Knowledge = Demanding Perfection

I've been thinking how to begin writing on a subject that is hard for me to put into precise words that explain my thoughts.

When a person knows too much, it's not easy to allow others to get by with less than perfection.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Example: I was married for eight years to a minister. I know what ministers, pastors, priests, deacons, whatever your faith calls them, are trained to do and what they're "supposed" (mandated by the Word of G*d and/or their particular persuasion) to do. I also am aware that too many men-of-the-cloth are more "human" than they are "of the cloth." This is a very sad situation in the world and especially in the USofA today. Doesn't matter what 'brand' you call yourself, there is always some person (male or female) of your religious persuasion who has broken vows, created horrific situations, lead church members to "drink the Kool-Aid" (as in Jim Jones), or disgraced themselves, their congregation, their denomination/faith/Church, etc. And unfortunately for the members of that group, they often do not have leaders who are willing to stand up to those who are breaking their vows. Where IS Church leadership today? Why is Church leadership not responding to the situation at hand?

I, personally, think this is because humans, in general, are too self-absorbed too much of the time. It’s all about “I” and not enough about “the other.” Some faith-walks seem to have tried to create an atmosphere of “the other” in their education, training, or religious agenda. Other faith-walks don’t appear to care one way or the other. In some faith-walks the “shepherd” is mandated to be and to do certain things and NOT to be or do other things. In some faith-walks, a person can “ordain” himself to be the head of a group. In others, it takes two or three other people to call someone their “religious leader.”

Which way of selecting who is to lead you spiritually would you prefer? You can ordain yourself and purchase an ordination certificate using one of the advertisers in the classifieds of any tabloid. You and another friend can claim that the third friend is your “religious leader” even if that third person knows nothing about anything. You can find a teenager who tells you he had a vision or he has a calling to be a preacher. You can find another adult who has worked in the secular world and who claims to have heard from G*d and is a ‘self-proclaimed’ minister. You can belong to a denomination which trains its ministers/pastors in a seminary. You can find a spiritual leader who is married, single, celibate, or married half a dozen times (sometimes at the same time).

After all, this is the 21st Century and as such offers a myriad of religious choices.

So, which will it be? And why?

But the bigger question for me is: is this person self-absorbed or is he (and yes, as a Catholic by choice, I prefer an unmarried celibate male pastor) doing his job? Is he responding to the people in his Church as G*d’s representative on earth?

And if he’s NOT, do I have the ‘right’ to call him on it? Do I have the right to make a suggestion to him about how he can do his job better?

Or should I have just kept my mouth shut?