In my life time of experience in the Evangelical church, the seeds of fearful theology and hopeless eschatology have established the roots of the system from which every varying branch of evangelical doctrine and dogma – extreme and otherwise – have grown. I officially left the Christian church five years ago. That separation allowed me to see how these roots, and the us and them thinking that springs from it, have infiltrated our society at large. Then I have to wonder which came first? The chicken or the egg? Do we have an innate need to see ourselves as different and therefore better than our neighbor? Is that what leads us to participate in this kind of spiritual toxicity and abuse? Surely, this is why Jesus said the entire gospel can be wrapped up in two commandments: love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. Thank you for your thought provoking piece.
Yes: "In Christian terms, the love of Jesus is over the whole world and all of creation, it is not the property of one sect or one way of religious understanding." I was raised believing the church we went to was the only true religion and everyone else was going to hell. So very, very damaging to all involved. Thanks for standing up for truth and compassion.
In my life time of experience in the Evangelical church, the seeds of fearful theology and hopeless eschatology have established the roots of the system from which every varying branch of evangelical doctrine and dogma – extreme and otherwise – have grown. I officially left the Christian church five years ago. That separation allowed me to see how these roots, and the us and them thinking that springs from it, have infiltrated our society at large. Then I have to wonder which came first? The chicken or the egg? Do we have an innate need to see ourselves as different and therefore better than our neighbor? Is that what leads us to participate in this kind of spiritual toxicity and abuse? Surely, this is why Jesus said the entire gospel can be wrapped up in two commandments: love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. Thank you for your thought provoking piece.
Yes: "In Christian terms, the love of Jesus is over the whole world and all of creation, it is not the property of one sect or one way of religious understanding." I was raised believing the church we went to was the only true religion and everyone else was going to hell. So very, very damaging to all involved. Thanks for standing up for truth and compassion.