Gospel of One; Letters of Aul

Hi everyone, namaste:

We are now moving on to paragraph 7 in the 11th chapter of the Second Letter to the Orinthians from the book "Gospel of One; Letters of Aul."

Because you are so dazzled and easily fooled by the polished and glamorous show-people, let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being the real Christians, the most devout Muslims, the most pure Buddhists, or the true patriots of their countries? I'm their match. Are they the true servants of God? I can go them one better. (I can't believe I'm writing this. It's slightly crazy, but hear me out.) No, wait, I'm stopping myself. I'm not going to summarize all my hardships, but let me honor all those people who have been tortured and killed because they believed something different from the majority of their conquerors. It's a sorry state of life when people can't even believe in God in their own way without being persecuted for it. Christians have persecuted native peoples and heretics. Muslims have persecuted heretics and people they have conquered. Hindus have persecuted Christians and others. Confucianists have persecuted Taoists and vice versa. Atheists have persecuted believers of all types. Believers have persecuted atheists. They all think they have the right way and anyone who disagrees is a threat to them. And that's not the half of it. I'm not even getting into racial and ethnic persecution. When I see any of this insane religious and racial persecution, I feel an angry fire burning within me. It's so totally unnecessary.

Commentary; Fear used to be the big factor in persecution of those who were different from the majority, and it still is because fear rises wherever there is a lack of love. Only love can heal and prevent more persecution of people who have different beliefs. How can people have more love? That can only be answered on an individual basis as decisions are made one by one.