This is an excerpt from a book I'm reading Power vs. Force by Richard Dawkins That i think is relevant to the discussion:
"A statement may be true at a high level of understanding, but be incomprehensible to the average mind. Its value may therefor be corrupted when the statement is distorted by the limitations of the listener. This has been the fate of religions through the ages, when pronouncements originating from high levels of awareness were later misinterpreted by followers vested with authority.
Such distortions can be seen in the fundamentalist sects of any religion. The fundamentalist's interpretation of religious teachings stresses negativity, and is removed from this negativity only by truth. The lowest depictions of deity are of a god who is jealous, vengeful, and angry, a god of death far removed from the god of and love. The god of righteous negativity represents a glorification of the negative, and provides for his followers a disavowal of responsibility through justification of human cruelty and mayhem. In general pain and suffering increase as one nears the bottom levels of consciousness.
The truth of each level of consciousness is self-verifying in that each level has its native range of perception, which confirms what's already believed to be true. Thus, everyone feels justified in the viewpoints that underlie his actions and beliefs. That's the inherent danger of all righteousness: Anyone can be righteous, from the killer who justifies his rage, to the ecclesiastic demagogues and political extremists of all persuasions. By distorting context, it's possible to rationalize and justify almost any human behavior. All wars are stated to be righteous by their perpetrators."
|