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 %TRANSCEND DIVISIVE CONFLICTS BETTER GOOD EVIL SIN+960108
  %PERSONAL COMMUNAL INTEGRITY CHRISTIANITY CONFORM+960108
   %FRAGMENT PRIDE DIVIDE DIFFERENT RITUAL DOCTRINE+960108
    %AUTHORITY SCRIPTURE VIOLENCE WAR TERROR THREAT 960108

     Christianity,   which  is named in honor of  a  title
given    to   an   itinerant   non-conformist    religious
revolutionary from Nazareth  in Galilee,   has  fragmented
itself  into countless sects---each of which prides itself
on  the basis of what is its basis for being  divided  off
from the rest.    Christians'  pride within sects is often
rooted  in  what they have chosen as making them different
from each other;  rather than being based  upon what  they
have  chosen as the basis  for being together in love  and
reconciling service.  Consider the grounds for fragmenting
Christianity into countless sects:

     1. Geographic considerations: Galilee, Judea,
  Jerusalem, Rome, Constantinople . . .

     2. Rituals:  circumcision, baptisms, communion . . .

     3. Doctrines: trinity, law, faith, works, gifts . . .

     4. Authorities: scripture, people, institutions . . .

     5. Art forms: statues, paintings, icons, dance . . .

     6. Music: vocal, instrumental, drums, choral . . .

     7. Life styles: simple, sophisticated, costly . . .

     So long as people seek to be better than others it is
always easy to find grounds for considering oneself better
than  others---and to view many people as evil and  worthy
of destruction.   Seeking to be better tends to  encourage
human  divisive tendencies---and so to encourage  conflict
and violence.

     Personal and communal integrity is promoted by people
who seek  to find common grounds for working  together  in
cooperative  ways.   It is helpful to seek to identify and
demonstrate ideals,  values and principles upon which  the
broadest   possible  agreement  can  be  reached.     Such
agreement  cannot be used as the basis for  distinguishing
some  people  as  "better"  than other  people.   Decisive
people are preoccupied with which people are "better" than
other people;   who is "good"  and who is "evil".   Making
such  judgements is not an  essential  part  of  promoting
personal and communal integrity.
                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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