A boyfriend in college used to regularly insist, “Christianity is nothing but dogma.” While this wasn’t exactly a startling observation coming from a Jew educated in Catholic parochial schools, it has served as a reminder over the years that religious concepts insiders accept without question might seem like nonsense to an outsider.
While I disagree that Christianity is nothing but dogma, I admit there are some dogmas Christians don’t notice precisely because they are dogmas.
My personal favorite is, “The truth will set you free,” a dogma made all the more amusing by the fact the Bible thumpers who repeat it the most come across as the most rigid, least free, people I’ve ever known. I find myself wanting to blithely respond, “Well, I hope you find it someday.”
A few variations on the phrase include: “The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable,” attributed to President James Garfield; “The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off,” attributed to feminist Gloria Steinem; and “The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you,” attributed to author David Foster Wallace.
Then there’s my own addition: “The truth will set you free, but first it will give you violent diarrhea.” To which my response is, “Bring it on! Gimme that truth!” Then again, maybe not.
Like many dogmas, the statement is a paraphrase. What Jesus actually said in John 8:31-32 was, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
The passage goes on to say the freedom isn’t one of political liberties, or even that you’ll be a less uptight person, but that you’ll be set free from sin, or what’s more popularly referred to nowadays as addictions.
The computer geek in me thinks the “If-Then” transition in the two sentences merit particular attention. There’s a conditional statement involved here that isn’t included in the dogma as it’s commonly quoted. Holding to Christ’s teachings to love God and your fellow man is a necessary condition to put you on the road to truth and morality.
Love first in the fashion that Christ taught his disciples, and then truth and morality will follow. This raises the bar considerably. Haters who hold to the aforementioned dogma appear to believe they’ll be set free by truth alone, which is to say whatever truth appeals to them, thus explaining why they’re no more moral, and in many notable cases less so, than the rest of us.
Christ’s teaching may be true, though I can’t say because I’m not sure I really qualify as Christ’s disciple. There are some pretty hard teachings in the Gospels, especially for a capitalist like me who often struggles with forgiveness. But the dogma is most definitely untrue to its biblical context. Truth doesn’t set anyone free, especially someone else’s truth that has been forced upon you.
With that in mind, the next dogma I plan to address is John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” a dogma interpreted by many Christians as saying Christianity is the only true religion.
Are there dogmas people have thrown at you over the years you’d like to see addressed? If so, make note of them in the comments.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
He's A Dead Man
I was working out this morning at the health club and eavesdropping on a conversation between a couple of guys. The middle-aged man said his son was going to start his desert training soon, and would be shipped out to Afghanistan in October. The older man said Afghanistan was a difficult situation, a large country, with a widely varied landscape.
The middle-aged man then mentioned his son was flying out to visit a friend in the states. He’d asked his son what they’d be doing there; his son said they’d be playing paint ball. “He’s a dead man,” the father said, chuckling. “He’s never shot a gun in his life.”
I cringed. The juxtaposition of this man’s proclamation with the earlier discussion about his son shipping out to Afghanistan didn’t sit well with me. It was a knee-jerk, superstitious reaction.
I used to attend churches that preached the Prosperity Gospel, a Christian doctrine espoused by people like Joel Osteen, a photogenic televangelist of the largest church in America, a man who could sell snake oil to his own mother. The Prosperity Gospel claims that if we don’t have health and wealth in our life, it’s because we’re not saying the right things. God spoke the world into existence. Created in the image of God, men and women can do likewise. Positive confession, my friends used to call it.
I left the Prosperity Gospel a long time ago, finding the emphasis on material wealth inconsistent with Christ’s teachings. But I still experience these artifacts from time to time, these moments of being drawn to a positive message, or overly concerned about the negative things somebody says. As a writer, I find it appealing to believe our words have intrinsic power to change the world.
I said a quick prayer for this man’s son, that his father wouldn’t receive bad news in the future.
The middle-aged man then mentioned his son was flying out to visit a friend in the states. He’d asked his son what they’d be doing there; his son said they’d be playing paint ball. “He’s a dead man,” the father said, chuckling. “He’s never shot a gun in his life.”
I cringed. The juxtaposition of this man’s proclamation with the earlier discussion about his son shipping out to Afghanistan didn’t sit well with me. It was a knee-jerk, superstitious reaction.
I used to attend churches that preached the Prosperity Gospel, a Christian doctrine espoused by people like Joel Osteen, a photogenic televangelist of the largest church in America, a man who could sell snake oil to his own mother. The Prosperity Gospel claims that if we don’t have health and wealth in our life, it’s because we’re not saying the right things. God spoke the world into existence. Created in the image of God, men and women can do likewise. Positive confession, my friends used to call it.
