Christians are not called to empty the mind or to see the human body as a means of connecting to and coming to know the divine. Believers are called to meditate upon the Word of God – an external Word that comes to us by divine revelation – not to meditate by means of incomprehensible syllables
Mark Driscoll, Seattle megapastor
I wonder what sort of person results when you live your life feeling that it's potentially eternally destructive to have a calm, uncluttered mind, and to live centred inside your body, and that God can or will send you (but probably not you though, but definitely others) to hell at the end of your life?
I do not know how a frail human being can live under the weight of that terrain. Surely it must erode our ability as lovers and respecters and nourishers, of others, ourselves, and the earth. This sort of paranoid cultural religion blinds you to be able to less readily see God or beauty or cohesion anywhere, or in anything. It creates a person unsafe inside their very own body and mind, not allowed to make mistakes. A potential control freak or life raper.
When I read stuff like that, Sue, well, words fail me. I just want to shake him awake, and tell him it's quite ok to be real, and you'll just lurve it.
ReplyDeleteI find his syllables pretty incomprehensible, to be honest;)
I live here in the midst of such thinking. My daughters even get told at times that they are going to hell by peers who can't seem to shake the superior attitude they have learned from their Mark Driscoll-like parents. The whole fundamentalist song and dance is just weird to me
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the midst of such thinking as well. I hate fundamentalism especially the Christian type, cause in my opinion they get it so wrong. It has been a long journey to escape its clutches, I no longer travel its roads, yet encounters with it can trigger rather nasty emotional responses. I gave up caring about the fundementalist god sometime this past year, but I'm still not free completely.
ReplyDeleteSue Mark Driscoll is a very angry man any clip I've seen of him for as long as I've been able to watch exudes anger and rage. Perhaps he is growing more like his god.
@Kent I've picked up the books Beauty and anam cara by John O'donahue and am looking forward to the journey. My family would disown me if they knew what I was ready.
Jon
I love the way some people try to put God in a straitjacket. There has always been a struggle between the religious control freaks and the mystically inclined. The fundies did not invent it, but they certainly have put their own stamp on it.
ReplyDeleteMysticBrit - they are imcomprehensible syllables, aren't they! I don't know what I think of Jesus and divinity anymore, but the words ascribed to him often come to mind, and at the moment it's the ones that say, "... you shut off the kingdom of heaven from men; for you do not enter in yourself, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."
ReplyDeleteKent - how do your daughters cope with being told they're going to hell? How often in your life have you been told that? It seems so weird to me, the most weirdest of songs and dances, that's for sure.
Jon - it's funny how emotional the responses can be, isn't it? I think because it's such a natural thing to be a little scared of Godde, or the thought of a god. And all this stuff just plays on that and we are left beginning to second-guess ourselves.
Yes, good thoughts - perhaps he is growing more like his god. I don't think it's possible not to; we are so susceptible, in that way.
Barbara - yes, it's astounding how often the straightjacketing happens, isn't it. I have such hope when I look at the mystics across all religions, and how utterly alike their experiences are. That's a heartener to counteract this sort of bullshit :)