Saving society from religious wingnuts

I wish I could take credit for the headline, but I must attribute it to Edmonton Sun columnist, Mindelle Jacobs, and her April 9 editorial. While her column focuses primarily on the polygamous commune in Bountiful, B.C., I'm convinced her sentiments resonate with people universally. This week alone in our backyard, we've got a radical rabbi hiding out in Canada being wanted by Israeli police in a bizarre child torture case, and a Boston priest pleading guilty to stalking Conan O'Brien.

Aside from the serious problem of how media headlines tend to vilify entire religious communities through the misuse of broad-sweeping labels ("rabbi", "priest"), an even deeper concern is how religious wingnuts come to be! What is it that precipitates these bizarre phenomenons of truth, lies and cruelty?

As I read these stories, I wonder if Mindelle would include me in her assessment of religious wingnuts. I am a person of profound convictions, I believe that God is alive and created the universe, I believe that my beliefs should shape my behaviors and I hope that they do. So where's the line between conviction and crazy?

We'll talk alot more about this question on the radio show Sunday night, for now, here are a couple responses.

The difference between conviction and crazy is this:

1) Genuine accountability - Being connected to people who I have given permission to speak pointedly and directly into my life. I feel refreshed when a friend has the guts to say it like they see it about how I treat myself and others. Usually their insights end up saving a piece of the planet that would otherwise be harmed by my blindness.

2) Remembering who the mortals are - I have a tendency to forget that I am a mortal human being. It's not hard to do. Our innate creative capacity allows us to discover and create so expansively that we can quickly begin to feel like the masters of our own domains. In reality, all that we are and have is a gift that has been given to us. Seems I keep confusing my terms of reference - mortal and God. There is only one of each and I'm not the one with the capital "G". Whenever I choose to elevate myself to the status of master of my domain, someone in society will get hurt. Whenever I remember that I am mortal, the pain in society subsides.

I think it is possible to save society from religious wingnuts. I'm choosing to begin by checking my own status.