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Cris
- 1. diagnosing and treating CRIS* in yourself and others (conflicted religious identity syndrome)
- 2. 2 new epidemics often go unnoticed until a high-profile figure is stricken.
- 5. 2010
- 6. Anne has concluded that she will never truly belong to the āquarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous groupā known as Christians unless she becomes āanti-gay ā¦ anti-feminist ā¦ antiāartificial birth control ā¦ anti- Democrat ā¦ antiāsecular humanism ā¦ anti-science ā¦ anti-life.ā
- 7. Tell that much of the story, and you have the sort of thing the news media love to reportā another celebrity break-up, if you will. But this time, the celebrity is divorcing God. But thatās not the whole story. Really, itās not the story at all. Anne explains that, āMy faith in Christ is central to my life.ā She is still āan optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God.ā āBut,ā she says, āfollowing Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been or might become.ā
- 8. And so, she concludes, āIn the name of Christā¦ I quit Christianity and being Christian.ā
- 9. spiritual but not religious: a cliche. boring. not enough. I agree:
- 10. we may be bored but they SBNRās are not to be ignored.
- 12. Last Fall: a graduate of an Evangelical Christian college
- 13. Last Fall: āWeāre dropping out because we donāt want to belong to a religion that requires us to be hostile.ā
- 14. Today: how many of our children?
- 16. SELF-MEDICATION: ADJECTIVES __conservative ___liberal ___Evangelical ___progressive ___emergent ___moderate ___a new kind of ___mainline ___ not THAT kind of
- 17. Why I am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/calvinist, anabaptist/anglican, methodist, catholic, green, incarnational, depressed- yet-hopeful, emergent, unfinished Christian. 2005
- 18. 1972
- 19. Kelley spoke the then-shocking truth that āMainlineā Protestantism, which had historically been the main form of Christianity in the United States, was fast becoming āold lineā as it declined in numbers.
- 20. ML/OL was losing ground to a ānew lineā of conservative churches characterized by seriousness and strictness. serious about meaning strict regarding their norms of belief and behavior. This ... made them socially strong, and this social strength made them grow ā as their adherents enthusiastically recruited others.
- 23. According to Kelley, strict, serious, and growing groups ... are not āreasonable,ā they are not ātolerant,ā they are not ecumenical, they are not ārelevant.ā They often refuse to recognize the validity of other Christian churchesā teachings, ordinations, sacraments. They observe unusual rituals ā¦ they [persist] in irrational behavior ā¦ They try to impose uniformity of belief and practice among members by censorship, heresy trials, and the like. (26).
- 24. The Paradox: There is about any serious meaning venture a certain irreducible fierceness, asperity, insistence, exclusiveness, rigor ā a fanaticism that brushes everything else aside. Yet that very single-mindedness renders it objectionable to those who value balance, brotherhood, respect for individual diversity, mutual forbearance and self- restraint, civic peace, pluralism ... (164)
- 25. Chapter 6: Why Not a Strong, Ecumencial Religion?
- 26. āBut why must there be any conflict? Are not freedom, justice, respect for others essential parts of the Christian faith? Ideally they should be, if rightly understood. One can conceive of a high-demand religious movement devoted to justice, freedom, beauty, respect for others, and so on, which could effectively explain life to [humankind] without fanaticism, absolutism, intolerance, or judgmental moralism. That is what ā ideally ā Christianity ought to be.ā
- 27. āYet where is such a phenomenon to be found?ā -- Dean Kelley, 1972 In the 40 years since ...
- 28. a search for a cure for CRIS Conflicted Religious Identity Syndrome
- 29. We know how to have a STRONG- HOSTILE CHRISTIAN IDENTITY.
- 30. STRONG- HOSTILE We have the only way. You are going to hell. We are Godās chosen. You worship false gods. resistance if futile. you will be assimilated - or eliminated.
- 31. We know how to have a weak-benign CHRISTIAN IDENTITY.
- 32. weak-benign it doesnāt matter what you believe. all religions are the same. all roads lead to god. only sincerity matters. doctrines divide. keep religion private. Mind/Matter: I donāt, it doesnāt.
- 34. where did our strong-hostile identity come from?
- 35. From Follow the Sacredness, by Jonathan Haidt http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/17/forget-the-money-follow-the-sacredness/ Despite what you might have learned in Economics 101, people arenāt always selfish. In politics, theyāre more often groupish. When people feel that a group they value ā be it racial, religious, regional or ideological ā is under attack, they rally to its defense, even at some cost to themselves. We evolved to be tribal...
