The world’s great religions, diverse as they are
share a common existential thread:
self-reflection and self-transcendence
to St. Paul baptism means you transcend/die
to the Roman Empire’s violence
maintaining its patriarchy/hierarchy/slavery
hierarchical and biblical authority
the mainstays of Catholicism and Protestantism
have been problematic for feminist theologians
because there are many ‘terror texts’
hard to believe as ‘inspired by God’
because they maintain subjugation/exclusion/
violence against women –
by seeing biblical texts as interactive with the reader
feminist theologians reclaimed the Bible for women
by biblical criticism prioritizing the life-giving/
political/ethical/nonviolent texts
but the vision of the hierarchical Fathers
of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965)
was to help the Church be evermore true
to its divinely-inspired mission:
to effectively serve all people
both men and women
with generosity/empathy/love
and in Buddhism the Three Jewels:
the Buddhist Trinity of Buddha/Dharma/Sangha
(Teacher/Teaching/Community)
are all meant to sow seeds
of love/peace/understanding
throughout the world
and in Taoism the sage Lao Tzu teaches us all
how to accomplish much
without effort
by allowing the Tao, the Hidden Force
motivating the universe
to act in and through us
spreading wisdom and joy everywhere
Spirit hides in all these traditions.
Intelligent Christian Spirituality 