If I was a Christian, for Easter

[sophiaserpentia]

I am a spiritual refugee, exiled from my home forever. I could be a Christian if not for scripture, if not for doctrine.

If I was a Christian, this is what I would believe.

That Jesus believed in us.

That Jesus wanted us to see that no matter what we had experienced or done before, that we could rise above it by living in accord with the spirit of compassion and love for the divine.

That Jesus wanted us to understand that we are all in this together, and that together we could make anything happen. There is no "us versus them," there are no enemies; those who limit or oppress us are lost in their own nightmare and suffer their own limitations, and there is always hope of helping them to wake up.

That Jesus wanted us to stand together in solidarity and love in the face of brutality.

That Jesus refused to cower in the face of persecution, and was killed for challenging injustice.

That Easter is a clear sign from God that resistance against wrong and limitation is not futile -- that living in perfect love and perfect trust is the key to victory over death and fate.

That Paul wanted us to understand that the Resurrection is a promise that God is on our side when we work to transcend the limitations of fate.

That Paul wanted us to play our part in the reconciliation whereby God will become all in all.

crossposted to my journal and crossposted to convert_me

Comments

[firinel.livejournal.com]

There are Southern Baptists here, but not many, and those here seem to be fairly tame. I guess there's a difference between 'conservative' and 'rabid'.

[akaiyume.livejournal.com]

LOL

A very definite difference, unfortunately.

Having lived most of my life in an area where rabid Southern Baptists either are the majority (or definitely make enough noise to make themselves sound like the majority), I find it easy to comprehend how a person can come to feel that most Christians in general are more interested in doctrine than in the actual teachings of Jesus himself. These are places where the major emphasis of Christianity, due to the loud rabid ones, seems to be placed on messages of eternal punishment for those who deviate the slightest bit from the creeds; where the importance of being "born again" far outweighs the importance of compassion, charity, and good works. It is disheartening and divisive to say the least. Even the non-rabids become a little more rigid under the attack, an understandable human response, as they cling more tightly to the creeds of their specific denomination as a defense against a very real attack.

Extremists of any sort are definitely toxic.

[legolastn.livejournal.com]

Ironically, the Baptist movement was started as a non-creedal movement, and up through about the 1970's even the Southern Baptist branch probably still qualified as being honestly called such. After conservatives staged a coup on the national Convention level, seizing leadership away from the moderates, it became less and less so (and also moved away from some other freedoms historically associated with Baptism). Today the SBC is still nominally non-creedal, but has in practice adopted some belief statements as creedal statements used to test whether a church should be able to remain in fellowship with the larger convention, etc.

[firinel.livejournal.com]

*grins* I'm a queer poly Christian; my beliefs entirely aside, I've some concept of what it's like to be attacked ;) I've just found that I'm much better on a whole if I focused less on other people's perceptions of my spirituality, and more on my own. Afterall, their perceptions do not have a direct affect on my relationship with God, however my own do.