Scott Peck, author of books such as The Road Less Traveled, describes four stages of spiritual development:
"Stage
I is chaotic, disordered, and reckless. Very young children are in
Stage I. They tend to defy and disobey, and are unwilling to accept a
will greater than their own. They are extremely egoistic and lack
empathy for others. Many criminals are people who have never grown out
of Stage I."
"Stage II is the stage at which a person has blind
faith in authority figures and sees the world as divided simply into
good and evil, right and wrong, us and them. Once children learn to obey
their parents and other authority figures, often out of fear or shame,
they reach Stage II. Many so-called religious people are essentially
Stage II people, in the sense that they have blind faith in God,
and do not question His existence. With blind faith comes humility and a
willingness to obey and serve. The majority of good, law-abiding
citizens never move out of Stage II."
"Stage III is the stage of
scientific skepticism and questioning. A Stage III person does not
accept things on faith but only accepts them if convinced logically.
Many people working in scientific and technological research are in
Stage III. They often reject the existence of spiritual or supernatural
forces since these are difficult to measure or prove scientifically.
Those who do retain their spiritual beliefs, move away from the simple,
official doctrines of fundamentalism."
"Stage IV is the stage
where an individual starts enjoying the mystery and beauty of nature and
existence. While retaining skepticism, he starts perceiving grand
patterns in nature and develops a deeper understanding of good and evil,
forgiveness and mercy, compassion and love. His
religiousness and spirituality differ significantly from that of a
Stage II person, in the sense that he does not accept things through
blind faith or out of fear, but does so because of genuine belief, and
he does not judge people harshly or seek to inflict punishment on them
for their transgressions. This is the stage of loving others as
yourself, losing your attachment to your ego, and forgiving your
enemies. Stage IV people are labeled as Mystics.
Peck argues that
while transitions from Stage I to Stage II are sharp, transitions from
Stage III to Stage IV are gradual. Nonetheless, these changes are very
noticeable and mark a significant difference in the personality of the
individual."
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Scott_Peck
My
Comment: If one realizes the above, then one can be more tolerant about
the spiritual beliefs of others -- or lack thereof. At the same time,
if you are aware of where various others are on the
above developmental scale, you can better decide how open you can
afford to be with them.
