Once upon a time I did not understand folks who said "I'm spiritual but not religious". I honestly thought it was a cop out of the highest order. Then there was a Pugilistic Pandemonium and tfog was POTUS and OH MY GOD never in my life have I seen so much anti-Christianity displayed, lauded, and praised by so many people claiming the Name.
What do I mean? Well...There's the triumphalism, colonization, nationalism, and appropriation; the blatant white supremacy and racism; the greed; the misogyny and misogynoir; the patriarchy; the clericalism; the glorification of violence and the gun worship; the science denialism; the conspiracy theories; the disdain for the poor; the sheer unabashed and unchecked hatred of those who are not cisgendered or heterosexual; the leadership who are supposed to keep that shit in check NOT doing so and encouraging it even when they get members of their congregation calling them out for not doing so (#iykyk); and finally and especially the really, really bad theology used and abused to justify all of the above.
Like...duuuuude.
Not cool. Not cool at all.
So I'm pretty much just done with the Christian denominations I've had personal and intimate (see definition #4) experience with, ranging from (and in no particular order) Assemblies of God to Southern Baptist to Presbyterian to Methodist to Charismatic Evangelical Protestant to Eastern Orthodox - Antiochian to Eastern Orthodox - Greek. I've been some flavor of Christian all of my life, even when I thought I wasn't.
Wait...no. That is incorrect and incomplete.
I am done with Christianity. Period. Done with it as a religion. Done with it as a way of life. Done with it as the arbiter of what I believe is good and right. Done with it. In the words Mahatma Gandhi supposedly said, "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." And, yes, while Gandhi was problematic in his own right that doesn't make this statement any less defining of my current experience.
And no, my choice is not because I "wasn't worshipping the real God" or that I was "mistaking "men" for God" or any of the other gaslighting, abusive nonsense folks like to use on people who leave the church as if you will get brownie points for keeping folks from exercising their free will. I'm not that stupid and I honestly do not appreciate the assumption that I am. If you have gotten this far with me and think I am seriously that dumb what does that say abut you? Think about it while you go someplace else with that bullshit.
Moving forward.
So where does that leave me? Are you kidding? There is a whole flipping 93 billion light year sized UNIVERSE out there! And that's just be bit we can see! Which means there is SO much more to see and experience out side of the box I put myself in out of unfounded fear (more on that later), trying to get a guy to like me, and in an attempt to please so many people who literally do not give a rat's fuzzy patootie about me.
I think...I am spiritual...but not religious. Hm. Kewl.
~stretches~ It's SO good to be out of this box. It's ADVENTURE TIME!
Relevant Reading
1 comment:
I think I get where you are coming from on this. Religion is about absolutes, the big picture, big question stuff. It can get too big sometimes. But what if our time on this Earth isn't about finding those answers. What if the reason we are here is just to be here for each other, if only for a little while.
And yes, to answer your other question from earlier tonight, someone does in fact read your blogs! 😜
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