"What people believe can uplift their lives and make them strong, or it can steal life, clouding it with guilt and all kinds of distortions. It can divide communities, one from another and religion, too often in history, has been the rationale for war." - Ron Sebring
Sebring said this in a sermon reflecting on what had happened in Jonestown, Guyana when, under the leadership of Jim Jones, 914 people committed mass suicide. He lists some characteristics of healthy religion as a result of reflecting on what had gone wrong in Guyana.
- Healthy religion does not indoctrinate, but teaches people to think for themselves
- Healthy religion invites us to be humble about what we believe and what we know
- Healthy religion does not invest in negativity; it does not major on what it is against but rather on what it is for.
- Healthy beliefs stay in tune with reality, never filling in gaps for what we do not know.
The Church of England report "Faithful Cities" added four other characteristics -
Healthy religion will:
- enlarge the imagination
- teach and encourage the practice of wisdom and holiness
- open us to the new
- deepen our sympathies
By contrast Sebring suggests unhealthy religion:
- tends to draw its strength from having an enemy
- coaxes and encourages people to make a stand against this evil
- even mild forms of negativity such as finger pointing, backbiting and self righteous indignation are associated with unhealthy religion.
Based on my notes on "Bothered and Bewildered" by Ann Morisy p 48-49
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