Conformity and Authenticity

"Don't worry about what the world wants from you; worry about what makes you come alive. Because what the world really needs are people who are more alive.  Your real job is to increase the color and zest of your life."  Lawrence LeShan

Black Sheep

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." Albert Einstein

Fundamentalism

"Fundamentalism does not converse or explore.   It presents truth.   It is essentially non-cognitive.   This false certainty can only endure through the belief that everyone else is wrong.  It desires power in order to implement its vision and force the others to do as prescribed.   There is neither acceptance nor generosity in its differences with the world.   It presumes to know the truth that everyone should follow.   Blind loyalty replaces critical belonging.   The creative and mystical individuals within an institution become caricatured as the enemy; they become marginalized or driven out.   The price is handing over the individual mind.  The counter-questions are neither invited or allowed.   The cult manages to hold you prisoner while making you feel and believe you are free.   You can even feel pity and worry for those outside the cult, the lost ones who have not yet seen your light.   They are attractive because they seem to present a way of belonging that offers consolation, certainty and purpose, even though they do not actually deliver any of these possibilities in any real sense."  John O' Donahue