Crises of Faith

    I've written in the past of people who I like to call spiritual vultures.  There are the people ready to sweep in on someone in a crisis of faith and get them to convert to their religion.   They exist primarily in Christianity and mostly among the Fundamentalist sects nowdays.  Yet it seems that some Ex-Mormons when they find someone is questioning their own beliefs are ready to jump down the individual's throat and tell them how wrong the questoner is.   It seems there's something in every human that makes him want the questioning individual to agree with thim.

     It is not for me to say whether any religion, spiritual path or philosophy is valid so long as it is not a danger to the practitioner, others, or the community as a whole.   I fully acknowledge the possibility that I may be wrong in my beliefs, whatever they may be. I've found they've changed as I've gotten older, although I still hang on to to a "Zen" writing method.    At the same time I want to scream at the people doing this to stop.  Yet if I did that I'd be no better than the people engaging in the spiritual vulture behavior that I abhor.

    I realize there are those who say I play a dangerous game with my eternal soul, but such people are those who try to convert others with the threat of eternal punishment, and I do not believe they should be heeded.  Such people may detest the writings of Niccolo Machiavelli, it seems they eagerly embrace his tactics when it comes to spiritual pursuits.  Does a God that created the universe and everyghing it contains really believe that it's better to be feared than loved? 

     Perhaps it may not be sensational and perhaps we wil not see spectacular mystical experiences such as those that happened to Paul or supposedly happened to the Buddha, but letting people take their own quiet path of exploration seems a surer way.

       While I can not prove that there is something in us that lives beyond our deaths in any way that a scientist would except, I do think we have a spirit, even if as die-hard atheists are likely to maintain it's nothing more than our interpretation of our thoughts, experiences, and memories.   Even so, I'm sure almost everyone would agree there is something within us all that makes us more than a collection of our parts.

       There are times to challenge others in order for their growth and their are times when a person is already challenged enough with things as they currently are.  I do not think a crisis of faith is the right time to be forcing your opinions on another individual.

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