I watch as our children are taught that the virtues of our church is not about how much in alignment you live with Christ’s teaching. It seems that the most important teachings are how do we convert more people to join our train of condemnation or discipleship.
The word evil is such a scapegoat in
our religious society.
It allows us to label any person that walks upon this earth and condemn them to hell with our fear. As long as we dehumanize them, we may judge them. There is something inherently wrong with groups of people coming together in their fear to judge and pass sentence upon their fellow man. Where is the love in this action? Where is the Christ level consciousness in this expression?
I had a young woman working for me who was very Christian. She would come to work everyday and act very entitled, she would in one moment tout the ideals of her religion while she would verbally judge every person that walked in the door. She saw no evil in this act. When Christ talked about evil he talked about the evil in “our own” hearts. “ He who has not sinned? Does this ring a bell to anyone? And still the religious right will not own the fundamental truth of their motivation in their agenda. Fear, mistrust and an open heart, kind of, for only those who think exactly the way they do. Are not these the ideals the KKK was founded on?
It is time to run the fear mongers out of the positions of power in our Churches, religious centers and politics. I remember nothing in the bible where God or Christ said “Use my words to judge your fellow man.” Or; “Use fear instead of tolerance, love and compassion as a way to control those in your flock.”
Where is the love and understanding? Where is the compassion? To many times have I heard the stories of church elders wielding power over there congregation out of fear. When one of the group has fallen down. So quick in fear to condemn. So quick in fear to expel.
One story I know of is about a teenage girl who at the time was uncertain of which direction she should walk in her path. Well her choices were not the ones laid down by the church, (remembering that church law is human dogma not divine.) They expelled her from the church. Not only did they send her off on her own in a time when the cure for her so called, “evil ways”, was acceptance love and tolerance as she learned how to walk. Her family was also controlled through the fear of the church council. Her parents were told they could not have any contact with their daughter. As if Christ would have chosen this as a solution. To make things even worse the parents rented a house from one of the elders in the church. One day this elder saw that a mothers love was overriding the churches fear and he witnessed the daughter visiting the mother and father. Did he in love go and encourage them to assist her wandering heart in becoming stronger within her own faith and belief in life?
No, this man threatened them. If he saw them with her again he would kick them out of the house he was renting them. Period. How Christ like, huh? Makes you feel God’s love, doesn’t it.
There is a village in Africa that for thousands of years have dealt with their prodigal sons in a way that much more seems like the Christ mind than our fear based religions of modern society. Whenever any one of the tribe is caught committing a crime or an offence again another they are not expelled. The are not ran off from the village. Not confined to a cage. So those of us who choose differently do not have to lay eyes upon them. When this type of thing unfolds the whole village comes to a halt. Life in the village is put on hold while they all come together in the center of the village. The one who has trespassed upon another is asked to stand in the center of the square. One by one every person who has ever known this one steps up to the accused, not to condemn, but instead they recite every good thing they have ever seen this person do. One by one this child of God is reminded of his loving heart and kind soul. This event can take many days and no one leaves until every one who knows them speaks . And then this one rejoins the village newly reminded of who they are.
Show me where in our religious culture this type of compassion is given for those who fall down.
Evil Begets Evil.
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