tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7984344.post5104286733388515978..comments2023-10-18T03:19:36.584-04:00Comments on outWORD by Matte Downey: 2 anxietiesMatte Downeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13475890740790772858noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7984344.post-34386407311768606412012-05-09T18:01:43.756-04:002012-05-09T18:01:43.756-04:00"As to Christianity producing anxiety, we wou..."As to Christianity producing anxiety, we would have to clarify exactly what you mean. Expectations found in a closed religious system? Tensions between what is said and what actually is? Misunderstandings and misrepresentations (imperfections) within a belief system that threaten its integrity?"<br /><br />You say Christian anxiety is a product of encountering a "now and not yet" God: I, mostly, agree. You say that this anxiety is fear of the infinite: I, mostly, disagree. I say this anxiety is a product of a religious system that demands that the believer supplicate to a God that doesn't/can't reveal himself in any pragmatic sense.<br /><br />Let's characterize life as a series of decisions. Let's say that as decision makers we have a certain degree of free will, an ability to actually influence outcomes. I have watched many Christians, including myself, flop around like fish out of water when faced with difficult decisions. It's hard enough to make difficult decisions, let alone try to divine the will of a "not yet" God, and abide by it. In the heat of decision making, this is a real problem.<br /><br />Another source of Christian anxiety comes from that which has been marked as un-Christian or un-Godly (or "Other"). There is a real fear of encountering the Other, and an assumption that the un-Christian is less than the Christian. Balthasar, for example, marks life without God as meaningless, dark, & lonely... What a bunch of garbage! Go live with some people who "do not have God," observe their "loneliness" for yourself.<br /><br />One phrase that I have seen pop-up quite a bit in Christian circles, is that of "engaging and transforming" the world (the Other) for Christ, some call this Kingdom building. To engage, one must allow for the possibility of being transformed. In other words, "engaging the world" for many Christians comes with both an exceptionalism and a deep anxiety or fear that the exceptionalism is false. <br /><br />As I see it, a primary message of Jesus was that exceptionalism is false, and so is the anxiety that comes with it. But the divination, witchcraft, and blasphemy that has come to form the core of the Christian heresy does nothing but feed this exceptionalism and anxiety.<br /><br />In order for the words of Jesus to live, Christ must be dead and not live in the heart of man.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7984344.post-84762869224109663902012-05-07T13:04:15.201-04:002012-05-07T13:04:15.201-04:00Thanks for the comments. I wouldn't say that ...Thanks for the comments. I wouldn't say that Balthasar is merely talking about fear of the unknown, but a much deeper anxiety that stems from reliance upon a limited self. <br /><br />As to Christianity producing anxiety, we would have to clarify exactly what you mean. Expectations found in a closed religious system? Tensions between what is said and what actually is? Misunderstandings and misrepresentations (imperfections) within a belief system that threaten its integrity? <br /><br />Perhaps a better question would be to ask if Jesus produced anxiety. For some, definitely yes; for the poor and marginalised, he brought much relief and comfort. In the same way, while I respect your experience, there are others who would say their experience of Christ has been somewhat different.<br /><br />I don't believe Christians know everything or believe it is possible to fully know the truth; that would be in direct opposition to our core value of worshipping a God who is "greater than."Matte Downeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13475890740790772858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7984344.post-81292087975310953832012-04-30T19:07:59.529-04:002012-04-30T19:07:59.529-04:00Christianity produces anxiety.
My life with Chri...Christianity produces anxiety. <br /><br />My life with Christ had more anxiety than my life without Christ. From my experience Christians are more anxious than secular humanists.<br /><br />For three-and-half decades I tried to supplicate to Christ. I have decided not believe in Christ, a mystical force that one has a personal relationship with. I do not believe in being born again by the spirit. But I do believe in the material "holy spirit" of community (as discussed by Slavoj Žižek and Liberation Theologians). <br /><br />Anxiety is not simply fear of the unknown. If anxiety were simply fear of the unknown, Christians would not be anxious because they know everything; they have access to the infinite and have no reason to fear. <br /><br />But anxiety might be the beginning of awareness of the truth that all we can really try to know is the here & now, the material world. If we live in faith, anxiety might be transformed into awareness and action, things that have nothing to do with Christianity & twiddling our thumbs waiting for "the bridegroom".<br /><br />From my understanding Jean Vanier is part of the Liberation Theology movement. If this is true, I wouldn't consider his Jesus the Christ of Christianity. Christianity is not interested in connecting people; it has been concentrated on their disempowerment and disconnection from the material world (since the fourth century & perhaps since Paul).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7984344.post-66538343218904864212012-04-29T00:50:03.276-04:002012-04-29T00:50:03.276-04:00In other words, to be more easily understood, he m...In other words, to be more easily understood, he might have simply said that ANXIETY is a fear of the unknown, a worry or nervousness about the future.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7984344.post-36326440613133951632012-04-28T10:10:26.474-04:002012-04-28T10:10:26.474-04:00Interesting ideas. I haven't heard/read much ...Interesting ideas. I haven't heard/read much on anxiety from the christian viewpoint except to quote the verse "do not be anxious about anything..."<br /><br />Jean Vanier writes in Becoming Human, that all humans have a constant inner longing for connection to God - and this loneliness connects us to each other and continually drives us toward God, if we let it do so. He talks about it as though it is God's plan for us, to keep us needing him; otherwise we would resolve the loneliness, fill the void, and abandon God forever.<br /><br />Your post reminds me of the quote from George MacDonald "The Son of God suffered unto death, not that men might not suffer, but that their sufferings might be like his.”Shelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12295453584404376725noreply@blogger.com