Fragment -- #142

[June 2000 journal entry]

Exceptions/deviations for me from Jewish scripture and Christian scripture (as interpreted and sanctioned within the ‘religious’ traditional/orthodox (T/O) paradigm):

1. I oppose slavery,
2. I oppose capital punishment,
3. I oppose a political theory/structure based on royalty/nobility,
4. I reject a pre/non-scientific interpretation of the universe’s beginning and function,
5. I reject witchcraft and demon possession,
6. I endorse a political theory/structure based on individual freedom,
7. I endorse an equal/non-discriminating treatment of women,
8. I reject homophobia,
9. I reject the use of casting lots and similar activities to decipher ‘the will of God’,
10. I apply historical/contextual hermeneutics consistently and without restriction.

As these and other exceptions/deviations began to accumulate for me during my graduate studies, I initially treated each exception/deviation as an isolated matter that could be filed away as tolerable while I continued to hold/use some variation of the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm. Eventually I came to realize the collective weight of the accumulated exceptions/deviations, which led me to move deliberately and intentionally away from the fundamentalist/evangelical traditions of the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm. In time, the accumulative weight of these exceptions/deviations undermined the credibility/integrity of the entire theological spectrum of the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm for me. As examples of the results, I took such radical (i.e., to the root) steps as

1. framing and studying all questions from a ‘from below’ perspective/position,
2. permitting and speeding my experience of the deconstruction (meltdown) of the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm,
3. constructing a ‘non-religious’ approach to ethics and spirituality,
4. resolving to thoroughly tease out the differences between this approach and the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm.