On 3rd September 2003, I had a dream where I dreamed about losing a very good friend. I awoke with a start with the term 'Religious Leakage' on my mind. I had no idea what this meant until tonight.
My wife was telling me a story about a religious leader (let's call him "person A") who told some other religious leaders not to go to a particular person's (of the same faith, but a different denomination!) funeral. She remarked that this showed no respect for the person being buried and that each person should be able to make up their own minds when it comes to funerals. The funeral in question was for a particular leader who had been a religious leader for over 60 years in Cape Town at one of the religious institutions.
I remarked that if there were a 1000 people in person A's denomination, then perhaps 950 people would agree with person A, but that 50 people would disagree. The people agreeing would do so out of respect for person A and also 'to hold the community together'. But in the meantime 50 people would decide that this intolerance was unacceptable and that they should seek alternatives. As soon as this happens we have 'Religious Leakage'. It doesn't matter if the 50 people act on their feelings, whether they follow another denomination, change religions, or leave religion altogether, we still have religious leakage. This is a major blow to our traditions be they religious or spiritual.
Perhaps we should rename "Religious Leakage", "Spiritual Leakage" or "Tradition Leakage" to be more generic.