bhj...hehe...I just remembered I called one of my best friends tall bald john or tbj for years until he changed his name to something else.
Anyhow, ....about 15 years ago my father called me and said, "son, I'm a taoist"
I was like great, the old coot has finally slipped his leash.
He said, "Son, you're a taoist too, although you don't know it"
that's when I knew the old bastid had truly gone around the bend.
Truthfully, within a year or so, I realized I was a taoist strictly of the old "lao tzu" variety, as in "**** happens" that's it, that's the basic tenet of taoism, along with "the way things are" can't be explained, any more then I can explain the steps, I had to do them in order to get the effects produced by them.
anyhooow, I also suscribe to many tenets of "Wiccan Spirituality" however, my first Grandsponsor explained to me again and again, rigorous honesty is essential but I don't "lead with my chin" in that, just like I wrote earlier, my concept of God is no one else's business, just like their concept is none of mine.
If I start sharing about Taoism, Druids, Wiccan, Buddhism, I am doing the very same thing I am being intolerant of in others if they share about "christian based" beliefs.
Here I am being self rightous and indignant about them being non accepting of my beliefs while I try to push my beliefs on the group, and being angry if they come at me "with all this God nonsense"
If someone else shares something I don't like, if I have a problem with it, it's my problem, I can't control them, the only thing I have control over is me and my reactions.
If someone's faith in "God" gives them relief, and helps them be a better person, who am I to challenge that?
By the way, this only seems to apply to me in AA, outside of AA i seem to have the same intolerance of bigotry, stupidity, religious narrow mindedness, evangelicals etc trying for example to get evolution knocked out of schools, praying to cardboard cut outs of Dubya etc., now here's where it gets tricky for me.
I always display the character defect I'm professing to "look down" on in some form.
I'm bigoted against bigots, intolerant of intolerance, the bad news for me was finding out the spiritual axiom applies to me as well, If I'm upset, there's something wrong with me.
Anyhow, I don't "parade" my beliefs at meetings, and try not to let others beliefs bother me as well, and I "respect the house I am in" and that way it has been a "non-issue" for me for many years.