The one you feed (religion, Wicca)

[Green Gaia]

A man told his grandson: "A terrible fight is going on inside me -- a fight between two wolves. One is evil, and represents hate, anger, arrogance, intolerance, and superiority . The other is good, and represents joy, peace, love, tolerance, understanding, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, and compassion. This same fight is going on inside you, inside every other person too."

The grandson then asked: "Which wolf will win?" The old man replied simply: "The one you feed."



Do you think this is true? How can we apply this to religious tolerance?

[Feathers in Hair]

I love this story. I first heard it when someone asked my friend, Standing Bear, about what some people in her congregation had said about Wiccans. (They'd given her the 'evil, evil, evil' speech.) Standing Bear told her that story, although her referred to them as the dark and the light wolves, and it gave a number of people a pause, including myself. I'd already accepted that I thought there were more paths to divinity than I, myself, was taking, but I hadn't realized that this also affected the path that I was currently on. Even if someone says they are of a understanding, loving religion, unless they feed the 'right' wolf, they will still sprout hatred. Even if a person is in a religion that is supposedly 'wrong', doesn't the fact that their brightness shines through mean that they are following the same path to truth?

I thought it had lot to say about religious tolerance, including what one chooses to tolerate within one's own religion.