Seek to separate what is the universal natural law, from what is merely cultural precept. If you take time to read many spiritual texts, you can cross reference and draw conclusions about the difference between natural law, and cultural preference. The natural laws are generally what all the texts agree upon: don't murder, don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal, love conquers all. The trouble I often see is that many people will only read one book, or worse yet, they have someone else tell them what that book says without ever actually reading it themselves. Which "one book" is all a matter of where you happened to be born.
Now when you only read one book, you have no points to cross reference to decipher the natural laws from the cultural laws. It is possible that you will pick out only the good bits, but highly improbable. When one is working from only one point of context with no references for contrast we often begin to see distortion. This is where most sects lose me, when phrases start sounding like: don't eat this, don't wear that, don't love them, this is cultural preference being treated as some sort of spiritual law.
Of course everyone of us is very well free to make our own personal choices on how we choose to live, but when you start applying these cultural preferences to others with self-righteous damnation for anyone who doesn't follow your ideas, that's where I have a problem. These types of systems also contradict what is natural law. How can love conquer all and be above all, when you pick and choose who deserves love based on cultural distortions of religion? How many people have been murdered, a clear violation of natural law, in the name of distorted religious faith? Fundamentalist dogmatism becomes a contradiction unto itself. Open your mind to open your heart, or risk walking with one hand holding love, while the other holds onto hate.
Tori Solis, Fort Worth Zoo 2020
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