It is natural to want to be right; at least to see ourselves as right.
It is natural to want to be right about God and God’s commandments.
But there are inevitably great variations in what humans discern to be right. People’s convictions about what’s right — particularly what’s true about God and God’s commandments — have led to countless wars and other conflicts.
If I believed that God regarded people who believe differently from me about God, and about what faithfulness to God requires, are wrong and should be corrected, or even shamed or subjugated until they believe as I do, I do not see how I could find inner peace, or relate to those people as equals, when the duty to correct remained undone.
If that’s what being right with God means, I shall not be right with God. I’ll give up an eternity of peace and joy in the afterlife for peace and joy in this life, and for whatever contribution I may make to others’ experience of peace and joy in this life. I will do my best to love others, including those of different beliefs, even those who are hostile to me or to my beliefs. I will encourage others to be right with God their way — and I’ll do my best in mine. I will strive for a loving relationship with everyone, thus to improve the chances for peaceful relations with others and peace within myself.
