Yes-but the real test is when you discover it isn't.....what then?
That was my experience with Christendom. I was raised to believe that they were the right religion, despite their bickering factions, these were Christ's disciples. On observation, I discovered that they were not even close. I tried other 'branches' but found their teachings much the same. After I left, I never went back.
We are all free to choose what faith we will subscribe to and what we will reject....for whatever reason.
Are you permitted to openly criticize the beliefs you once held and then found were not "right" after all?
Yes. If you find that the faith you left has glaring inconsistencies, (that being a total failure to adhere to Christ's teachings) then follow Jesus' example and expose them like he did with the Pharisees. Just keep in mind though, how those who believed the Pharisees viewed Jesus and his apostle. Not all "failures" are genuine. Some of it is "fake news" so we have to learn to tell the difference. Popularity wasn't going with this religious territory. (John 15:18-21)
Are you permitted to interpret or reinterpret the religious dogma and tenets of your own "faith"? That's the real test of tolerance. That's the beef @SinSaber seems to have with liberal Christians - they reject conservative and traditional interpretations in favour of more radical and rational versions and it is clear from the language that this is perceived as a threat.
Jesus was perceived as a threat to the status quo by the religious leaders who poisoned people against him.....but it was the Pharisees who were in fact the real threat. Which side did the majority of Jews take? The "right" side? They thought so...and still do. We take a different view.
Since scriptural truth is not revealed all at once, but gradually unfolds over time, there is room for adjustments IMO. It's only details anyway...the basic doctrines remain the same. No Christian in the first century was permitted to interpret scripture for themselves. Doing so just introduces factions and results in disunity. (2 John 10-11) All must speak in agreement. (1 Corinthians 1:10)
If one really did have "the Truth", the one and only "right" religious view - what possible threat could mistaken opposition pose? How could any fallible humanist or secular thinking pose any real and present danger to the conservative faithful?
There is no threat to truth and never has been. The truth has never changed, it has just come to be better understood. But weaker or less experienced souls can be stumbled by lies and misinformation, just as Eve was. There are no new tactics.
A "mistaken opposition view" poses no threat to those who have the truth. The obligation on the part of those who believe that theirs is the right view, will be able to provide evidence of God's backing. They will know what they believe and why they believe it.
Their big picture will make perfect sense to those whose hearts long for scriptural answers to their many questions. That was my experience.
Spiritual hunger is everywhere today because people are finding the material life promoted by this world, devoid of spirituality, to be empty and unsatisfying.
Yet, many of the clergy are as much in the dark as their flocks. That is a truly sad situation. (Isaiah 65:13-14)
What is really at stake if I (for example) dissent? My life or your faith? That's the question.
I guess it's all about what you expect. If you expect God's worshippers to be somehow perfect and without mistakes, then look back at Israel. The fact that many of them let God and their brothers down on many occasions, did not make God abandon them. Sometimes we expect more from our brothers than God does. A bad experience can make people sour on the whole organization. It happens. But faith does not depend on what humans do....it sees what God is doing in spite of their imperfections.
And that seems to be at the root of religious intolerance as far as I can tell. "The Lord" really does seem to be a "jealous God" - and with good reason - because there's not much room for an intolerant God demanding "exclusive devotion" in a world that is tolerant and accepting of diverse religious beliefs.
If God wasn't a stickler for truth, he'd be a wishy-washy, mamby-pamby, poor excuse for a deity. He has laws and standards and he sees to it that these are carried out among his own people. For those outside, he offers them what he offers to all, an opportunity for everlasting life. He doesn't coerce or force anyone to do or to believe anything.....that he leaves up to our own hearts. We tell God every day who and what we are. It is he who then issues an invitation to come into his presence and approach him by means of his appointed mediator. (John 6:44)
And to any fair-minded outsider, it all just seems like so much unnecessary pots and kettles calling each other black - and the world would be so much better off without any of them.
No denying that. It's the old story about hiding a 40 ft tree out in the middle of a cleared field. Original Christianity stood out like that 40 tree, but it was foretold that an 'enemy' would plant a virtual forest of similar looking trees all around it. As time went on, it would become extremely difficult to find the original. People today are lost in the forest until God sends a guide with a compass and shows them the way out of the maze.