Responding to the Offensive

I came across this post this morning, as I was scrolling through my Facebook, and my immediate response was...

OUCH.   Super offensive.


Where do they get off?  



Response from the masses:

And then I watched as 4 hours passed, over 3,000 people hit 'like', and hundreds were writing comments.  They seemed almost eager to bash, vent, and give their 2 cents.  There were valid points being made, and foolish ones being shouted.


Too many people make surface judgments on religion without ever risking a thorough examination, or subjecting themselves to spiritual experiences.  They criticize from the outside, in.  To those individuals, I plead for you to take another/better look.  Discover all the good that does get done in the name of religion.  I challenge you to read the Holy Books, holy writings, study the heritages of our ancestors, read about the lives of all the prophets, put all the puzzle pieces together before you determine what's nonsense.  We only have this one life, seize it.  Wrestle with it.  Start asking the big questions.  

but carrying on to the disconnection issue...

WHY IT'S NOT TRUE:

It's not true within religion. I can vouch for this myself.  Being a christian for 13 years, and a pastor for 5, I was immersed in the 'body of Christ.'  It might be a sweeping generalization, but people within religion are strongly connected,  having bonds and brotherhood/sisterhood unique to them.  It is something beautiful, and divine.  I have shared tears and prayers with friends, where I knew God was in our midst.  I have felt connection in worship where I felt like our very presence was glowing.  There is unity within true believers of God, that I am convinced.

But the image hit a nerve for another reason.  

Where it can be true:

Sadly, religion has also caused disconnectedness.  Regardless where the fault lay, many individuals are growing animosity towards the religious.  And, if we look in all directions, can we blame them?  Wars fought, and lives have been ruined in it's name.  Condemnation, and persecution, not only done, but defended  over the years!  Great sins have been committed. That is a given.   Religion is a very powerful vessel for God, but when working within the human race it is naturally flawed.   Because we are flawed.  (Not God)

One source of disconnectedness comes unintentionally.   I apologize for the sweeping generalization, but the religious can tend to alienate themselves by creating their own cultures.  And for lots of different reason, hardly malicious.  It's human to bond to those who we share common beliefs and passions with.  (I crave like-minded people all the time!)   Yet, it does come with the cost of creating walls; walls that need not be formed.


The other struggle comes with religion's relationship with dogma/doctrine and it trumping all else. Christianity, in particular, has a reputation of scaring people away with 'hell fire and brimstone' theology.  People hear 'only one way' claims followed by scare tactics, and it doesn't sit well within them.   Should it?  Is that the intro speech God would make as the compelling reason to choose him?  And do we even know enough about such things, as the exact ramifications of judgement, to make such damning claims?   My personal opinion?  The interpretation of God's word should never reign supreme over His word itself.  Interpretation, when formed into doctrine, eliminates the chances of other explanations to scripture, while also limiting the possibility of  God showing himself in new ways.  The ten commandments were written on stone, not church doctrine.  Remember, we are fallible beings working with limited information here.  

Do we really want to solidify the details so rock solid?
 Do we really want to, ultimately, characterize God in a light that seems unfitting to so many?

God is inclusive.  He is Holy, He is Just, and His Love reigns supreme.    He is beckoning for our presence, longing for us to get our hearts right.  Our God is inclusive.  You bet your bananas on it.  But if we go to religion, knowing in our hearts who God is, and are presented doctrine/opinion that goes against our guts about His ways, where do we go?     Do we say, 'Next' and move on to the next church or religion?  Do we KEEP on making more denominations, more churches, more sets of beliefs?  Or, do we decide to change the framework?    Strip away the interpretation, the inserting of opinion alongside the word of God, and respect the the way the Spirit moves through it AND us.  If we differ on interpretation, so be it.  Can't we trust God to work it out?  If we approach it all with fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self control), can't we trust that the Spirit of God can do the rest?  

 Perhaps a spiritual movement is on the way.  And maybe, we need not to get so frazzled over it.  Maybe we could just let God work in His mysterious ways, through faiths of all kind.  To keep all things sacred, like my love of Jesus, and yet not be nailed  to any doctrine that contradicts the character of God;  to respect the Spirit of God, in us and scripture, knowing that both could be fallible and yet both could be sacred truth.    

Or, maybe I'm just a dreamer.
 But, I know I'm not the only one.

Namasté