PURE RELIGION

It doesn’t take long when one is observing a group of preschoolers in a room full of ‘educational’ toys to identify the ‘alpha puppy’ in the middle of the mess. This child will be sitting in a mound of toys solemnly declaring a challenge, through the dreaded stare, to any kid who might desire to play with that which has been claimed. In the room we can also observe children who have managed to abscond with a toy of lesser importance who have retired to a corner to secretly enjoy their meager holdings. You won’t really need to look for those children who have been deposed of the ‘alpha puppy’ status they enjoy within the safe walls of their own homes where the only people they have to contend with are their ever yielding parents because their cries of protestation will be easily heard by construction workers two blocks away.

We move forward a few years in order to observe the elementary school environment. The ‘alpha doggy’ is now determined by an interesting combination of height and or weight. This ‘advanced growth’ person decides what games are to be played and who will be on what teams. It is no accident that the team they are on, on a daily basis seems to win whatever game has been appointed for the day. Those who tire of the unfairness or non-democratic way of this particular ‘in-group’ soon find themselves in a group of cast-offs where another self-appointed ‘alpha doggy’ repeats the behavior learned in the rejected-group. These ‘alpha doggies’ are also in charge of the seating arrangements during the lunch hours. We will also witness some who have either tired of having to always conform or were never considered worthy to be included by the ‘alpha doggies’ in any of the groups, who find themselves spending a lot of time on the ‘outs’ and who find solace in reading or sulking. Administrators are constantly adjusting lunch hours or building a sheltering fence around the kindergarten kids or putting the 6^th grade in a middle school along with numerous other ‘adjustments’ in an endless attempt at equalizing opportunities as they strive to keep older students from dominating younger.

We fast forward our observations to the high school and find that the ‘alpha dog’ system still exists, but now the groups seem to be more sophisticated and more permanently defined. They are now called clubs, gangs, social groups or best friends, but the same dynamics which existed when we were observing ‘puppies and doggies’ exist in the ‘alpha dog’ world of high school. The main difference we find at this age is that now we seem to have more mobility between groups and the groups we are in seem to be more or less of our own choosing. Once we are in a group it isn’t long before an ‘alpha dog’ immerges. Since some maturation has taken place we now have elections to determine who will decide agendas and schedules, but the results always seem predetermined by a strange indefinable thing called popularity. Even though in most cases we seem to have more freedom of movement from group to group and the choosing of which group we will be subjected by, we still observe many of the dynamics which existed during previous eras of our life.

As we observe the days of maturity, we all pride ourselves about how we have chosen the right pound in which to reside and how our ‘alpha hound’ is the wisest and most capable and will lead us to the enjoyments which are coveted in life. To be sure we now have a great deal of self-will which we use in determining the size, location and climate of our ‘run,’ but just as surely as we were before we will in one way or another be controlled by the ‘alpha hound’ we have chosen or who has chosen us. We now find a great deal of our time is spent barking at the other ‘dog packs’ and degrading and pointing out the faults of their erroneous ‘alpha hounds,’ letting any who might listen know how right we are and how wrong they are.

With a great deal of remorse we observe that this self-segregating hound mentality is most pronounced with those who profess to be practicing religion. It is remarkable that we can only sniff out faults and failures with the tenets and dogmas of other denominations, but we can endlessly bark out the correctness of the doctrines and principles which we have chosen to follow. As we read the interpreted and acceptable Holy Words of our group we can easily see the need for repentance and change in all others. Those of other deluded pounds are always the tares while any inspired person can surely identify us as the wheat. They all look like wolves while we have the sweet countenance of lambs. They are branches which need to be pruned and burned while we bring forth nothing but good fruit.

All this howling about others being false followers is done while we contentedly sit by the warm fire and read from Holy Books about how a true adherent will go about building others and tearing down walls of bigotry. We read how the good disciple will go forth to strengthen others and keep from putting stumbling blocks in their way. The Good Books instruct us to be a light for one another and refrain from illuminating the blindness of our neighbor.

In spite of all the self-appointed ‘demi-dogs’ ultimately we are all searching for truth, for the one ultimate source of light and life. No matter in what ‘pound’ we have found sufficient shade to make us feel satisfied, we need to stir once in a while in an attempt to move closer to that which will bring us inchingly closer to ‘things as they really are.’

(To be continued)