Non-Christian Thoughts

1.

I have grown exhausted by the totalizing hegemony of Christianity.

Christianity has the world in its stranglehold. All over the planet, billions of people worship Jesus. And this has less to do with the inspiring message of the Gospel, and more to do with the omnipresence of Western imperialism. Wherever the West has gone, they have enforced Christianity. Western Christians have made good on the great commission to “make disciples of all nations”—emphasis on “make.” They made people become Christian. We now live in a Christian world. Whatever year it is, it is the Year of Our Lord. 

2.

It all started in the 4th century (A.D. - after Jesus) when emperor Constantine made Christianity the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. From then on, Christianity became wedded to imperialism. It became a tool of the oppressor. 

3.

But the seeds of world domination are in the New Testament itself. “Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Is this not imperialism? And is it not also the natural consequence of monotheism? Isaiah had already prophesied that every knee would bow before God and every tongue would swear allegiance to him (Isa. 45:23). Is there not something imperialistic about monotheism? Something that beckons toward world domination? Does monotheism not lend itself to imperialist projects? Are they not inherently compatible? To have one ruler, one to whom all must be subject, one whom all must obey—this goal is what drives empires. 

4.

The one God is master of the whole world. The ethics of monotheism is written in commandments and practiced as obedience. Is it not totalitarian? Is it not the ultimate patriarchy? 

5.

Through Christianity, we are still in the Roman Empire.

6.

To think non-Christian thoughts. That I call “blessed.” And not just anti-Christian thoughts, for that is still in the shadow of Christianity. No, I want strange, un-Christian, other-than-Christian thoughts. To do anti-imperialist theology. That I call orthodoxy. To think of God not as master, not as father, not even as one, but as many. That I call good.

7.

You have heard it said, “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am,” but I say, beware of gathering in the name of Christ, lest you bring him infamy and degradation.

8.

You have heard it said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” but I say, let no world have kings.

9.

You have heard it said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for,” but I say, only fools expect to get what they want.

10.

You have heard it said, “Make disciples of all nations,” but I say, don’t presume to know better than others what is good for them; rather, learn from all nations.

11.

You have heard it said, “Our father, who art in heaven,” but I say, “Our mothers, who are the earth.”

Jack Holloway