Some beliefs are like walled gardens. They encourage exclusiveness, and the feeling of being especially privileged.
Other beliefs are expansive and lead the way into wider and deeper sympathies.
Some beliefs are divisive, separating the saved from the unsaved, friends from enemies.
Other beliefs are bonds in a world community, where sincere differences beautify the pattern.
Some beliefs are rigid, like the body of death, impotent in a changing world.
Other beliefs are pliable, like the young sapling, ever growing with the upward thrust of life.
Ronald J. Glossop said, "Sophia Lyon Fahs has noted, beliefs are important in our lives. The kinds of beliefs we have influence how we behave. Knowing what is true is important. But having true beliefs is not the most important thing in our lives, and having true beliefs about God is not the most important thing in religion. The most important thing in religion is being committed to furthering goodness. Promoting goodness includes finding out what is true and helping others to acquire such knowledge,but it also includes furthering love and compassion and justice. And it involves doing this whether or not there is a God helping us to accomplish it."