- 36. ... The key to understanding tribal behavior is ... sacredness. The great trick that humans developed at some point in the last few hundred thousand years is the ability to circle around a tree, rock, ancestor, flag, book or god, and then treat that thing as sacred. People who worship the same idol can trust one another, work as a team and prevail over less cohesive groups. So if you want to understand politics, and especially our divisive culture wars, you must follow the sacredness.
- 37. Religions united our ancestors around a sacred object or idol ... and that unity gave some tribes survival advantage over others.
- 39. But itās not just the idol in the center that unites us: itās also the āotherā outside the circle. "Historically, the amity, or goodwill, within the group has often depended on enmity, or hatred, between groups.ā (Robert Wright, Nonzero: The Logic Of Human Destiny, quoted in Evolutionaries by Carter Phipps)
- 40. Give people a common enemy, and you will give them a common identity. Deprive them of an enemy and you will deprive them of the crutch by which they know who they are. - James Alison
- 42. Misconception: Our religious differences keep us apart.
- 43. Actuality: It is not our religious differences that keep us apart, but rather a haunting religious similarity ... that we build strong identities through hostility.
- 44. Can Christians today re-build our identity and ethos without hostility to the other?
- 45. STRONG- HOSTILE We have the only way. You are going to hell. We are Godās chosen. You worship false gods. resistance if futile. you will be assimilated - or
- 46. weak-benign it doesnāt matter what you believe. all religions are the same. all roads lead to god. only sincerity matters. doctrines divide. keep religion private.
- 47. strong- benevolent Because I Follow Jesus, I love you. I move toward āthe other.ā I break down walls of hostility. i stand with you in solidarity. you are made in Godās image. i am your servant. I practice human-kindness.
- 48. Can there be A strong and benevolent Christian identity centered on Jesus and his story (good news) of the kingdom/commonwealth of God?
- 55. a 5-part treatment plan for CRIS Conflicted Religious Identity Syndrome
- 65. āāā¦do not try to call them back to where they were, and do not try to call them to where you are, as beautiful as that place might seem to you. You must have the courage to go with them to a place that neither you nor they have ever been before.ā Good missionary advice, and a beautiful description of the unpredictable process of evangelization, a process leading to that new place where none of us has ever been before.ā - Vincent Donovan
- 67. in/out - WE are IN; THEY are OUT membership - status simplicity - dualism complexity - pragmatism perplexity - relativism/pluralism harmony - transcending, integrating love
- 68. a 5-part treatment plan for CRIS historical doctrinal liturgical missional spiritual
- 69. From Catherine Maresca (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd) - Finally, [Maria] Cavalletti emphasizes the importance of being specific. You canāt teach children language without teaching children a language. She writes, āWishing to stay on a vague level without any specific content is the same as wanting a child to talk without using any particular language.ā Some parents say they donāt want their children to learn a particular religion because they want them to be free to choose their own. But these children are missing the opportunity to become spiritually literate.
- 70. To be initiated into the signs of their religious tradition creates the possibility of grasping the signs of many traditions, and of respecting the integrity of each of those traditions. So we need to be religious in a particular way, true to the faith we affirm for ourselves, in order to foster the spiritual and religious literacy of our children. world this is a service to our children. We have to be specific.
- 71. While we donāt reject other traditions, a particular religion has to be our starting point. To say, āIām spiritual but not religiousā is like saying, āIām linguistic but donāt speak any particular language.ā Everyone has innate linguistic capacity that gets activated as one learns a particular language or languages. Likewise, everyone has spiritual capacity that gets activated and mobilized through becoming religious in a particular way. Becoming religious in a particular way is foundational for relating to the religious other.
- 72. Children who have learned their native language well are poised to learn new languages with greater ease. Children who learned the language of their religious tradition are likewise poised to grasp the sacred signs of another tradition. As we nurture the spiritual life of young children with sacred signs, we simultaneously build the foundation of respect and understanding for othersā beliefs. With spiritual literacy, faith and interfaith formation work hand in hand, promoting in turn a more peaceful world. Children, Signs, and Spiritual Literacy: An Interfaith Experience By Catherine Maresca
- 73. wanted: people in recovery from CRIS to help others get the healing they need. Every sermon Every song Every prayer Every interaction Every week
- 76. diagnosing and treating CRIS* in yourself and others (conflicted religious identity syndrome)
- 77. a prayer for disciples
- 78. O God, whose love makes us one family - May your unspeakable Name be revered.
- 79. Here on earth may your commonwealth come ā¦ on earth as in heaven may your dreams come true.
- 80. Give us today our bread for today. Forgive us our wrongs as we forgive.
- 81. Lead us away from the perilous trial, Liberate us from the evil.
- 82. For the kingdom is yours and yours alone, the power is yours and yours alone, the glory is yours and yours alone, now and forever. Amen. (Hallelujah ā¦ Amen)