Citizen God

[poliphilo]

This is prompted by something qos was saying.

Religious language is always conservative. We live in a age of democracies but we're still using monarchist language about God.

Why, when I don't want to be ruled by a King in real life, should I want to acknowledge one in my spiritual life?

I don't like Kings (or Queens or Princes.) If I got an invitation to Buckingham Palace I would (politely) decline. I'm a Republican in the European sense of the word. Ah ca ira, ca ira, ca ira and all that. I think Prince Charles is a national embarrassment.

But if I go to Church (which I don't, but if I did) it's all "crown him with many crowns, the lamb upon the throne."

No thanks.

Where are the rights of Man in all this? Why is Heaven still stuck in the feudal middle Ages?

"He hath put down the mighty from their seat". Does he exclude only himself from the levelling process?

The myth of the incarnation suggests otherwise. God becomes Jesus, becomes an ordinary Joe, becomes a citizen.

Citizen God- why not?

My God is immanent- a sister, a brother, a comrade- or I don't want to know.

Comments

[cataptromancer.livejournal.com]

"Why, when I don't want to be ruled by a King in real life, should I want to acknowledge one in my spiritual life?"

(this is one for mobetametta, I think)

My sentiments exactly, and perfectly stated. This whole 'submission to an all-powerful lord' thing just perpetuates a paradigm of hierarchy and domination. I remember some silly neopagan book (not silly BECAUSE neopagan, mind you, just a SILLY neopagan book) that I read when I was young -- a lot of it was nonsense about dragons, but there was one part that affected me a lot which said something like "Always stand when you talk to the gods, do not kneel. The gods do not want us to be weak."

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'll drink to that!