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and rather "new agey" in its approach.
Many people have been made to feel comfortable and secure by religious gurus, only to have the rug pulled from under
them once they've been ensnared. I think we would do better to trust our brains rather than our emotions.
Neither did Christ ever promise that his way would be easy; it was quite the opposite. He promised his followers
that the way would often be hard, and they must be prepared to suffer for their faith. The only sure comfort he
offered was the Kingdom at the end.
My take on most of the problems within the Church is that they arise from its desire for total control. For
centuries, Rome has run everything with an iron fist without being questioned by the faithful, and now it finds
itself in an age when people have access to more information than ever before, and they are beginning to ask
questions that Rome finds awkward. Too often, Rome paints itself into a corner by its dogmatic pronouncements,
and then doesn't know how to extricate itself gracefully, so they simply shout a bit louder. When people don't
tremble with fear, they bring out their final answer to everything: excommunication.
When it's a matter of politics, Rome can play the diplomatic game with the best of them, but sadly, they don't seem
to feel that tact and diplomacy might also work better than a big stick with the faithful. In other words, they
still take us for granted, but those days have long passed for many.
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