On the Dichotomy between Religious Ideas and Religious Leaders

Typical religious social structures can create an untenable dichotomy. They posit an ideal personality and then call for a leader-type, a pioneering entrepreneurial leader-type, to build organizations around the ideal. The problem is this: the kinds of men that build organizations are rarely the kinds of men that fit the ideal. In the end, this dichotomy can lead to disillusionment. The religious structure addresses the conflict between the ideal and the reality by obscuring it with hagiography and lore. The saintly leaders of our religious histories are often “sacred cartoons” of a much more complex human being.