Almost all spiritual, religious, theological and philosophical thought is in agreement that the outcome of immoral behavior is undesirable. At that point, however, agreement quickly branches out into a variety of disagreements. What constitutes immoral behavior and its negative consequences has been up for grabs since the dawning of human consciousness and has grown increasingly complex and ambiguous ever since. The only sure thing is that there has never been a shortage of power-hungry individuals and institutions that want everyone to believe that theirs is the final word on defining what is immoral and prescribing judgment and punishment for it.
This explains (at least to me) why the Christ paradigm revealed through Jesus of Nazareth so quickly succumbed to institutionalized Christianity. Just as the Judaism of his own time subscribed to a religiously based legalism with which Jesus argued, so did the early church continue in the tradition of developing laws and rules and punishments supposedly appropriate to deduced violations. Rather than serving as a window to the wisdom of the ages, the Bible quickly became a rule book which those seeking to be in power used/abused to their advantage. What Jesus said, what Jesus taught, and what Jesus revealed about the relationship between Creator and creature was subverted into an orthodox interpretation of what is right and what is wrong, moral and immoral.
Fortunately for us, the eternal presence of the Christ is available to those who seek enlightenment, particularly with regard to the moral nature of the relationship with the Divine. Jesus assured his disciples that this spirit is always present to those who seek to better understand the nature of the good news he proclaimed. Perhaps now is the time to stop accepting what we have been taught about Jesus so that we may be more open to what Jesus taught.
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