Since the biblical beginning of time, a punitive system was set. Rules were put in order, demands were either met or total rejection and damnation would ensue. Up til the present this social construct punishes those who most need saving. Children whose parents weren’t there, orphans, abused or otherwise grew up with emotional and physical voids needing to be filled; because they weren’t given the best, the finest, the most pampering, nor love they are shooed away, tried, and imprisoned. For some, this makes perfect sense, but not to a loving parent.
A loving parent wouldn’t do what the biblical god did when his two creations did as they were told not to. A loving parent would see that they set too great a temptation before their child, would take accountability for it, and would brush their child off, hug them, laugh and say, “Now don’t do that again.” If the biblical god is Love, he’s got it all wrong.
A loving parent would see their unchaste child, not as a foul or shameful thing, but as their beloved who’s trying to fulfill the needs for connection and security. A loving parent wouldn’t shame their child, stone, nor disown them for promiscuity; they would have compassion, recalling their own youth and seek to reach out with understanding and love. They would respect them as an equal, offering gentle guidance, if consented to, to their best ability. That’s Love.
This social construct we find ourselves indoctrinated into supports Christianity’s mission: to spread the “truth” and punish the enemies. Christianity is punitive, yet studies show trauma (via threatening, slapping, spanking) from caregivers is counter-productive.
Real love is gentle, understanding, slow to anger, and abundant. Love doesn’t instruct slaves to carry on, waiting for someone to save them; real love releases control, allows, and trusts in their child’s capabilities. Love comforts and encourages; a loving parent sees to it their child’s foundation is firm by meeting needs until the child is fully grown. A loving parent doesn’t turn their child(ren) out into a garden, naked, then out into the wild.
And if they did, they most certainly wouldn’t disdain, pity, nor slander their loved one. They would offer to support, if accepted, open minded and hopeful, taking care to do no additional harm. They would hold compassion, not apathy for as long as it took for their child to find their way. A loving parent knows nothing of punishment, but of unconditional Love.
Our ancestors have been colonized, swindled of our cultures, land taxed, stolen and sold, and forced to follow rules that only Christians felt were fair and fit within their god’s perimeter, but I can see beyond that. I can see the delusion like a moistened drape over the eyes which blots out reality and concludes with certainty that love needs fear and punishment to function.
But fear and punishment lead to better liars, cheats, and criminals. So we return to the penal state of this country (USA) where laymen purchase prisons filled with the traumatized, abused, and desperate human beings and makes a profit off each and every one. Like sheep… being brought to the shepherd’s shed, but they must be fleeced before becoming a savory stew. That’s not love, but it resembles the biblical god’s capitalistic dichotomy, and that’s why we all nod in agreement and look away as someone goes to prison for something we were fully capable of doing, ourselves (and may have, but luckily evaded).
It’s time to see the depth religion digs down into this country’s foundations, the roots are rotted from the rule of Christianity; In God We Trust has never been the truth. America never needed god, since colonial times America has been independent and thought to be fully capable of thriving and punishing it’s inhabitants. This world needs love, but not that old kind of love. “Love one another” doesn’t mean solicit advice with grandeur, shame, cast judgement (name calling), be stingy, stay isolated from the world, disown or reject, nor threaten or punish; to love is the complete opposite.
As an ex-Christian who took the bible literally, I see how we are all being controlled by a patriarchy, supporting the church, removing the woman from creation, ignoring nature with its many lessons, and instead supporting capitalism, consumerism, perfectionism, discrimination, and racism. If we didn’t learn our bodies were filthy, sin stained from birth, worthy of hell, we wouldn’t accept the programming that offered salves, tonics, and tinctures to make it all perfect, as if perfect is a goal! Who’d want it? Diversity is king and love is acceptance, forgiveness, humble apologies, taking accountability, fulfilled promises, cooperation, support, and encouragement.
What kind of love do you want?
What kind of world do you want to live in?