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    %RELIGIOUS CONFORMITY COMMUNITY REQUIRE UNIFORM+960303
 %PERCEPTION EXPERIENCES EXPRESSIONS VISIONS IDEALS+960303
    %VALUES DECEPTION DISHONESTY PRETENSE COLLUSION 960303

     Often religious communities seek to define themselves
in exclusive ways; e.g.,  by who must be excluded from the
community  to assure the purity of it.   Membership may be
limited to those people who have been "born again" in some
particular  way,  with some particular vision,   involving
some particular transformation.   People who have not been
"born  again"   in  the prescribed way do not  belong  and
cannot  belong,  because of how the community has  defined
itself through exclusionary rules.

     When  the essential prerequisites to belonging  to  a
community   have  to  do  with  uniformity  of   religious
experiences, perceptions, expressions, visions, ideals and
values  it  is inevitable that there will be pressures  to
conform---and  seem  to  be  like  others  in  regards  to
religious experiences,  perceptions, expressions, visions,
ideals  and  values.    What counts  is  appearances---not
realities.     This   inevitably   leads   to   deception,
dishonesty,    pretense,    collusions,    addiction   and
codependent support of them.

     Too  often religious leaders promote human  conflicts
having  to  do with exclusive rules of  membership  within
their religious communities.    They promote conflict, not
conflict resolution.  They believe that to be "good" is to
have  taken  the "right"  side in a conflict and  to  have
worked for that "righteous" side to win.   They believe it
is "evil" to work as peacemakers who seek to truly resolve
conflicts   between   conflicting  ideals,    values   and
principles.    They  believe  that  such  peacemaking  and
conflict  resolution entails "evil compromises"  which are
contrary to the "Will of God".

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