Oct 14, 2010
Last time we explored the differences between forgiveness and reconciliation. Now we can begin to look at how Jane has gone wrong in her understanding of community. Jane has the mistaken, and dangerous, belief that she can only be friends with people who have the same religious beliefs as her. When Laura would not see things her way, Jane rejected her as an unworthy friend. Such an exclusive attitude can be very destructive of relationships between family and friends. At the extreme it can lead to violence and loss of life. Based on Jane's behavior towards Laura, it is clear that Jane's religious community does not focus upon the values of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Like many people of faith Jane confuses friendships and community love. We will take a closer look at this mistaken belief of Jane's next time.
This podcast series is based on my book The Six Faces of Love which can be viewed at craigowen.net