Monotheism, as a whole is the relative newbie on the religious block. The two youngest siblings or by-products of this idea, Christianity and Islam currently hold the record for the number of people who claim to be either. Christians have the lead for the moment with over two billion people claiming to be Christian. Islam has about one and one-half billion followers. From what I can tell neither are growing or garnering new followers.
In the scope of things, it seems that these two bright religious stars have seen better days; that they are maxed out and dimming with a new category representing the dark hole they are leaving in their decline; namely, the unaffiliated , the third largest group of which currently has over one billion people who do not identify or want to identify with any religion, are either agnostic or atheist or hold their own personal beliefs.
I can certainly relate to the gravitational pull of being non-affiliated as you will see in this earlier post where I briefly explore why I feel Christianity is a failing, dimming star.
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As a "Christian," I have struggled with Christianity for some time. Like all religions, Christianity is complex, and like all other religions, Christianity is a human response to a sense of holiness or a sense of the divine. God does not make religions. We do. God does not need religion. We do, and Christianity is one of many that has evolved from our on-going search for meaning and purpose.
For me, one of the outcomes of post 9/11 was a growing sense that Christianity was high-jacked, not by Islamic terrorists, but by Christian fundamentalists. The rise of a Christian "right" that equates biblical literalism and the cross with patriotism and the US flag was leaving little room for me to breathe free air. It seemed to me that fundamentalist Christians had a number of things in common with Muslim fundamentalist; no room for reason or independent thought, a sense that religious freedom, freedom to think independently and to verbalize those thoughts in the United States was being threatened. In fact, it seems that any sort of fundamentalism, religious or otherwise, takes this tack to control the public square.
I realize not all Christians think this way, but it seems there is little pushback against the stifling rhetoric of those who insist that the Pledge of Allegiance must contain "under God" in it (although the original version did not) and that prayer and creationist versions of universe be instilled in public schools at the expense of maintaining a pluralistic society and understanding the importance of empirical research in science. I wondered why this was. Where were the moderate voices of religion, of Christianity? There hangs in the air a sense of uncertainty amidst the certainty being expressed by fundamentalists of every brand. It seems there are few willing to talk about uncertainty in an uncertain time, to engage in sincere conversations about it, to expose and allay the inherent fear masked by the certainty offered in concretized belief.
These events made me ponder the history of Christianity and its own tendency to go to war over diverse theological views. It brought to mind any number of religious persecutions generated by Christians on other Christians deemed unorthodox and on non-Christians from the suppression of unorthodox Christian groups in the Roman Empire after 381 CE to the Crusades, the Inquisition, the innumerable pogroms against Jews, the 30 Years War, the conversion tactics used by white missionaries on Native Americans in both North and South America, and to the conflict between Protestants and Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland and the ethnic cleansing in the Balkans in more recent times.
It seems to me the common thread in all of these events involves political and economic dominance over others, fueled by religious fervor in order to garner support for such agendas by providing justification; as in, ridding the world of evil and saving souls through the slaughter of others. Muslim extremists are currently employing the same agenda against each other and the United States; for the same reasons of ridding and saving the world from the evil they see embodied in democracy and open cultures.
In turn this has given rise to a Christian fundamentalist revival which is linked in the US to the far right's Tea Party's social conservatism and to the opposite reaction exhibited by the number of those identifying themselves as religiously non-affiliated, who see (with valid reason) religion as the problem. It is ironic that extreme cultural conservatism (the non-fiscal variety) in the US holds similar views as those espoused by Islamic extremists with regard to the role and treatment of women, homosexuality, free speech, and the treatment of the outsider. To fight such fires with such fires is to cause a conflagration, to embrace mutual defeat, and reduce all to ashes.
All religions contain stories that strain credibility which must be held as kin to fact, if not fact, by its followers; that if you don't believe in certain articles of faith you are not, for example, a Christian. You are in the "not saved" category. I must note not all mainline Christian denominations take a hard line on these articles of faith as being necessary for salvation. Nevertheless, they have them on the books, as it were. They still emphasize salvation as core to the Christian mission.
So what are the common, core beliefs of Christianity necessary for salvation:
1.Jesus was sent into the world to die for the sins of the world in order to save it
(Messiah).
2. Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God (Jesus is God).
3. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary (Jesus is a sinless victim)
4. Jesus was crucified, died, buried, was resurrected from the dead, and ascended to heaven
(Jesus is Victor over sin and death).
5. Jesus will come again, at the Last Judgment, to judge the world (who's in/who's out).
6. Those who believe in the above will be saved and resurrected from the dead like Jesus
(heaven or new earth).
7. Those who don't won't (eternal damnation).
By no means is this an inclusive list of beliefs held by Christians. There are many more depending on what denomination or brand of Christianity one belongs to. My point in this post is not to take on each of these seven points, but rather to suggest that salvation theology is a flawed theology as identified in the seven core beliefs. Having to believe in something that is incredible (unbelievable) and treating it as fact can lead to mental maladies and spiritual dysfunction on both a cultural and a personal scale.
There is, of course, a great deal of theology surrounding these articles. Points 5-7 have been toned down by a number of progressive churches, but, as I said earlier, they're still on the books and are being articulated in the Creeds in any number of liturgical Christian services. Point 7, in some churches and for many Christians, is not held very tightly at all. Many now believe that everyone will ultimately be saved, but I'm going to keep it here because it remains implicit, if not explicit to the notion of salvation and the urgent sense of the Christian mission.
After two thousand years of doctrine and dogma surrounding these core beliefs it is impossible to change or rid ourselves of them without getting rid of Christianity. It is possible, however, to re-vision them, to understand them differently, to be honest about them and embrace the mythic (spiritual) truths they contain rather than to insist on their being literal fact, to relinquish the necessity of maintaining a salvation theology that leads to a collective neurosis about what is right and wrong behavior (or to put it in monotheistic terms what is natural and unnatural behavior) and the frequent overt, destructive responses to such behavior or to the equally destructive nonchalant response to the actual evil displayed in the world in the form of bloodshed, war, exploitation of other humans and our natural resources. To accomplish such a re-visioning, Christians need to consider the readily available redemptive or restorative theology that is present in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the teachings of Jesus.
It is my opinion that salvation-based religions are prone to failure. Christianity is becoming increasingly meaningless in its mission on saving souls through "Preaching the Gospel" (code for the seven points mentioned above). The notion of saving souls apart from redeeming/restoring the world we currently live in has always been untenable and has the potential in today's world of leading to mass destruction. I believe a number of Christians understand this, but this message gets lost to the world because of maintaining traditional theological and dogmatic baggage.
Those who say everything is in God's hands and all we need to do is just wait for the second coming [the Last Judgment] is to ignore reality, to stick one's head in the sand and court a self-fulfilling prophecy of nuclear proportions. It ignores the reason for and the reality of our existence which, from my perspective, is to be at this moment in time and in this place the image and face of God; to be responsible to and for each other and the world in which we live.
Until next time, stay faithful.
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