"For the folks who were in that room Tuesday, faith isn’t a bedrock ordering principle for life. Instead, it’s a sauce for the main dish of political identity."
I had in mind this explanation of what faith is, and is not, for this crowd.
Also for those folks, I offer the following from Rev. Jim Wallis: "Christianity is not a religion that gives some people a ticket to heaven and makes them judgmental of all others. Rather, it’s a call to a relationship that changes all our other relationships."
It's a terrible confusion about the definition of "power." Most of the religious see religion as a buttress to their personal identity. It can double as a weapon. When in reality, a trascendent faith eschews personal identity. (I know this is difficult, but most true things are.)
Faith's essential character is paradoxical. It is the most counter-cultural thing imaginable. It goes against the common wisdom of psychology. It is the trust that a flourishing life is found when one's primary goal is NOT to expand or embrace a personal identity. It is to let go of an identity project and in doing so, experience the expansiveness of a different type of consciousness. This is not a new idea. I didn't cook it up. It's a very front loaded Eastern idea. And it is the core understanding of what it means to lose oneself for the sake of, let's say, the kingdom of God. It's very radical because it is our nature to want to embrace and form a highly focused and distinctive identity. We assume that by being unique we will find our place. The paradox is that one will find out the meaning of life by abandoning that project.
???
"For the folks who were in that room Tuesday, faith isn’t a bedrock ordering principle for life. Instead, it’s a sauce for the main dish of political identity."
I had in mind this explanation of what faith is, and is not, for this crowd.
Also for those folks, I offer the following from Rev. Jim Wallis: "Christianity is not a religion that gives some people a ticket to heaven and makes them judgmental of all others. Rather, it’s a call to a relationship that changes all our other relationships."
It's a terrible confusion about the definition of "power." Most of the religious see religion as a buttress to their personal identity. It can double as a weapon. When in reality, a trascendent faith eschews personal identity. (I know this is difficult, but most true things are.)
Faith's essential character is paradoxical. It is the most counter-cultural thing imaginable. It goes against the common wisdom of psychology. It is the trust that a flourishing life is found when one's primary goal is NOT to expand or embrace a personal identity. It is to let go of an identity project and in doing so, experience the expansiveness of a different type of consciousness. This is not a new idea. I didn't cook it up. It's a very front loaded Eastern idea. And it is the core understanding of what it means to lose oneself for the sake of, let's say, the kingdom of God. It's very radical because it is our nature to want to embrace and form a highly focused and distinctive identity. We assume that by being unique we will find our place. The paradox is that one will find out the meaning of life by abandoning that project.