I appreciate this, and it fits very well with my experience. I deconstructed, reconstructed, deconstructed, and emerged a believer in very traditional, patristic Christianity. And that has made me devoted to an ideal--an ideal I cannot live up to--of unconditional and universal love, which prioritizes sadness and pity over anger. I am on "the left," and advocate for left causes, especially with workers rights, things like that. But I no longer think of myself as in any camp other than as pursuing God through the form of Christianity I live under (Orthodoxy). But it is lonely. The contemporary left does not share this value of unconditional love. The right even less so. Neither have any sort of philosophical narrative or framework to substantiate the love and compassion they do have, and so they end up only accidentally getting things right.
I like how the late Michael Brooks, a left podcaster put it: "Be ruthless with systems, but kind to people."
Excelllent perspective - thank you for sharing! I told my daughter the other day that I think we need to remember that beneath the beliefs and systems … there are people. We can’t ever forget that.
Glenn, I'm so happy you're here, sharing your thoughts on Substack, and I'm in the exact same place. This election has brought to light my own disgust at the right, and how incredibly out of alignment that is for me. I cannot loathe and simmer at my neighbors who have confederate flags on their laen and also imagine a different way going forward. That's the old programming. Like Audre Lorde said, "the master's tool will never dismantle the master's house." Sitting here with you, leaning into radical integration that heals the whole wide world. 🙏 Looong forward to reading/listening deeply to yoir journey.
Ahhh thank you so much. I honestly have been fighting back doubting that inner voice so much. I can't tell you how much pushback I've received over these ideas, accused of being "wishy washy" and "weak" and "not courageous", speaking from a place of privilege. Sigh. I feel like I'm getting the same kind of pushback from the "left" that I got from the "right" when I started questioning hell and affirming LGBTQ people. BUT. Perhaps we are onto something, my friend. It doesn't feel quite so lonely when people like you speak up and say you're here too - thank you, and thank you for your encouragement. Much love!
I think it's fascinating that we so quickly slip into those old paradigms. I get it though, because I deal with that same inner voice. To truly live in a state of non-duality and non-judgement is HARD, but it fuels creativity and imagination, don't you think? And there's nothing weak or wishy-washy about harnessing Love to birth something new in the world. Strong back, soft front, wild heart.
The old non-duality approach, of course I agree with you.
The problem isn't anger though. Anger is a much vilified emotion but it is just an emotion, same as happiness or fear..
But of course I do recognize that when anger boils over, when you don't know how to control it which I admittedly have trouble with, it can cause a lot of problems.
But anger is a good emotion, without it we would not have a civil rights movement, women would not have successfully fought for the right to vote, the entire pride movement was built out of anger.
There is a place for anger in our lives.
But hate? Yeah, that's a problem.
We can use our anger to make positive change in our world but what happens when we are met with resistance? What is the Thruway?
One of the things that I hope to do with my work, if I'm ever actually able to get going, thanks mental illness, is help people remember the things that they have in common.
For instance what does a queer person and an old southern conservative have in common?
They both care about their family.
Whether blood or chosen, everyone cares about their people.
And of course we all have our stories don't we?
And they're so similar when you really get down to the minutiae.
Yes, my friend. I feel this. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective with me - it's so important.
And I want to emphasize (which I think you already know) - I am not saying anger is bad or we shouldn't have it. As I said to someone else today, anger is a necessary emotion and a good one and a justifiable one - especially in these moments. Where I'm at and what I'm wrestling with is how to wield that anger - how to hold it, how to wield it, what to do with it.
For instance, my neighbors who had Trump flags all over their house for the last 4 months? They still live next door, and will live next door for the next 4+ years. How do we live in communities with one another ... and with what emotions do we live in community with each other? Should I never make eye contact with them? Shame them when I see them? Judge them? Talk badly about them? Or recognize the humanity beneath the voting choice and engage them with curiosity while firmly sharing my own thoughts, concerns, etc?
For me, I'm just tired of being angry - and there's so much of it on the left and the right. I grew up angry at everyone, moved to the Left and was still angry at everyone ... I'm just tired of this feeling. As I said in the article, not everyone needs to be on this path - it's OK to be where people are at. And we need some anger out there - we each have a perspective to bring to the conversation, and I think they are all needed. For me, though, my intution is saying "let's go and explore this other way". There are so many people - straight, LGBTQ, black, white, etc. - who are exploring these ideas (not just some straight, white guy - HA!) and that gives me some hope that maybe when Jordan is my age - maybe the world will be a little bit of a safer, more loving place.
I'm not here to diminish anyone's pain or anger, but am just trying to find another path on which to work through it.
Thanks again for sharing, and thanks for your friendship.
Have you read the book, The Bible Made Impossible” by Christian Smith? His key point is that there always has been and always will be pervasive interpretive pluralism. That is why we must hold and express our theological and hermeneutical conviction with a great amount of humility and listen to others with a great amount of curiosity. The reality is always that there needs to room for diversity of beliefs and practices, as even the biblical texts demonstrate.
My experience as well. The “courageous middle might be a way to describe it. Thank you for sharing this and for the book’s recommendations as well.
Thanks for reading, Judy! Sending you much love.
