On self-righteousness

I think we as human beings should be able to disagree on issues without turning against each other. Obviously, this has usually not been the case throughout human history, which is why there continue to be wars and conflicts... and which is why religious institutions/communities continue to divide and go their separate ways.

One would think that institutions whose primary focus is supposed to be spiritual would distinguish themselves from the ways in which other earthly institutions act. Not so.

I think that so long as we continue to have the mentality that "ours is the right way, and the only way"... and that we are superior and preferred by God over all others (... in other words, that we are special), then we will continue to be blind to the idea that we are all One and headed in the same direction, albeit at different speeds.

I believe that it is precisely this mentality that will keep humans from evolving to the point where we can disagree in a manner that is so filled with love, understanding, kindness, and compassion that we can remain family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and yes... members of the same faith community.

Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the direction the Anglican Communion is heading. In my opinion, the reason for this is that the focus of the ongoing debate has been on "sin" (... the idea of "displeasing God") as dictated by tradition, a few passages in the Hebrew Scriptures, and a few passages in letters from a guy named Paul who lived 2,000 years ago. All of this has superceded love, understanding, kindness, and compassion -- all that "Jesus stuff".

Again, I just don't think we have evolved very much. We know what we need to do. We know what Jesus taught us to do. We just can't seem to do it on a large scale. We just can't seem to accept that our human differences are irrelevant, given that we are all One in the Spirit.