It All Makes A Lot More Sense Now

 

Don’t Worry About Me

I used to go to church every Sunday morning, and Tuesday morning, and Wednesday evening.
I haven’t been there for years now.
Don’t worry about me.

I used to believe Jesus died for me.
I now believe Jesus was killed by worldly and religious leaders, for living a life of love and refusing to take power or control over others.
Don’t worry about me.

I used to believe I was called to sacrifice my life for others.
I now know that I deserve to be loved just as well as those others.
Don’t worry about me.

I used to feel fear every minute of every day, worrying if I was being perfect enough not to burn in hell for all of eternity when I died.

I no longer believe in eternal punishment for being an imperfect human and know that living with that belief WAS the hell scriptures were talking about.
Don’t worry about me.

I used to believe I was broken and worthless and in need of a savior.
I now know that the Spirit of God has been inside of me from the moment of my first breath, and I was never broken, only just learning how to connect with It, and growing in knowledge, because I am an imperfect human being with a conscious mind.
Don’t worry about me.

I used to believe a lot of the same things that you believe.

I don’t anymore.
Don’t worry about me.

I will, however, worry about you.  A lot.
Because I used to believe a lot of those same things you believe.
I don’t anymore.

 

Please keep growing.  Keep learning.  There is Love and Peace to be found.

 

 

I learned something interesting this week that I thought I would share.

I was thinking about the fact that I no longer believe in the Substitutionary Atonement doctrine. Substitutionary atonement is a central concept in the version of ‘Christianity’ that I was always exposed to in this part of the country and grew up following.

Also known as penal substitution, it asserts that Jesus died as a substitute for others, nullifying the death sentence for sinners, satisfying the demands of justice and allowing God to forgive sins. In simpler terms, Christ became the replacement to pay the penalty for our offenses and sins.

Here is what I have recently (within the past decade or so) learned about this, though. 

First, not all Christians believe it! This thing – that Jesus died for you to save you from your sins – THIS CORNERSTONE piece of what it meant to “be a Christian”, as I was taught and all I ever knew, was actually not even a part of all Christian belief structures.  

In fact, it is predominantly only a central concept in Western Protestant Christian religions – with the Catholic church incorporating it into the idea of penance and most evangelical protestants interpreting it in terms of penal substitution.

Eastern Christians do not incorporate penal substitution into their doctrine of the cross and resurrection.

Many progressive and liberal Christians are now also rejecting penal substitution as being un-Biblical (myself included!), and in direct conflict with the Love of God.  Penal substitution is based upon the idea of retributive justice, rather than the restorative justice which, I believe, was taught by the prophets and Jesus.

Obviously, I knew prior that there was a big difference between Eastern and Western religions and their practices, so I wasn’t totally surprised, until I started to look into, and think about the why.  

Why did Western Christians add this doctrine, but Eastern Christians did not.  In the past, I just sort of assumed it was explained simply by some difference in language/geography/culture.  Turns out, that isn't it.

It's actually Colonization.

Most Western countries, at some point in their history, have experienced colonization.  Hmmm.  Colonization.

When I started to deep dive and compare which countries had been colonized with which countries incorporated Substitutionary Atonement into their theology, turns out, they're pretty much the same. Those countries, which had never been ‘conquered’ (by misguided men who believed that they had a right to conquer and control and take power over others by force), didn’t end up adding that little bit of doctrine to their theology.

Hmmm.  I wonder why. 

Perhaps because that little bit of theology is NOT of God, but of those imperfect men who took power when they shouldn’t have and needed to continue to have a way to justify that way of life.  (Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.)  

It really is their own patriarchy built directly into the theology and religion from the start.  It is Hierarchy being added to the theology and religion from the start.   It is racism and misogyny being added to the theology and religion from the start.  Because it is who those people were, at that time, in that culture, and all they knew at that time. 

They are the people who created the churches and the curriculums and the doctrines according to their own beliefs and then that’s what the churches taught for generation after generation. And people start to just blindly follow without critically thinking about these things or about what they are actually doing.  Again, human nature.

Essentially religion is mankind creating their own God and rules.  It is mankind explaining what THEY believe and what they have experienced.  However, if humans are not 100% able to fully hold themselves accountable for their own actions and the impact of those actions on others and truthfully see all (and no one is!), then they will make errors.

They were men who believed they had a right to rule over and own other human beings as property.  They were men who believed that men were superior to women and had a right to rule over them.  It was imperfect, immature men who established the whole thing. It is not entirely of God.

Jesus didn’t die as a substitute for your sins.  Jesus was murdered by empire and religion because he refused to submit to their ways, because he chose a different way – the way of peace. The way of love. Because of that, they killed him.  

After, they eventually justified it by insisting it was God’s plan all along. And they taught us that we needed to be prepared to follow Jesus to the cross (you know, we needed to just endure their abuse).  And they taught us to give everything and serve, serve, serve… THEM... wanting nothing for ourselves.  But, what of us?  Doesn't God love us, too?  (yes!  he does! Proof this is all a lie!)  Unfortunately, it's all we know, and trauma impacts how our brains process, so we carry on and turn off critical thought and have blind faith because who wants to burn in hell forever?!

But they don't speak for your God.  God is inside of you.  They can’t know what God asks of YOU in this life.  Only you can know that.

Yep.  It all tracks.  Ding, ding, ding.  

It is no surprise that the majority of churches in the United States are actually teaching principles of Christian Nationalism, not the ways of Jesus.  

We are a colonized country. 

We need to reclaim our true spiritual beliefs and understand that our current religious institutions were created by people whose words and actions did not always align.  Honest reflection, true accountability, and accepting responsibility for change!

As I learn to do this more and more, it all makes a lot more sense!  I find a lot more peace and experience a lot more love.  And, it's crazy but, when you base your choices and actions on actual reality, as opposed to wishful thinking, things tend to work out a lot better!  Go figure!  ;-)

with love & understanding,

Lori

#decolonize

#dothework