Let's imagine an ecclesiastical institution policed by frightened ecclesiasts with aspirations to power. Let's call it the Church with a Mezzanine. Let's imagine it with a headquarters building in an area zoned for corporation headquarters buildings, say, in a small town in the Midwest, which we might call, Memorexa. Let's say that the ecclesiasts of this institution use theological language every chance they get, but generally without a single theological thought. Let's say that since they have no theological stamina, these ecclesiasts cannot stay with a theological argument beyond their first glimpse of a bright object or a squirrel. If somebody uses theological language that sounds familiar and it is associated with other familiar theological language and legitimation structures designed to make the familiar even more familiar, then these ecclesiasts will do a little High-fiving and then quickly get back to their in-house status building, but they still will not have any more theological thoughts.
Let's say that the Church with a Mezzanine has a handbook called the Handbook, in which all kinds of important, almost important, unimportant, very unimportant, and absolutely insignificant things are laid out in black and white. Let's say that nobody among the most cronified cronies in the secret rooms of institutional machinations and fear mongering agrees with everything in the Handbook and some of them actually disagree with quite a lot of what the institution says publicly is the most important stuff of all, say, its official doctrine of the Trinity or its Christology. Of course, cronies of this kind would never admit their disagreement publicly (maybe not even privately), but never, in their heart of hearts, do these ideas make any difference in what they say or do. Indeed, what is in fact incompatible with these rejected ideas is what guides the ecclesiasts' thoughts and deeds. Further, they would never criticize another institutional functionary for rejecting those "important" ideas (well, unless there is power in it). They would just think or say that these are "lofty" ideas, too "lofty" for a mere mortal's mind.
When such an ecclesiastical institution, one that ignores failures in thought and speech to conform to a number of assertions in the Handbook, when such an institution begins to push one or two specific ideas and to threaten people who fail to take a strong public stance in agreement with them, it should be imagined as a bully in a playground with a chip on his shoulder, daring you to knock it off.
Hear ye: Don't knock the chip off the bully's shoulder! Smile and walk away. Of course, the bully might hunt you down. He might grab you by the shoulders and throw you to the ground. He might kick you and humiliate you. He might take away your livelihood. Still, blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of the lowly Nazarene, rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
In any case, don't knock the chip off the bully's shoulder!