written 17 March 2024
published 24 March 2024
Two weeks ago, the Ukiah Daily Journal published a letter supporting the primacy of a Biblical view of the world, as God's will. On the one hand I respect the writer for the courage to write from their obvious passion. But with the rise of White Christian Nationalism as a political force (which I view as bigoted religious fascism) the issue demands a response.
I do not identify as a Christian. For centuries, too many people have been killed in the name of God, by self-righteous people claiming Biblical justification. I can't abide to join such a club. However, I am a spiritual person, knowing I am part of something larger than myself. On my personal quest, I take inspiration wherever I find it, and appreciate Christ's instruction to "love God" and "love one another". This socialist ideal is massively inclusive, and in line with unity reality.
Four centuries after Christ, a group of men created the Bible to become the sacred doctrine of Christianity, the state religion of the Roman Empire. They declared they were inspired by God, and the Pope, the leader of the Church, was God's representative on Earth, just because they said so. Rome began persecution of non-Christians to assure compliance.
Since the Bible is a book of words, it is a concept, ambiguous and open to interpretation. The power of the words is in the experiences these concepts engender in the people who read or hear them. Many are inspired to emulate Christ with excellence, compassion, peace of mind, and open-hearted service of love. Christian groups help the poor, hungry, sick, depressed, and abandoned. Individuals live lives of unconditional love and service, enhancing the lives of everyone around them. Modern liberation theology worked against social inequities. Tithing is sharing through collective action. This is the positive side of Christianity
Christ set a standard of love, but rather than focusing on the loving goal, some emphasize sin, missing the mark, and use the Bible as a vehicle for control and domination, wielding the power of God as a bludgeon. This is the darker history of the Christianity.
Surviving the collapse of the original Empire, the Church continued to grow in social, economic, and political power, using their limited definition of God's will to control the masses. Founded in the misogyny of the times, only men were allowed to be priest and determine what is sacred and what is condemned. The consequences today are the Persistent Pedophile Priest Problem, and Protestant sects torn apart over women as preachers.
Translation of the Bible from Latin into other languages was prohibited, and literal Biblical infallibility within the Church was maintained by killing "heretics". Religious intolerance brought centuries of wars against believers of other spiritual traditions, who also claimed to know God's will. Increased power engendered increased corruption, eventually resulting in the Protestant rebellion, which further divided into sects, beginning centuries of wars between Christians as well. After the New World was "discovered", 90 percent of the people already living there were killed as unchristian "heathens", making their land and resources available for the taking.
These excesses seem to arise within almost all religious organizations. The first colonies in the New World were fleeing religious persecution in Europe. When America rebelled, the founders wanted to avoid the abusive oppression of the "divine right" of a king, as well as the intolerance of a state sanctioned religion. The creation of a democratic republic was a novel experiment, massively inclusive in concept, even if we are still working to fully live it in reality.
My complaint is the arrogance of a few, claiming they know God's will, just because they say so. It is also arrogant, and ignorant, to claim that only human life is sacred and worthy of our care and concern. With a long history of disregard for even human life, if it isn't Christian, it is hypocritical to claim concern for frozen human embryos. This is the operation of a religion of a little god, created in man's image, seeing sin everywhere, narrowly defined in a whole world of wonder.
So, I ask all who consider themselves to be Christians to examine how you live your faith. Are you are uplifted by Christ's love, and share that with your whole world? If so, then speak out against those who would degrade Christianity into just another form of oppression and intolerance.
