Born Again Movement, a Needle in the Arm
Jeff Duvall
Some lamentation about the direction a local activist gruop has been going. People are describing it is a negativity, an agenda, and a hierarchy. This is consistent with my own observations as there seems to be a desire to increase the emphasis on Christian Identity, in order to promote the group itself.
While this always was a potential liability, it would seem that now it is an actuality.
It also would seem to highlight a particular aspect of Born Again Christianity, the objectivist dualism. That is, people are encouraged to say that they believe, and that they put their trust in Jesus. They do this and they do this and they do this, in the hope that they will gain some material benefit in the circumstances in their lives. They go as far as they can, as far as they dare.
They at some point they decide, "I am responsible for creating my own life."
Some have described this as the Propaganda of Willfulness, the belief that God helps those who help themselves. Professed belief and prayer become demonstrations of moral virtue, as does conformance with all the normative social expectations.
This is a dismal state, but it is one our nation and our world are in. Born Again Christianity works like a needle in the arm, to subert people's energies into professions of belief and acts of subservience to the economic order. Otherwise nice people turn into downright creeps, at Born Again meetings.
While I don't think it has to be this way, any change would first have to predicated on rejection of the professed belief based paragdime of the Born Again Movement. Certainly I am not going to be holding my breath waiting for this to happen. What I do hope is that some new impetus towards social action will emerge, one not tied to the Born Again Christian Movement and all that it entails.
jeffd
about something very different, the Born Again, or "I am a Christian
Movement".
http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/thread.php?forumid=135167&threadid=2059286
This is an ideology of dualism. People go around saying that you have
to put your faith in Jesus. But the flip side of that is that God
Helps Those Who Help Themselves. Both are moral injunctions. Both
come from the same type of dualism.
So its, I must believe in Jesus, and I must advance myself. So many
people could never imagine any other type of spirituality. The lives
and energies of good people are consumed and wasted, by this crazy
making system. Most all of our social injustices are supported by
this type of thinking.
While the "I am a Christian Movement" is most stongly associated with
Evangelical Protestantism, in order to stay in black ink, mainline
Protestanism has also adopted it. You will also find similar types of
thinking among religiously addicted Catholics and Jews.