22 August 2024
In my post on arrogance a few days ago, I didn't mean to imply that I hadn't lived with arrogance in my family. Rather, the arrogance manifested primarily because it was an inherited trait across my whole family. And the reason it manifested so consistently is that there were precious few among my relatives who understood, much less offered, empathy.
Indeed, it was seen as a weakness. That is what you would expect from a poverty stricken family from northern European roots. Culturally, empathy was a luxury they couldn't afford. This was also the flavor of our religion at church, of course, so they blamed it on God. Yes, my own father was ogre who claimed the prerogatives of God, and our bodies bore stripes, but the emotional abuse was by far the greatest damage. He literally feared empathy.
Empathy is not simply a matter of culture, of talent and DNA. It is not simply one among many spiritual gifts. It is part of the very nature of Christ on the Cross. It is fundamental to the character of the Holy Spirit. Some of us struggle harder than others to set it free, but sooner or later we all discover that empathy is an essential element in faith. Without empathy can be no compassion.
I'm sure you have encountered professing believers who failed to convey empathy in their public persona, or you've read religious writing that is devoid of empathy -- all the diplomacy of a fire ax. It's a very serious problem in America today. Worse, far too many who have no natural spiritual empathy try to manufacture it artificially because they somehow manage to grasp that it works, but they don't have it internally. To them, it's just a tool of manipulation.
Out of the various definitions of the term out there, I would prefer to emphasize that empathy is the ability to feel the pain and sorrows of others. It is a critical factor in how you deal with every person and thing on this planet. It doesn't mean "being nice" so much as being aware that what you are handling includes pain and sorrow. You have to account for it in how you draw the boundaries.
Everyone has experienced spite and abuse. How many of you are consciously aware that the Radix Fidem community is, in essence, an abuse recovery ministry? Abuse is not an absolute; it is relative to the person who experiences it. Every member of our spiritual family has stories of religious abuse, including yours truly. But it could be any kind of abuse; the whole point is that we all share something with the merchant on the road to Jericho that Jesus talked about.
This is why we emphasize the shepherd image of spiritual maturity. This is why we talk about the Law of Christ, sacrificially loving each other. The love is here; you have to feel the need or we can't help you. But if you do seek us out, we will shower it on you.
Most abusers operate from fear of being abused themselves again. It's seldom conscious; it arises from the hidden dark place of damage and pain. Only in the rare cases of psychopaths who are incapable of empathy or fear can they abuse with no internal conflict. They do it because they are isolated from their fellow humans morally and spiritually. But with most of us, if we abuse anyone, it's because something triggered the pain that we cannot allow ourselves to consciously recognize.
In our community, we believe in dragging all that stuff out of the basement and into the light. But instead of setting out to call ourselves an abuse recovery ministry, we simply did the work. We find that it allows us to draw people who would be put off by most other recovery ministries. Maybe you've brushed up against the standard stuff, typically based on the 12-Step program. We hate that; it's utterly devoid of the Spirit and His miracles. It's entirely man-made and a discipline rooted in fallen flesh. We wanted to get away from that.
So, without all that folderol, we simply offer a community of people who would like to experience religion without the abuse. We've made it clear often enough that we make no demands; we only point out how you can get as close as you like to us, and what that includes. This is our mission. It's not for everyone, but we won't tolerate any more abuse, especially from outsiders.
Western rationalism is a lie from Hell. It came into the churches from the pagan Hellenism promoted by the Judaizers, the Pharisees who opposed Christ. It is the crux of the Fall. We will not serve Satan.
Comments
John the Fool
Western rationalism seems to be a greater problem with those born into it who were granted more in the way of raw intellect. Many seem unable to gain enough distance from their subjective perspective to appreciate its limitations or have enough intellectual courage to admit defeat in the face of eternity and venture out into the unknown with Him. Faith is, on some level, and should certainly be at times, terrifying to the flesh and near unfathomable to the mind, hence all those paradoxical stories in the Bible are meant, in some sense, to point the way out of that trap.
CatRez
Very well said, John.
Jay DiNitto
I, for one, am glad you used the word "folderol." Thanks for that.
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