I left the Prosperity Gospel a long time ago, finding the emphasis on material wealth inconsistent with Christ’s teachings. But I still experience these artifacts from time to time, these moments of being drawn to a positive message, or overly concerned about the negative things somebody says. As a writer, I find it appealing to believe our words have intrinsic power to change the world.
I said a quick prayer for this man’s son, that his father wouldn’t receive bad news in the future.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Merry Tossmas
My father’s favorite refrain at Christmastime was an echo of Ebenezer Scrooge’s “Bah Humbug.”
This set the bar rather low for my expectations of holiday greetings from retailers. It also explains why I don’t buy into the nonsense from Focus on the Family and their latest war on retailers. A “Merry Tossmas” video on the organization’s citizenlink Website encourages Christians to toss catalogs in the trash that don’t wish them a Merry Christmas.
I don’t often shop from catalogs, but at department stores the other day one woman wished me happy holidays, another a nice day. Both were so cheerful and sincere in their greeting that I went away with a warm glow in my heart, little caring their words hadn’t validated my religious beliefs.
Our Savior once said that an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. A faith that depends on external cues, like a retailer wishing us a “Merry Christmas,” is superficial at best. If James Dobson and his followers would take a moment this holiday season to take their focus off the family, turn away from their trash cans, look up from their Land’s End catalogs, and turn their eyes upon Jesus, maybe they’ll rediscover their flagging faith.
This set the bar rather low for my expectations of holiday greetings from retailers. It also explains why I don’t buy into the nonsense from Focus on the Family and their latest war on retailers. A “Merry Tossmas” video on the organization’s citizenlink Website encourages Christians to toss catalogs in the trash that don’t wish them a Merry Christmas.
I don’t often shop from catalogs, but at department stores the other day one woman wished me happy holidays, another a nice day. Both were so cheerful and sincere in their greeting that I went away with a warm glow in my heart, little caring their words hadn’t validated my religious beliefs.
Our Savior once said that an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. A faith that depends on external cues, like a retailer wishing us a “Merry Christmas,” is superficial at best. If James Dobson and his followers would take a moment this holiday season to take their focus off the family, turn away from their trash cans, look up from their Land’s End catalogs, and turn their eyes upon Jesus, maybe they’ll rediscover their flagging faith.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Don't Worry About Sarah Palin
There’s almost a mantra among east and west coast liberals that it’s okay to speak to God, but it’s not acceptable for God to speak to you. I can understand this. Liberals I’ve known have often spent time in therapy where they’ve been taught to distrust those voices in their heads.
This isn’t necessarily bad. My father spent time in the state mental hospital. Dad met a chain-smoking schizophrenic there who insisted that God had ordered him to murder his mother.
Besides, look at the conflict we already have over religion and politics in this country. Imagine what would happen if people started saying, “God told me to vote for Barack Obama.”
“Your god is the AntiChrist.”
“Sure, pal. Baal was pro-life, too.”
As a woman with a mentally ill father, I’ve learned to use judgment with human voices, too. In particular, I distrust people who tell me how “God” wants me to vote. Surely, Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to eliminate these middle men.
This year I had a visceral reaction to Sarah Palin. Maybe it’s that speech she gave at the Republican Convention. Palin reminded me of every cheerleader who snubbed me in high school, every Christian woman who implied I’d go to hell simply because I’m pro-choice.
I was consumed with rage. And because I don’t consider anger to be a healthy state of mind, I prayed about it. I told God, “I just don’t know why I’m so mad at this woman.”
A voice in my head said, “Don’t worry about Sarah Palin. She’s not going to win.”
In a sermon I heard once the minister said the most commonly repeated phrase in the Bible is “Fear not.” The way I can tell the voice in my head is God’s is that the first two words generally are, “Don’t worry.”
The funny thing is, I hadn’t prayed about who’d win the election. But soon after that, Wall Street began its meltdown, and John McCain’s poll numbers began dropping.
What was happening in our country wasn’t the miracle. The miracle was that after praying, I stopped worrying.
This isn’t necessarily bad. My father spent time in the state mental hospital. Dad met a chain-smoking schizophrenic there who insisted that God had ordered him to murder his mother.
Besides, look at the conflict we already have over religion and politics in this country. Imagine what would happen if people started saying, “God told me to vote for Barack Obama.”
“Your god is the AntiChrist.”
“Sure, pal. Baal was pro-life, too.”
As a woman with a mentally ill father, I’ve learned to use judgment with human voices, too. In particular, I distrust people who tell me how “God” wants me to vote. Surely, Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to eliminate these middle men.
