The
Litmus Test
The religious traditions were in unanimous
agreement. The one and only test of a valid religious idea, doctrinal
statement, spiritual experience, or devotional practice was that it must lead
directly to practical compassion. If your understanding of the divine made you
kinder, more empathetic, and impelled you to express this sympathy in concrete
acts of loving-kindness, this was good theology. But if your notion of God made
you unkind, belligerent, cruel, or self-righteous, or if it led you to kill in
God’s name, it was bad theology. Compassion was the litmus test.
Karen
Armstrong
Source: The Spiral Staircase
Source: The Spiral Staircase
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