I appreciate this, and it fits very well with my experience. I deconstructed, reconstructed, deconstructed, and emerged a believer in very traditional, patristic Christianity. And that has made me devoted to an ideal--an ideal I cannot live up to--of unconditional and universal love, which prioritizes sadness and pity over anger. I am on "the left," and advocate for left causes, especially with workers rights, things like that. But I no longer think of myself as in any camp other than as pursuing God through the form of Christianity I live under (Orthodoxy). But it is lonely. The contemporary left does not share this value of unconditional love. The right even less so. Neither have any sort of philosophical narrative or framework to substantiate the love and compassion they do have, and so they end up only accidentally getting things right.
I like how the late Michael Brooks, a left podcaster put it: "Be ruthless with systems, but kind to people."
Ps - haven’t forgotten about you haha, we’ll get that podcast rescheduled soon.
Excelllent perspective - thank you for sharing! I told my daughter the other day that I think we need to remember that beneath the beliefs and systems … there are people. We can’t ever forget that.
Glenn, I'm so happy you're here, sharing your thoughts on Substack, and I'm in the exact same place. This election has brought to light my own disgust at the right, and how incredibly out of alignment that is for me. I cannot loathe and simmer at my neighbors who have confederate flags on their laen and also imagine a different way going forward. That's the old programming. Like Audre Lorde said, "the master's tool will never dismantle the master's house." Sitting here with you, leaning into radical integration that heals the whole wide world. 🙏 Looong forward to reading/listening deeply to yoir journey.
Ahhh thank you so much. I honestly have been fighting back doubting that inner voice so much. I can't tell you how much pushback I've received over these ideas, accused of being "wishy washy" and "weak" and "not courageous", speaking from a place of privilege. Sigh. I feel like I'm getting the same kind of pushback from the "left" that I got from the "right" when I started questioning hell and affirming LGBTQ people. BUT. Perhaps we are onto something, my friend. It doesn't feel quite so lonely when people like you speak up and say you're here too - thank you, and thank you for your encouragement. Much love!
I think it's fascinating that we so quickly slip into those old paradigms. I get it though, because I deal with that same inner voice. To truly live in a state of non-duality and non-judgement is HARD, but it fuels creativity and imagination, don't you think? And there's nothing weak or wishy-washy about harnessing Love to birth something new in the world. Strong back, soft front, wild heart.
Amen! Thanks my friend.
The old non-duality approach, of course I agree with you.
The problem isn't anger though. Anger is a much vilified emotion but it is just an emotion, same as happiness or fear..
But of course I do recognize that when anger boils over, when you don't know how to control it which I admittedly have trouble with, it can cause a lot of problems.
But anger is a good emotion, without it we would not have a civil rights movement, women would not have successfully fought for the right to vote, the entire pride movement was built out of anger.
There is a place for anger in our lives.
But hate? Yeah, that's a problem.
We can use our anger to make positive change in our world but what happens when we are met with resistance? What is the Thruway?
One of the things that I hope to do with my work, if I'm ever actually able to get going, thanks mental illness, is help people remember the things that they have in common.
For instance what does a queer person and an old southern conservative have in common?
They both care about their family.
Whether blood or chosen, everyone cares about their people.
And of course we all have our stories don't we?
And they're so similar when you really get down to the minutiae.
Yes, my friend. I feel this. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective with me - it's so important.
And I want to emphasize (which I think you already know) - I am not saying anger is bad or we shouldn't have it. As I said to someone else today, anger is a necessary emotion and a good one and a justifiable one - especially in these moments. Where I'm at and what I'm wrestling with is how to wield that anger - how to hold it, how to wield it, what to do with it.
For instance, my neighbors who had Trump flags all over their house for the last 4 months? They still live next door, and will live next door for the next 4+ years. How do we live in communities with one another ... and with what emotions do we live in community with each other? Should I never make eye contact with them? Shame them when I see them? Judge them? Talk badly about them? Or recognize the humanity beneath the voting choice and engage them with curiosity while firmly sharing my own thoughts, concerns, etc?
For me, I'm just tired of being angry - and there's so much of it on the left and the right. I grew up angry at everyone, moved to the Left and was still angry at everyone ... I'm just tired of this feeling. As I said in the article, not everyone needs to be on this path - it's OK to be where people are at. And we need some anger out there - we each have a perspective to bring to the conversation, and I think they are all needed. For me, though, my intution is saying "let's go and explore this other way". There are so many people - straight, LGBTQ, black, white, etc. - who are exploring these ideas (not just some straight, white guy - HA!) and that gives me some hope that maybe when Jordan is my age - maybe the world will be a little bit of a safer, more loving place.
I'm not here to diminish anyone's pain or anger, but am just trying to find another path on which to work through it.
Thanks again for sharing, and thanks for your friendship.
Have you read the book, The Bible Made Impossible” by Christian Smith? His key point is that there always has been and always will be pervasive interpretive pluralism. That is why we must hold and express our theological and hermeneutical conviction with a great amount of humility and listen to others with a great amount of curiosity. The reality is always that there needs to room for diversity of beliefs and practices, as even the biblical texts demonstrate.
I haven’t but I’m adding it to my list - thanks Brian!
I couldn't love this more...
Thank you, my friend. Grateful for YOU, and to be on this journey with you. Sending you lots of love today.