Hillary, I don't know if you are a good guy, or a bad guy. I'd suspect mostly good, with a heavy leaning towards being a spiritual "leader". Which is bad.
I do know that you speak with an authority that you do not have. For instance:
Spirituality is an individually gained state of heart that develops from a friendship with God and Christ.
Really? I mean, it sounds good to me, at least on one level, but did God tell you that? If so, where and when? Do you only mean God of the Bible? What about the billions of people who have no knowledge of the Bible, Jehovah, or Jesus? Are they circumstancially totally unable to be spiritual? Or do they only get a "shadow" of the real spirituallity? (can they have full lives that way?) What about all the people who do know much about the Bible, and have decided that it isn't inspired of God, yet they still believe in a Creator?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Posting to this board does not make one spiritual or liberated.
I have to disagree on the liberated part. At least comparatively, yes anyone posting here has been "liberated" from where we used to be. Keep talking friend, you may find that your own liberation, your "hillary step" may be a bit further off than you thought.
Anger is not spirituality, frustration will not bring the ‘peace of Christ’. Only understanding and forgiveness will.
Again, it sounds pretty nice, like the collective babbling brooks of a thousand liberal christian ministers, or Unitarian ministers, but what is your authority? "Anger is not spirituality", but can spirituality include some some anger? Is righteous indignation ok? Jahs anger blazed a few time didn't it?
"only understanding and forgiveness will bring the peace of Christ"? hmmm, again, sounds great, and I have come to believe it for the most part. But really, that didn't come from the bible now did it?
Funny though, here I am, not even sure I believe a man named Jesus walked this earth, or if he did was he anything like the picture painted in the bible, and yet, I really feel like I have that "peace of Christ" as much as anyone.
My bigger point? Just that the Society preached at all of us, taking an authority it did not have, for as long as we were associated. The society mostly refered to the Bible as it's authority, but really, it never told us why the Bible should be believed as an inspired book.
So if people like you and L.W. come along and basically do the same thing, even if you have a bit more magnanamous viewpoint than the Society does, don't be surprised if we get a bit irritated, frustrated, angry. Preachers and spiritual leaders are a dime a dozen. Even nice calm opiated ones.
We would like a side of logic with all that pretty emotion.