Confessions of a heretic
Definition of heretic
1 religion: a person who differs in opinion from established dogma; 2) a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church who refuses to acknowledge or accept a revealed truth; 2. one who differs in opinion from an accepted belief or doctrine: nonconformist
Definition of orthodox
1 a: conforming to established doctrine especially in religion; orthodox principles; the orthodox interpretation b: conventional; took an orthodox approach to the problem;
And, to fit in at church, it is important to accept their teachings. So, for the first 30 years of my life, I worked very hard to be orthodox. But, beginning with my expulsion from a Christian cult at 31, and ending with the church's absence when I needed them most during my divorce at 48, I am now firmly entrenched in the historical tradition of heresy.
It is important to note that - the label of heretic has been widely used by those establishment, religious leaders who are threatened by change.
The Holy-Roman Catholic Church labeled Martin Luther as a heretic when he nailed his 95 Thesis to the door of the Wittenberg Chapel.
Joan of Arc was burned at the stake as a heretic, and many indigenous peoples were slain by the Spanish Conquistadors if they failed to convert to Catholicism.
And, of course, Jesus was a heretic, too, in the minds of many. Martin Luther King was a "rabble rouser", and Gandhi was a "trouble maker" to the British in Colonial India.
So, self-identifying as a heretic is not a problem for me, as I certainly am (and have been) a non-conformist. So lest you think I boast excessively to identify as a Christian heretic, let me enumerate a short list of my heresies.
First, starting in 1981, while still attending a Church of Christ congregation in Nashville, I resisted strongly against the exclusion of women from full church participation. At that time, women could not even lead in public prayer, serve communion, or preach in the Sunday service.
When hearing that evangelism was an imperative in order to save the lost, I learned that church doctrine was such that even those that had never heard the "gospel", were doomed to hell. This seemed then - and now - as unjust and outrageous.
One childhood sermon exhorted us to never read any translation of the Bible - save the King James Version - as all others were corruptions and would endanger our souls. And later, as I studied the history of biblical translations, I learned that the verse in I Corinthians 12 that "forbids a woman to speak" in the church service - was added by a misogynistic Catholic Bishop centuries after the Apostle Paul's writing. And, yet, Evangelical Christians still shout that "every verse of the Bible was inspired by God". Doubtful, unless God is a sexist cleric.
So, as Merriam-Webster states above, a heretic is a non-conformist. Given that 4 of my 5 children were born at home with a midwife, I think I qualify.
Merriam-Webster then states that an orthodox person is one "conforming to established doctrine". Nope, I surely fail on that one.
But even more deeply, are my tendencies to go against the religious grain. The teachings of Jesus that are most powerful to me are those that charge us to "love our neighbors" and to care "for the least of these" in society. The parables of Jesus teach us to care for the hurting (The Good Samaritan) and to value even the smallest of contributions when given from a good heart (The Widow's Mite).
And when I observe today's Evangelical Church endorse Donald Trump for president, when I see so-called Christians treat Gay Americans as outcasts and second-class (doesn't the refusal to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple remind you of past refusals to serve black Americans at southern lunch counters?), when I see the denial of basic health-care for poor women being justified as "pro-life", I am quite happy to be deemed a heretic.
If hating gays, immigrants, poor women and people of color is orthodox, I am so grateful to finally be confirmed as a heretic.
dg
1/18/17
Sent from my iPad
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