One criticism of religion is that it tends to create a set of polarities that often mask the real issues at hand.  While perhaps necessary to preserve belief's boundaries, dogma often buries the larger point of that belief in a pile of contradiction.

     In his "Saint Joan," Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, well known for his "Man and Superman" and numerous other political and social parodies, takes aim at the frailties of religion.  After presenting Joan's trial, conviction, and death, Shaw follows with an imaginary "post-death" convening of Joan and the various principals involved in the entire affair.  This includes, among others, the clergy, onlookers, and executioner.  Those who condemned and killed Joan express their regret; Joan reminds them of the tenuous path they followed to make their choice.

     It is a path, she says, that demanded an allegiance to values supported, in many ways, by nothing more than groupthink and tradition, values that had no support other than themselves.  Whether Joan was right and her accusers wrong is not the point.  The point is rather that when both sides are convinced that theirs is the insight of God, conflict is inevitable.  And the strongest--not necessarily the most correct--always wins.

     I love the way that religion enriches the human experience.  Nonetheless, I remain enormously uncomfortable with religious dogma.  Belief is important, yes, critically important, but it's nothing without gratitude and humility.

     And genuine experience.