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Thursday, February 14, 2013

When religion is at its best

Religion is at its best when it becomes a countercultural force; when it has no power, only influence, no authority except that which it earns, no claim to people's attention other than by the way it creates values that cannot be found elsewhere. It is then that it loses its perennial tendency to corruption and becomes again what it once was - a startling new voice, redeeming us from our loneliness, framing our existence with meaning, and teaching us to remember what so much else persuades us to forget - that the possibilities of happiness are all around us. - Jonathan Sachs

3 comments:

  1. Wonderful reflections. I agree. Religion is at its best when its followers are known not for what they oppose but for what they approve, when God receives glory and the world is made a better place and society is healed and made whole.

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  2. Erich Fromm wrote that it is the purpose of "all the true religions" to help human beings overcome their narcissism.

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