Chance = Change

An apology is in order.

Days ago, I described a character in a book I read.  A creature conceived and designed by a marvelous, imaginative writer, Dan Brown, in his book The Lost Symbol, another of his marvelous religio/mystical  thrillers, along the lines of his Da Vinci Code .

I put the quasi word "religio" in italics, because Dan Brown's books are not truly religious at all. They are potboilers meant to sell, to titillate and to engage avid readers of lurid fiction. I count myself among those readers because I love books of all kinds, and i adore a good yarn spun well.  I also enjoy vaguely mystical, mysterious swipes at all matters that even vaguely whiff of "spirit" because Religion (with a capital R) is a vast subject, one whose vastness covers serious, fine peoples' beliefs as well as crack-pot, odd and minority held views and what people believe in fascinates me no end.

Matters of the Spirit are deeply important to me.  I also feel, as with all deeply important subjects, one must step back and attempt to maintain a sense of objectivity and humor about them...at all times. If we cannot laugh at ourselves ,even in our most serious endeavors, then we lose the ability to see clearly.

Without objectivity and humor, we lose the ability to truly understand others' points of view, and when we lose that ability, we cross the line from our own respectfully held beliefs to intolerance of others'. And intolerance of others' beliefs is unacceptable to me, no matter whose side of the beliefs one is on: we must always at least attempt to understand and respect the way others see the world.

And a comment I wrote about the central evil character in The Lost Symbol looked like it might have crossed that line.

The evil guy was of course over-the-top Dan Brown vintage evil, complete with a shaved head, tattoos all over his body and the  most focused of all evil agendas: to kill in the most tortured and painful ways possible each and every person in the  novel who got in his way...he is a bad guy, through and through, and he is bad in the name of some sort of religious  beliefs he holds that finally have nothing whatsoever to do with any actual religion, but that come from the roots of a medieval Christianity that spawned the symbols everyone is looking for in the book. I said (about this character) "He reminds me of some Evangelical Christians I know."  ......and that was a mean and inaccurate thing to say.

I know no Evangelical Christians who are like that evil guy in the book.

And I certainly did not mean that I think ALL Evangelical Christians are like that.

 If anyone reading my blog thinks I meant that, then I truly do apologize for leading them anywhere near that understanding: it is not what I meant to imply at all.

Any religion, taken to the extremes of its beliefs, can become fanatical. Fanaticism can cause intolerance and fear of others. Fear of others can lead to persecution of those others. And there are people in EVERY RELIGION who do very bad things in the name of it.  No matter what the religion is.

There are wise and good Christians...and there are intolerant and mean ones...there are wise and good Muslims, and there are fanatical, destructive ones...there are wise and good Jews and there are ones who are not...there are wise and good Wiccans and there are dark witches as well....there are the good and the bad on every spiritual path......of course all Buddhists are perfect  (that was a joke....).

I love good people, who do good for others, who include others in their loving lives, who trust in the basic goodness of mankind.  I do not like mean and cruel people, no matter what they say they believe in.   If a person says they are any specific religion, and then they behave in ways that shut others out, harm others, dis-include others, then I think their religion does not do them much good. And I am sad for them. But I do not dis-include them in my life.....unless they try to wipe me off the face of the planet. Then, I need to build a fence, lock a door or move to another neighborhood.

But first, I will meditate and pray for them because their cruelty towards me...teaches me to  listen to what is scaring them.  If they scare me, I am curious: what do they fear?

So - again, I apologize for making some think I was lumping all Evangelicals in the category of "evil people"....please forgive me....and try to understand: I was talking about that guy in the book, and not about you, or anyone else I know who I love, respect, and want very much to never hurt in any way.

I need you all in my life. So , please stay there. All of you. (or come to SF and visit...that would be even better!)

Love,
Evalyn

Labels: Religions/Spiritual Matters