[Dr. Jezebel]

Neil Carter, aka Godless in Dixie recently posted this. I so much appreciate his blog, since he articulates these things better than I do.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/godlessindi...pfa7e1p.01

If there is no fear in love, why is fear used so much in Fundamentalism to keep people in line?

[rtgmath]

There is no fear in love.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Therefore....
Love is not wise.

[Workin' Mama]

Interesting article, Jez. Thanks for sharing.

Profound food for thought, rtg. There are a lot of ways those words can be taken.  Proverbs and 1st John of course have different messages, and different cultural and historical contexts, as well as different authors. But it's very interesting to put those thoughts together.  Perhaps the fear of the Lord is just the BEGINNING of wisdom, but as one matures and grows wiser and learns more about God, love casts out fear. Or perhaps, love is indeed unwise (after all, love makes one vulnerable), but love is still the better choice.

Speaking of hell, I'm not exactly sure what I believe about it anymore. I've heard a lot of people talk about being traumatized by the fear of hell during their youth and childhood. Personally, I was never scared of hell as a child (even though I was heavily indoctrinated with fundy teachings about it), because I knew I wasn't going there.

As an adult, there is a part of me that hopes the fundy version of hell is real, so that those who have hurt little children and escaped earthly punishment could finally receive some type of justice for their evil deeds.

Recently, my oldest child was asking questions about hell. My husband answered with a simple, non-graphic but never-the-less fundy explanation. Something along the lines of "there's fire there and people who don't believe in Jesus go there." We live in the Bible belt, so I think my child thinks everybody believes in Jesus. Still, I was somewhat disturbed and didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything except to assure my child that they are not going there and neither are their sibling(s).

I'm going through a huge shift in my beliefs -- a gradual process that started a couple of years ago and may take years to resolve. In the meanwhile, my kids are at a very formative time in their lives, and I'm not sure what to tell them about religion and spirituality. Sometimes I tell them I don't know, and it's OK not to know. My husband, on the other hand, gives more concrete answers. While he has rejected the legalism and authoritarianism and misogyny of the IFB church, he still remains fairly conservative in his theology. Because he gives more concrete answers, they tend to go to him with religious questions. Maybe I should just start being more honest with them about the fact that I have my own doubts and questions.