If you believe in the evolution of religion and that each new religion that is created relies on those before it for their fundamental truths, then it might be easier to accept that as the human mind expands its capabilities, new and viable religions will form to accommodate the most intelligent among us. If you can’t fathom that, then maybe this - as we learn more and more about our brains, some of the basic principles of major religions come into focus more clearly. The call to love unconditionally and forgive unconditionally particularly fits this mold.
As advances in psychology continue, we frequently learn that the things we find unforgivable in others may not be the end result of free will as much as they are a product of the warped chemistry within our own minds. When we take a moment to recognize that we cannot truly know what lies inside a person’s head, we give ourselves the opportunity to stop judging for a moment and forgive the faults, large and small, that we may find personally unforgivable. Depression, obsession, defiance, and deceit all could be the result of bad brain chemistry, and while we should not forget what people do to us lest we be burned a second time, we should at least try to forgive their transgressions, whether they ask for forgiveness or not. Unconditional love IS unconditional, after all.
Religion adapts with the times.
As for chemistry, I only buy that to a point. Sure, we can be altered with chemicals but in the end, it’s still our free will that needs to override those chemicals so we don’t use chemicals as an excuse for wrongdoing/failure.
It’s off your point, I know, but I’m fascinated with the evolution of religion as a meme. It’s so obvious that religions germinate from each other (and, as Sam Harris puts it, cross-pollinate), and I’m intrigued to think of the faiths adapting to suit their environments.
The churches would have you believe in their absolute and unchanging sanctity, but we see the opposite all the time. The current moves toward inclusion and flexibility have little sanction in the official texts; but that angle plays well in a world where dogma and hard faith are losing their grip. 500 years ago we’d have seen no such thing.
Zombieslayer,
That is also true and extreme behavior should never be excused, but it does make it easier to forgive - though not to forget.
Wunelle,
I would like to go back to school and study theology if I had the money.