This year I had a visceral reaction to Sarah Palin. Maybe it’s that speech she gave at the Republican Convention. Palin reminded me of every cheerleader who snubbed me in high school, every Christian woman who implied I’d go to hell simply because I’m pro-choice.
I was consumed with rage. And because I don’t consider anger to be a healthy state of mind, I prayed about it. I told God, “I just don’t know why I’m so mad at this woman.”
A voice in my head said, “Don’t worry about Sarah Palin. She’s not going to win.”
In a sermon I heard once the minister said the most commonly repeated phrase in the Bible is “Fear not.” The way I can tell the voice in my head is God’s is that the first two words generally are, “Don’t worry.”
The funny thing is, I hadn’t prayed about who’d win the election. But soon after that, Wall Street began its meltdown, and John McCain’s poll numbers began dropping.
What was happening in our country wasn’t the miracle. The miracle was that after praying, I stopped worrying.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
The Pro-Life God
For years I was the unrepentant feminist in a Bible study with a group of fundamentalist women. One night, these women described their god. He was unforgiving, incapable of healing us from our past and had a vendetta against women.
I listened, dumbfounded. In 30 years as a Christian, I’d never known the awful god these women described. I didn’t want to. So I quit the Bible study.
As a former charismatic, one of my gifts is discernment of spirits. I was curious what spirit was oppressing these women. My answer came as a bumper sticker: God is pro-life.
There were many pro-life gods in biblical times. Yahweh wasn’t one of them. To see this, one needs to read no further than the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son became the foundation for the Judeo-Christian faith, establishing the precedent for Yahweh’s future sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ.
By contrast, the pro-life gods the Bible mentions were fertility gods like Baal and Ashtoreth. Though not mentioned by name, Isis, Aphrodite and Diana exerted an influence over Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures.
Fertility cult emphasis on reproduction negatively impacted sexual morality, in particular corrupting religious and political leaders. Old Testament prophets like Elijah and Hosea didn't quibble over whether life began at conception, but whether the offspring of fertility cults were children of spiritual adultery. The Apostle Paul responded to Greco-Roman fertility cults by promoting celibacy as the favored Christian lifestyle.
The medieval Church dealt with European fertility goddesses such as the Norse goddess Friga, from whom we get the word Friday, and the Celtic goddess Eoster, from whom we get the holiday Easter. Celts celebrated Eoster with rabbits, symbolizing fertility, and eggs, symbolizing new life. Catholic popes rescheduled Christ’s resurrection from the Passover to Eoster, hoping to stamp out this fertility cult by superimposing Christian symbolism.
I don’t see the pro-life movement as a Christian political movement, but a revival of pre-Christian spirituality, bringing the faith full circle from opposing fertility cults to embracing them as "God's worldview.” The pro-life god’s, that is. Not Yahweh’s.
I listened, dumbfounded. In 30 years as a Christian, I’d never known the awful god these women described. I didn’t want to. So I quit the Bible study.
As a former charismatic, one of my gifts is discernment of spirits. I was curious what spirit was oppressing these women. My answer came as a bumper sticker: God is pro-life.
There were many pro-life gods in biblical times. Yahweh wasn’t one of them. To see this, one needs to read no further than the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son became the foundation for the Judeo-Christian faith, establishing the precedent for Yahweh’s future sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ.
By contrast, the pro-life gods the Bible mentions were fertility gods like Baal and Ashtoreth. Though not mentioned by name, Isis, Aphrodite and Diana exerted an influence over Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures.
Fertility cult emphasis on reproduction negatively impacted sexual morality, in particular corrupting religious and political leaders. Old Testament prophets like Elijah and Hosea didn't quibble over whether life began at conception, but whether the offspring of fertility cults were children of spiritual adultery. The Apostle Paul responded to Greco-Roman fertility cults by promoting celibacy as the favored Christian lifestyle.
The medieval Church dealt with European fertility goddesses such as the Norse goddess Friga, from whom we get the word Friday, and the Celtic goddess Eoster, from whom we get the holiday Easter. Celts celebrated Eoster with rabbits, symbolizing fertility, and eggs, symbolizing new life. Catholic popes rescheduled Christ’s resurrection from the Passover to Eoster, hoping to stamp out this fertility cult by superimposing Christian symbolism.
I don’t see the pro-life movement as a Christian political movement, but a revival of pre-Christian spirituality, bringing the faith full circle from opposing fertility cults to embracing them as "God's worldview.” The pro-life god’s, that is. Not Yahweh’s.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Michele Bachmann
In something that can only be described as a miracle, a Republican congresswoman from Minnesota called forth manna from heaven. The problem is, the manna fell on her Democratic Farm Labor Party opponent.
In a Friday night interview with Hardball journalist Chris Matthews, Michele Bachmann described Barack and Michelle Obama as anti-American and called for a media investigation of left-leaning members in Congress for unAmerican views.
