Saturday, February 28, 2015

True religion is where the rubber hits the road

Peter Morales wrote in the Fall, 2014 issue of UU World, "Religion, I have long believed, is much more about what we love than about what we think. The central religious task is to change hearts, not just opinions."

Religion is much more about what we do than what we love. Love is as love does. As Dr. Laura has said, "Feeling good, and doing good can be two different things." The key to success will be bringing Unitarian Universalist values (principles) into alignment with practices. Currently, there are huge gaps in values and practices and let's not forget that authentic religion is experienced where the rubber hits the road.

1 comment:

  1. I think Peter Morales misspoke and you are being little hard on him. UUs believe in deeds not creeds and his point that it's not what you think that matters, creeds, but what you value that matters. What you truly value will most likely lead to behavior, what you do. If you want to know what a person values, watch watch he/she does.

    However, I am not a big believer in free will because I am aware of peer pressure, and there are many instances where people act against their better judgment and deeper values because of social circumstances and other societal incentives. It is these external factors that explain human behavior better than individual autonomy and free will. So the better question might be, how do we created a society or social context within which people are incentivized to value the right things and do the the right things? "Love" has become a lazy word. It is easy to say but hard to apply and know what it means in specific instances. "The devil is in the details" as they say.

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