Francis Berger
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Christianity as Divine Bureaucracy; Or, Behold, The Salvation Credit System

7/4/2023

9 Comments

 
Nothing amazes and depresses me more than seeing Christians who recognize the inherent evil of modern bureaucracy and bureaucratic systems yet simultaneously insist upon a Christianity that fundamentally resides in the realm of officialdom and boils down to the following of centralized administrative procedures that must be followed to a T to be valid, effective, and authentic. 

Such Christians are sharp enough to discern the Ahrimanic evil in the various totalitarian schemes the globalist demon spawn try to implement, yet muddled enough to believe that a technical glitch in some regulatory or organizational procedure is more than enough to render salvation null and void, regardless of the heart-felt, faith-based motivation of the individuals involved. 

Such Christians are quick to decry godless and dehumanizing bureaucratic networks like birdemic peck passports or social credit systems that unfairly and maliciously encroach upon an individual’s freedom to travel, work, and associate but are equally quick to laud the necessity of Christian regulatory framework analogous to a salvation credit system that holistically assesses the “Christian-worthiness” of individuals before relegating them to the great Christian black list. 

Such Christians reduce Christianity to the level of policy-making and diminish God to the level of policymaker. Faith is circumscribed by the administrative, the ministerial, the rule-bound, the managerial, the rigid, the inflexible, the procedural, the organizational, and the regulatory. Everything must line up. Every “i” has to be dotted; every “t” crossed because the presence of even the smallest snag nullifies everything.

To such Christians, I pose the following questions. Do you really believe God works like that? Do you really believe God would purposefully organize the world in such a way? Do you really believe that represents who Jesus was during his mission on earth or his offer of salvation and Heaven? 

Do you really believe that the Divine operates at the same level and employs the same methods as the demonic totalitarians via their ever-encroaching and ever-increasing legalistic oppression and subjugation? 

Is that all Christianity is in the end? Another credit system? A divine bureaucracy?

Or could it be that this conceptualization of Christianity as divine bureaucracy is the fruit of a now-limited, exteriorized religious consciousness that should be outgrown and surpassed lest Christianity become a religion of passports, digital IDs, and bar-code readers? 
9 Comments
The Continental Op
7/4/2023 17:35:28

>The Grand Inquisitor enters the chat

Reply
Francis Berger
7/4/2023 20:32:17

@ The Continental Op - Precisely. That chapter of The Brothers Karamazov is indispensable today. Many would do well to visit it or revisit it.

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bruce g charlton
7/4/2023 18:18:38

It really is astonishing to see the 'faith' that so many in the big churches have in the hierarchical systems of committees and voting procedures - the faith that these elaborate bureaucracies are permeated by the will of the Holy Ghost.

Looking across history I can find only a very few situations when it really did seem that the Holy Ghost was working through groups - but not for a long time.

Reply
Francis Berger
7/4/2023 20:35:14

@ Bruce - Good point. It's something I've thought about over the years. Whatever the case in history, I'm convinced the Holy Ghost most certainly does not permeate committees and hierarchies today.

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Lucad
7/4/2023 19:54:06

The 11th commandment: Thou shalt cross thine t's and dot thine i's, else no salvation for you.

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Francis Berger
7/4/2023 20:39:03

@ Lucad - Yes. And if that is the case, then Jesus was the world's ultimate "i.t." guy. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Reply
Lucas
7/5/2023 00:02:45

Oh man that's awful but I set you up for it

lea
7/7/2023 08:43:36

Hierarchy has never been helpful to spiritual development. Those claiming any opposite variation of this statement, are almost certainly deeply invested in some sort of local pyramid structure that props up their unjustified or even false beliefs and self-importance. If not something as banal as their bank accounts.

The key difference is that divine guidance steers, while material manipulation settles, one requires action while the other requires subservience, which is automatically given these days in most cases.

Reply
Francis Berger
7/8/2023 10:08:12

@ lea - One thing is certain, hierarchy is not conducive to spiritual development today.

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