in the way we live our lives on a daily basis. Compassion, loving-kindness and forebearance come from reflection which leads to true insight and wisdom, not from repeating statements of faith. 

I find it ironical that some Christians actually interpret events in the world which destroy whole groups of people, as being the will of God, particularly if the affected group are not Christians. The irony is that Jesus taught love and compassion and this vengeful attitude would seem to be the opposite of such teachings.

My last word is that this is not a condemnation of Christianity or Christians as such, but a lament that unwise and simplistic interpretations of religious beliefs can do more harm than good in the world.