God Did or Did Not...?

“God did not intend…

…for you to live this way, for you to behave like this, for you to have this much, for you to be with that person, for you to think like that, for you to know more than…”

God did not intend. It’s a precarious statement that is, unfortunately, used regularly and often.

 “God did not intend…” I say knowingly, claiming the knowledge of the divine’s mind as my own. I know, therefore I can judge, hate, separate and dismiss.

God did not intend, I say to those groups I don’t like or that person whose choices don’t coincide with mine. I don’t like you because you are everything I have learned is bad, and, by the way, I have an investment in being good so watch out.

I need to take care of my “goodness points”; my very life, or after life, depends on it. You and your badness bother me. Your existence sullies mine and if I get too close I might even get some on me. Yikes, can’t have that. I’ve worked hard for these points.

In Western Christianity this idea is wrapped up in the Doctrine of Original Sin; the package that delivers a lifetime of sin, repentance and struggle to each of us with a salvation embossed bow.

Here’s how it works. We are each born naturally bad. It is human nature. We are “sinful and unclean” and “in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.” Goodness is outside of us, badness inside.

Enter religion, God, Jesus, Elohim and… you get the picture; the goodness we need is in them.

Religion is about reigning in our naturally bad tendencies that we cannot, on our own volition, handle or delete.  If goodness is outside of us, we have to get it inside, and the church is our vehicle.

We get baptized, take communion, go to temple, pray daily, contribute time and talents, and otherwise work to fulfill the prescribed formulas of getting the good in, and subduing the bad.

A letter was posted on Twitter last week. It was a scanned copy of a handwritten note from a father to his gay son. The brevity of sentiment was as heart wrenching as the overall message: I no longer recognize you as my child. In a few poorly constructed sentences, a father abandons his role as parent, guide and unconditional giver of love to his child.

Ouch. One of those scribbled lines of communication said this: “God did not intend for this unnatural lifestyle.” And so… because I know what God thinks, hopes and wants, I am justified in turning my back on your existence.

No, that’s not okay. The truth is, we don’t know. Nobody does.

But we need an excuse to hate, and God is convenient. We use religion, God, and the Doctrine of Original Sin to demarcate our judgment and hate within categories in which we have become all too comfortable operating; good and bad.

I am good, you are bad, so I get to hate, shame, judge and despise you and do it feeling vindicated and pure.

It’s a shame - on us and our knee jerk reaction to the hurt, pain, and suffering caused by humans. Rather than admit we occasionally deviate from our natural good nature, we blame our sometimes bad choices on the fact that we are born with a predilection toward the bad, dark, shadow….and poor us, we just can’t help it.

I don’t buy it.  It’s simply intellectually lazy, unhelpful, unhealthful and unreasonable.

Western religion begins and ends with the Doctrine of Original Sin because we need a safe and acceptable place to house our fears of the “other” and fear of our own wants and desires.

No more. We need to reassess and move on.

It is time to let go of this idea – this “Doctrine Default Demarcat-er” – and rehearse a new mantra.

We are born good. Kindness, love, empathy, compassion, generosity…these are all our natural response.

We are self-determined and have the capacity to choose, do and live good.  

“We” are good. We.  You and me. Him and her. Them and us. We are all good, which is the beginning to changing everything…