Contradictory Messages

By: Mike Schiller

How is it that an institution which preaches love can credibly convince people that expressing love is wrong, while feeling love is good? How is it that an institution can, over the centuries, be proven right about many things but wrong about many other things, yet continually resist honestly evaluating new information and admitting they are wrong - even when the rest of humanity, through education, science, and greater social understanding has already sought and drawn those conclusions? Should it not be true that the very institutions who first pioneered the new values that set the stage for the advancement of civilization should be the first to embrace the realities which will lead civilization forward into a more peaceful and loving tomorrow?

These are questions we must ask ourselves when looking at the ideas promoted by some within this world's religious institutions. If we are to build a society based on love, we must embrace not only the idea of love, but love itself in all its manifestations. We cannot have a love-filled society if people are forced, whether through physical restraint or verbal barrage, to refrain from expressing love to one another in any way. That creates a mental paradox in which people are convinced that love is wrong, and those emotions fuel suicidal behavior.

Physical expressions of love are valid expressions of love. They are not urges or temptations or sins or crimes. They are expressions of love. Love is the paramount purpose of God, the purpose of humanity, the purpose of life. When people are convinced they should not express love, they are convinced there is no purpose to life. The absence of love, and the absence of the ability to express love, can only lead in a negative direction - both for the individual and society at large.

For people to express love, whether through physical intimacy, writing, speaking, singing, praying, painting, sculpting, or any other means of expression - is the most divine and sacred thing a person can do. It has always been sacred and should thus not be blasphemed through condemnation. To state otherwise is a denigration and desecration of the concept of love itself. It is an insult to those who are in love, an insult to the value of their love, and an insult to the validity of love. Love takes many forms and they are all valid manifestations of God's work. The absence or oppression of love, or any of love's manifestations is the work of the Devil.

When any religious institution attempts to use rhetoric or scriptures as a method of convincing people that expressing their love is wrong, they are helping the forces of evil oppress love itself. They are causing needless grief and suffering to individuals and families. They are causing murders, suicides, divorces, pre-marital breakups, political chaos, and spiritual division between God's creatures.

Throughout history, on many occasions, religious teachings have contained wisdom and truth that has proven timeless. However, there have been many cases, such as on issues of racial oppression, religious oppression, and gender oppression in which religious institutions have been proven wrong. Sexual oppression is no exception. All forms of oppression are evil, even when the oppression comes from within. There is a difference between self sacrifice for the good of another, and pointless sacrifice for the purpose of conformity. Religious leaders need to give up their pride, accept some responsibility, recognize the error of their ways, and adjust their teachings accordingly. Only then can we as a society move forward into a time of peace and true understanding of God.