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  %IDOLATROUS EXCLUSIVE RELIGIOUS LEADERS CHRISTIAN+971129                       
 %POWER CORRUPT CONTROL ADDICT CODEPENDENT EVIL SIN 971129                                       
                                                                                                                               
     Often  religious  leaders who get too close to God in                                                                     
their   own view,    become corrupted by   the   excessive                   
powers which they arrogate unto  themselves in their self-    
righteous excesses.    They come to believe that they hold       
the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, and believe that have a             
duty  to  keep  unqualified  people out of the Kingdom  of                                                                    
Heaven; and out of the  councils of power which govern the                                             
Way to the Kingdom of Heaven.      
                                                                                                                               
     Arrogant,    self-righteous   religious  leaders  are       
often  preoccupied   with  issues of  control;    in   the                                                           
manner   of addicts.     They  gather  around   themselves    
codependent  supporters  of:   them,    their   doctrines,                                                                     
rituals    and disciplines.      They  work  together   to                                                                     
form  addictive religious  organizations  which presume to                                                
govern  the   one and only Way to the Kingdom  of  Heaven.      
Their  powers  go from  their  hearts to their heads,  and                                             
they   lose  contact with  reality  ---  as  they   fixate                                                                     
upon   their addictive choices of tools to  control  their                                                
appearances.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                               
     Beware  of religious leaders who think too highly  of                                                                     
themselves  and their religious institutions ---   who are    
guilty  of  idolatry.    They cannot tell  the  difference                                     
between  the  Kingdom of Heaven and  their  own  religious                   
creations.     They  think that they know  the  difference                         
between who is in the Kingdom of Heaven and who is outside                                                                     
the Kingdom of Heaven; and that the difference is obvious.                                     
Only  people who have lost contact with reality think that                                                                    
the  difference  is  obvious,   and  are  proud  of  their                                     
superior ability to tell the difference.                                     
                                                                                                                               
     When   people are preoccupied with relative standings                                                              
---with   who  is better and who is lesser ---   they lose                                                                     
all sense of balance,   proportion and priorities.    They                                                                     
become preoccupied  with "either/or"   issues  having   to                                                                     
do  with:  in/out,    accepted/rejected,     saved/dammed,         
good/evil,   friend/foe,    etc.    Such  people  alienate                                       
themselves   from many others who could  help them to  see    
clearly  the spectrum  of  healthy alternatives which  are                                                                     
available    to   healthy   people  and   communities   of                                                                
integrity.     But  such "good"   people  are  too  "good"                                                                   
to  stoop  to be  in dialogue with charitable   people  of                                                                    
clear vision,  insight,  and  humane understanding.                                            
                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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