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  %EXCLUSIVE RULES DEFENSIVE FEAR LEGALISM LAW LOVE+950910
   %PERSONAL COMMUNAL INTEGRITY HONESTY HEALTH EVIL+950910
   %EXCLUSIVE CLUB SEPARATION DISTINCTION REJECTION+950910
  %PRUDENT FEAR DECISIONS ACTIONS COERCIVE VIOLENCE 950910

     To  promote personal and communal integrity  we  must
often assess the integrity of:

     RULES           REGULATIONS         COMMANDMENTS

     TABOOS          INJUNCTIONS         PROHIBITIONS

     LAWS            DISCIPLINES         JUDGES

     COURTS          JUDICIARIES         LEGISLATION

     EXECUTIVES      LEGISLATURES        LEGISLATORS

     SCRIPTURES      RITUALS             TRADITIONS

     All  of the above in one way or another  "rule"   our
lives  and  will  here  be  referred  to  collectively  as
"rules"; although they are not all literally rules.

     To  promote  personal and communal integrity we  must
often asses the integrity of "rules";  meaning  everything
which "rules" our lives.

     Many rules have been designed with clear  intentions,
others  with less clear intentions.   Some rules may  have
been  initiated with intentions which have been  forgotten
and/or  the rules have been used in ways inconsistent with
the  original  intentions.     Often  the  consequences of
honoring  and living by a particular set of rules are  not
the intended consequences and/or the consequences are  not
recognized  as flowing from the honoring and living by the
particular  set of rules.   In any case it is important to
recognize,  name, describe and talk about the consequences
which  were  intended and/or which  actually  follow  from
people  seeking  and/or pretending to honor  and  live  by
various rules.

     Some  rules  are intended and/or are used to  set  up
distinctions and  separations  between "us"   and  "them".
Exclusive  clubs set up prerequisites for  membership  and
rules of behavior,  etiquette, dress, grooming, discourse,
and  life-style by which to keep clear who is a legitimate
member of the club and who is not.   Exclusive clubs often
have distinctive rituals,  mannerisms and initiation rites
by  which  they  separate themselves from  those  who  are
excluded  from the clubs.   The purpose of their rules  is
separation.  The fulfillment of the purpose of their rules
is  often self-righteousness,   alienation,  estrangement,
misunderstanding, judgementalism, condemnation, arrogance,
and pride which separates those inside the club from those
outside  the  club.   Not all exclusive clubs  are  called
clubs.

     The  exclusive club behavior pattern may be  observed
in professional   organizations,     adolescent   cliques,
neighborhoods,  schools, churches, ethnic groups, etc.  In
each  example  of exclusive club behavior there are  rules
which  help to define and maintain the separation  between
those inside the club and those outside the club.

     Not  all  rules have been instituted  to  define  and
maintain exclusive clubs.  Many rules have been instituted
to  promote  and protect personal and communal  integrity;
e.g.,  laws regarding: dishonesty,  deception, collusions,
conspiracies,  violence, coercion, stealing, rape, murder,
sexual harassment, arson, disturbing the peace, etc.    We
need  to  recognize  the difference  between  rules  which
promote and  protect personal and communal integrity,  and
rules  which  promote separations between  members  of  an
exclusive  club and those who are excluded from the  club.
Often  people who are seeking to maintain exclusive  clubs
pretend  that  their  alienative  rules  are  designed  to
promote   personal   and   communal   integrity.     Their
pretentions  need to be revealed to be what they in  truth
are.

     Often  rules are used to reject non-conformists  from
the fellowship of exclusive clubs,  rather than to promote
personal  and communal integrity.    Those people who  are
not willing to conform to  conformal  rules are defined to
be  not acceptable;   for to belong to the exclusive  club
entails  being  willing  to conform to rules  designed  to
distinguish between insiders and outsiders.

     Often  rules are defensive means motivated and guided
by  disintegrative fears which concentrate attention  upon
what  has  not  happened  and may  not  happen,  diverting
attention  away from positive actions which can be  chosen
and enacted.   Such defensive rules are often used in ways
which generate alienation and disintegration.

     Prudent fears guide people away from situations which
are  excessively  risky  and have a low likelihood of  any
gain. Disintegrative fears paralyze  rather  than motivate
learning   which  leads  to  wise  decisions  and  prudent
actions.     People  who  concentrate  on  rules  and  the
enforcement  of  rules are often motivated and  guided  by
disintegrative fears, rather than by love.

     Exclusive clubs of all forms are motivated and guided
by fear;  and generate fear, ignorance,  misunderstanding,
alienation, and both personal and communal disintegration.

     People who  are motivated and guided by love  do  not
form exclusive clubs.   They seek to promote both personal
and communal integration through true conflict  resolution
as peacemakers who transcend fear through love.

                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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