It wasn’t long before the interview made the rounds of the liberal blogosphere. Many expressed shock that Minnesota, the land of Paul Wellstone, Al Franken and Jesse Ventura, was haunted by a fundamentalist who appeared to be channelling the spirit of Joseph McCarthy.
Within 24 hours of the broadcast, Bachmann’s DFL opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg, received $450,000 in campaign contributions, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
The Hardball interview also inspired Bachmann’s Republican opponent, Aubrey Immelman, to reenter the race as a write-in candidate. A professor of evolutionary psychology, Immelman said, "When you say the kind of things Michele Bachmann has been saying, you activate the Stone Age brain, and people react in fear."
Thus, one fundamentalists’ primal fear, and the blessings it afforded her opponents, provide evidence for the coexistance of evolution and God.
In a Friday night interview with Hardball journalist Chris Matthews, Michele Bachmann described Barack and Michelle Obama as anti-American and called for a media investigation of left-leaning members in Congress for unAmerican views.
It wasn’t long before the interview made the rounds of the liberal blogosphere. Many expressed shock that Minnesota, the land of Paul Wellstone, Al Franken and Jesse Ventura, was haunted by a fundamentalist who appeared to be channelling the spirit of Joseph McCarthy.
Within 24 hours of the broadcast, Bachmann’s DFL opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg, received $450,000 in campaign contributions, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
The Hardball interview also inspired Bachmann’s Republican opponent, Aubrey Immelman, to reenter the race as a write-in candidate. A professor of evolutionary psychology, Immelman said, "When you say the kind of things Michele Bachmann has been saying, you activate the Stone Age brain, and people react in fear."
Thus, one fundamentalists’ primal fear, and the blessings it afforded her opponents, provide evidence for the coexistance of evolution and God.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Wise Turk
Martin Luther once said he’d rather be ruled by a wise Turk than a stupid Christian. At the time, Austria was under invasion by Islamic Turks.
Whatever our founding fathers believed, the founder of the Protestant faith considered sensible Islamic terrorism preferable to mindless Christian government. Luther believed these Islamic invasions were God’s vengeance against the Catholic Church. Maybe 9/11 didn’t reflect God’s judgment against gays and abortionists so much as his opposition to government that is Christian in name only, something they had in Luther’s day as well.
One man’s reformer is another man’s terrorist. Though supported by his fellow Protestant reformers, Luther, like Barack Obama, was opposed by the religious establishment.
Today’s Christian fundamentalists would likely label a bright, anti-establishment monk like Luther an elitist. Fundamentalists distrust intellectuals, apparently believing that only stupid people would choose to become a Christian. It’s amazing how a religion that’s so intollerant of human intelligence could tollerate its Intelligent Designer. Didn’t God create humans in his own image?
Conservative columnist David Brooks recently attributed conservative movement self-destruction to attacks on elitists. While early conservatives, like William F. Buckley, were extremely intelligent, the movement has become so anti-intellectual that it’s alienated entire professions. College professors, lawyers, doctors and technology professionals are now predominately Democrats, Brooks said.
Buckley’s son, Christopher Buckley, was recently fired by the National Review--the magazine his father founded--for endorsing Obama. Though a conservative, Buckley, like Brooks, acknowledged he’s impressed by Obama’s intelligence.
Whatever our founding fathers believed, the founder of the Protestant faith considered sensible Islamic terrorism preferable to mindless Christian government. Luther believed these Islamic invasions were God’s vengeance against the Catholic Church. Maybe 9/11 didn’t reflect God’s judgment against gays and abortionists so much as his opposition to government that is Christian in name only, something they had in Luther’s day as well.
One man’s reformer is another man’s terrorist. Though supported by his fellow Protestant reformers, Luther, like Barack Obama, was opposed by the religious establishment.
Today’s Christian fundamentalists would likely label a bright, anti-establishment monk like Luther an elitist. Fundamentalists distrust intellectuals, apparently believing that only stupid people would choose to become a Christian. It’s amazing how a religion that’s so intollerant of human intelligence could tollerate its Intelligent Designer. Didn’t God create humans in his own image?
Conservative columnist David Brooks recently attributed conservative movement self-destruction to attacks on elitists. While early conservatives, like William F. Buckley, were extremely intelligent, the movement has become so anti-intellectual that it’s alienated entire professions. College professors, lawyers, doctors and technology professionals are now predominately Democrats, Brooks said.
Buckley’s son, Christopher Buckley, was recently fired by the National Review--the magazine his father founded--for endorsing Obama. Though a conservative, Buckley, like Brooks, acknowledged he’s impressed by Obama’s intelligence.
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