Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Must You Conform?

“There is no formal religion that does not insist, as its first requirement, on a confession of conformity. Nor is there, any longer, a religion that offers a path to Heaven other than the autobahn of submission. One and all, they have conspired, in the name of the Spirit, against the spirit of man; one and all, they have sold him into slavery. Under threat of damnation, hell-fire, they have ordered him to renounce protest, to forego revolt, to be passive, to surrender”

[Dr. Robert Lindner (1914-1956), Must You Conform?, written in 1956].


Shalom, Dena

7 comments:

Mammal_Mama said...

Dena, the conformity-thing interests me, especially as I was seen as somwhat "divisive" by some in my old church because I insisted that my child had a right to breastfeed wherever we happened to be.

Susan

Dena said...

Susan ~

It shows up everywhere, does it not? What sort of insecurity do we have in our beliefs, that we insist that others see exactly as we see..? Do we not know that we're meant to worship God in spirit and in truth, rather than in a particular place, and in a particular way?

As for feeding our children, why would God make the breasts, that perfect food-source, available and accessible, if not meant to be *used*...?

LOL, I nursed my 8 babies whenever they were hungry, wherever we were. In line at the bank, in a pew in church, on the floor of the grocery store, smack-dab in front of the canned peas, if need be. And if someone needed the can behind my head, I'd happily pass it right to them..!

"Divisive" means, "we, the adherents of group-think, see you, the defier of group-think, as a threat to our house of cards ... therefore we must divide you from us unless and until you can adhere to our mandates."

We can choose to love and forgive, knowing that they know not what they are doing ...

Shalom, Dena

cwtpmom said...

If you could would you conform to God? I don't know that I could all at once. That's why He leads us one tiny step at a time. All we need to do is stay on the path that he sets for us in our own understanding, when we're ready, in our own time, and according to our own will.
connie

Dena said...

Methinks you're on to something here, Connie..! :)

I'm grateful that He meets us where we are, and knows what we can bear. We have forever to be led into all truth. How utterly boring if we all got zapped with it, and then stared at each other, knowingingly, for the rest of eternity...!

Instead, I see an endless glory of knowing Him, knowing His truth, more and more...

Thanks for the co-pondering!

Shalom, Dena

cwtpmom said...

How could I be on to something that I've always believed and lived? Tis you, my dear. :-)

Anonymous said...

Vedy vedy eeentaresting...

(I will be back, fo' sure).

Dena said...

Delighted to see that you found my little corner ... I plan to more thoroughly investigate YOUR blog as well. I felt at home immediately. You have a wonderful balance of joy and irreverance!

Shalom, Dena