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Aidan Odinson's Top Ten Popular Ways to Ruin your Spiritual Life (from the podcast "The Secrets in Plain Sight"

10) Just recite rote. Don't bother to learn, understand or feel what you are saying. It's written there in that Book, and that's all you need.

9) Think you know enough. You completed the course of study to get where you want to be; there's nothing more than the third degree, there's nothing beyond so-and-so's books, you've made it! You're there! There's nothing more!

8 ) Emphasize the negative. Spend plenty of time being down, celebrating how horrible you are, and punishing yourself.

7) Make it a duty. Forget wanting to do it, you have to do it. You have to observe this, do that, and this.

6) Don't explore. You've got a teacher or mentor; don't bother getting curious beyond them. Why would you want to do that? Stay in your nice little box and be lead around on a leash.

5) Emphasize pleasing or displeasing someone else. You've just got to top that other guy because if s/he got second degree you've got to get third degree before s/he does. And you've got to follow this path to displease your parents.

4) Take others too seriously. Parrot what someone else said; don't do the digging for yourself! And did you know what so-and-so said about somebody? Gossip and listen to all the gossip talk.

3) Take yourself too seriously. First, you have to do everything perfectly ever time; anything else isn't satisfying. Or, instead of insisting on perfection, insinst on acting that you are. Kinda goes along with thinking that you know enough.

2) Don't ask questions or disturb others. After all, you might learn something; never ask "why do you do it that way?" Don't disturb someone with questions like that. It isn't worth rocking the boat. Accept it blindly.

1) Let someone else think for you. Let someone else tell you want to do and think; who needs to think for yourself? That woman has an opinion on everything, so just let her tell you what to think. The Gods can't do that, you can't claim that, and that's the end of it. Because so-and-so said so.

arrow What do you think of Aidan's list? On what points do you agree? On what points do you disagree?
arrow Are there any items you think belong on this list more in terms of behavior and attitudes that make your spiritual life crash and burn?

So you've never heard a priest or religious leader recite something from a book in such a monotone voice it puts everyone to sleep?

You've never heard religious practitioners speaking of doomsday all the time and forgetting to look at what's beautiful in life?

You've never had a friend who got sick of a religion because they *had* to go to a particular service every week and they didn't see the meaning in it?

You never met someone who accepted everything on blind faith and thus had a rather shallow understanding of their religion?

You've never seen gossip taken too seriously in a religious context?

Those are the sorts of things that are being spoken of here.

Nope. The source is the first line of the post; it's from a podcast. It's slanted more towards Neopagans, but it is also just a broad-based spirituality podcast from someone with a gnostic background. But yes, organized religion has lately fallen into more of these pits. But plenty of Neopagans have too.

I think a lot of people have their faith affirmed by yelling at people for having a different point of view until either 1) the person who is "wrong" agrees with their point so that they shut up or 2) the "wrong" person stops arguing.

They feel like they won which validates their argument, in their minds anyway.

Hmm... I didn't think of religion for profit. That's an excellent one to add. I wonder which is worse though.... religion for profit or a religion that won't support it's clergy as a resource for the community through money? Unfortunately we're still largely a slave to money in this culture and there are few ways around that. It is pretty bad when it is implied you have to 'buy' something to reach the afterlife or something. Ack!

I think that part of his point may to have been to have some things on this list in direct conflict with how certain religions work because they're things that take the personal aspect out of your religion (that personal aspect is usually called spirituality, hence the list his how to ruin your spiritual life). One of the problems some mainstream religions have been facing lately is precisely that - they don't put enough spirituality into the religion. I wonder though, what a 'top ten ways to ruin a religion' list would be. How would it be different?