Good to connect on the Lenten discussion Wed. evening. A few thoughts: 1) Bonhoeffer was speaking out of the immediate context of fighting oppression. Thus, the religion/religiousness/religiosity that was bothering him was that which allowed and aided the Thrid Reich’s evil. So, religionless Christianity for him, and hopefully for us if we are to take something useful and pragmatic from the term/concept, must be something that taps us directly into the radical, no compromise on it, life-sacrificing-if-need-be following of the Christ in order to do justice and make this on earth as it is in heaven. 2) In the right-wing, theo- and politically conservative days of about 6 or so years of my youth, I would sometimes say “I’m not religious, I’m a Christian.” (In fact, that’s on my high school yearbook page.) Obviously I would mean something very different by the statement now if I were to use it. Point is, we have to be clear about what we mean by religionless Christianity, especially those of us speaking from a more progressive, freeing standpoint, so that it doesn’t get misused to be constrictive rather than freeing. 3) Piggybacking on Pam, et. al., re: social construct: many folk, in developing spirituality or reclaiming their indigenous spirituality, refer to religion as just such a construct & obstacle, rather than a natural, health-for-the-community way of living. Also, many of the poets comment on this. E.g., Lamar Hill, “I also know that any religion was made by a man.” [from his poem, “Evangelist”] 4) My spirituality has become more universal/beyond the traditional “Christian” borders, theologically generally and particularly in its justice-action applications. E.g., I feel more kinship to the oppressed Palestinians, of Muslim (& Christian) faith practice, than I do the Jews and Christians (e.g., US backers) who oppress them.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 05:49:03 +0000
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