Guilt is a Wasted Emotion

Guilt is an attachment to judgment. So, who's judging you? Mom? Dad? Sister Mary Ignatius? That is a question that, in the post-modern world at least, is right up there with ‘Who am I?" and "Why are we here"? A good friend of mine is fond of saying, "My tribe (she was raised Jewish) invented guilt, your tribe (I was raised Roman Catholic) perfected it." Well, with the punishing Jehovah and the Holy See, respectively, looking over your shoulder at every turn, what would you expect? And let's not forget the redoubtable Allah ("One among you who knows Allah best is the one who fears Him most..." - Muhammed). So what's the deal? Western culture is founded primarily upon an Abrahamic (Christianity, Islam and Judaism) ethic. One of the primary tenets of each of these traditions is that if you didn't start out having done something... [read full story]