Hi A
I agree completely assuming of course that the religion has a conscious origin.
I agree. It is us that does the rejecting. The only thing that cannot be accepted is the imaginary that is taking place of the real because it doesn’t exist. If we don’t come into existence to some degree, then there is really nothing to accept.
I am also not sure what you mean by unified mind. I know of inner unity or"presence" dealing with the quality of the whole of oneself but you may mean something different.
Hi Bessy
The problem IMO isn’t exclusivity but the natural degeneration into secularization of the teaching which results in the normal contradictory manifestations of secular life…
Is a hunting knife a good or bad thing? It is considered “good” if people understand its purpose and use it correctly. It is considered “bad” if used as a means to kill people for pleasure. The knife has no good or bad connotation itself.
Exclusivity is like that. It is necessary and valuable for spirituality when understood rightly. But as a tool for the expression of egotism, it becomes its opposite.
Followers will always fall short and some lose it completely forming their own schools of interpretations or sects. This is why Christianity and the many facets of Christendom can exist simultaneously though Christianity is no longer visible on the surface.
“Right to” and “opportunity for” may not be the same.
The problem really isn’t “fundamentalists” but IMO our tendency to believe anything as long as an "expert"is saying it. Because of this gullibility, we end up acting in ways completely unnatural for ourselves. In this way we are sheep.
Fundamentalists, Nazi’s, liberals, etc. are the same in that they are all sheep. As sheep, life just continues as it is. They seem to differ because of personal preference, but they are all sheep. This is why I admire the “black sheep” It knows it is a sheep but desires to understand so as to become itself even though its individuality will be rejected by the contented flock.