Cultic Narcissism

       This corollary from Murphy's law is inescapable: Bigotry is inversely proportional to the soundness of doctrine.
       The more wonky the doctrine, the more bigoted its members. The more bigoted its members, the more autobiographical its cult (or denomination). The more autobiographical the cult, the more intolerance towards outsiders. The more acute their intolerance, the more fervid their evangelism. The more fervid to evangelize, the more animosity towards those who disagree. The more animosity towards those who disagree, the more insular, isolate and cultic they become. The more cultic they become, the more unsound their doctrine warps.
       This is the vicious circle of the blind leading the blind. The harshest invective against such a category of people is by Jesus in Mat 23: 13 - 15.

       "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are."

       Is there an escape velocity and trajectory out of this black hole? Its steep, but there is one. In a pre-Messianic appearance to Daniel, these were the words given: "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them" (Daniel 10: 12). Clearly, gaining understanding and humbling our self is connected. What humbling our self actually means, is the willingness to throw aside our pet doctrines in order to gain understanding.  Whenever we do this, God hears us and visits us personally. What a reward, for so simple a determination.
       May each of us see his visit, each day, as we grow from grace to grace.