Religions—Healthy and Unhealthy
Religions aren’t “true” or “false,” but rather “healthy” or “unhealthy.” Healthy religions are about universal wisdom and love, about providing meaning in a way that opens your heart, sharpens your mind, and unclenches your fists. Healthy religion invites you to meet those of other religions and ask, “What can I learn from you?” rather than, “How can I get you to think like me?”
Unhealthy religions are about power and control, imposing meaning in a manner that inhibits questioning, doubt, or learning from those labeled as “other.” Unhealthy religions worship conformity: are you towing the line, staying true to tradition, upholding ancient opinions in the name of sacred truths?
Healthy religions have porous boundaries, welcoming the truth wherever it is found. Unhealthy religions have rigid boundaries and obsess over who is in and who is out, who can marry whom, and who can pee where.
A religion is often healthy and unhealthy at the same time.
Evil, when we are in its power, is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, even a duty.
Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace