Often times the people, words and acts commonly associated with "organized religion" and "religious people" are not always the best advertisements for the faith. One of the main problems associated with organized religion is the tendency toward what might be called "home team consciousness". Mine vs yours, my way or the highway. It has been noted by historians that more wars have been fought and lives lost in the name of god than anything else. It's deeply sad but true.
The truth is that for all of the transcendent and wonderful qualities of associated with organized religion, there is also much bigotry, hypocrisy, ignorance, judgment, control and double standards. Consequently, there is currently a significant movement away from organized religion.
It's not that people of the modern era are any less spiritual, in fact, Pew Research studies show quite the contrary. While there is a growing trend away from organized religion there is simultaneously a movement toward spirituality, spiritual experience, practices and what Br. Wayne Teasdale called Interspirituality. People are becoming less concerned about the religious brand or "home team" and more interested in the process of transformation itself. Less concerned about the path to the summit of the mountain and more focused on reaching the summit. Less concerned about the tree or branch that spirituality is growing on and more focused on the fruit of the practice itself.
In short, the religion and spirituality of the 21st century can be summed up in the following quote. "You Will Know Them by Their Fruits" Matthew 7:15-20. When we see the fruits of compassion, love, intuition, sensitivity, balance, forgiveness, mercy, understanding, intuition, sensitivity and such manifest in our life and in the lives of others, we can know inherently, that regardless of their brand of faith, practices, paths etc, all are growing on the same tree and that tree is called LOVE.
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