The Goal Of Spiritual Life Is Not

Institutions Are Not Pretty. Show Me A Pretty Government. Healing Is Wonderful, But The American Medical Association? Learning Is Wonderful, But Universities? The Same Is True For Religion... Religion Is Institutionalized Spirituality.

Sex Is The Divine In Its Most Available Epiphany.

People Are Not Losing Their Religious Needs, But They Are Going To Three Places To Get Their Needs Met. One Is To Conservative Churches, Which, For All Their Social Benightedness, Nevertheless Do Present Their Congregations With A Different View Of Reality. Second, They Are Going To Asian Religions. Third, They Are Going To The New Age, Which When I'm Feeling Cynical I Refer To As "new Age Frivolity," Because Some Of It Is Rather Flaky.

I Don't Want To Justify Religion In Terms Of Its Benefits To Us. I Believe That, On Balance, It Does A Lot Of Bad Things, Too - A Tremendous Amount. But I Don't Think That The Final Justification Of Religion Is The Good It Does For People. I Think The Final Justification Is That It's True, And Truth Takes Priority Over Consequences. Religion Helps Us Deal With What Is Most Important To The Human Spirit: Values, Meaning, Purpose, And Quality.

All -isms End Up In Schisms.