The preoccupation with religion as an ideology leads to over-identification with the group, its language and symbols. Group loyalty becomes the test rather than loyalty to God or the truth.
Richard Rohr again - yes we all have those mental ticklists we assess every thought by and group pressure is insidious even where your group is 'I am the cat who walks by himself'
And then:
Sidda grabbed an apple out of the wooden bowl on the counter. Then she stepped out on the deck into the warmth of a Pacific Northwest summer morning. She looked out at the tall fir trees that surrounded the cabin. She bit down into the apple. I know nothing, she thought. She looked around at the tall fir trees that surrounded the cabin. I know nothing but the smell of the sun hitting those countless needles from these old evergreens.
from The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - Rebecca Wells. A moment wonderfully captured (I see that she lives near Seattle). When I was given this book at the book group I was told I wouldn't like it - I had mixed feelings until I got to the story of the trip to Gone with the Wind (a film I've never seen) and I was hooked. Maybe there's a resemblance to Twain's Huckleberry Finn maybe it's just the rawness of the book.
Two rather different books but I suppose they're both American.
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