Jesus Said Judge Everyone
Or was it “love,” it’s hard to tell with many Christians/religious people these days
Christianity and most religions proclaim love.
Love with strings attached, asterisks, and footnotes.
Love that flows freely as long as your beliefs and actions align with the believers.
I grew up in a high-pressure Christian organization and from a young age was taught to love God, Jesus, and my “neighbors.”
The order was important.
God always came first, carrying with him the rules and guidelines people attributed to him. When I was a part of the in-group it sounded nice. Generous even. I saw nothing wrong with it.
In practice though, and from an external perspective, this order was damaging.
Take the example of someone who breaks one of the most serious rules in Christianity, at least in the faith of my upbringing. Chastity, or purity mandates that sex is only ok in the context of a heterosexual marriage. I had a friend who got pregnant at the age of 16. Because we were taught to love God first, and in turn his commandments, everyone judged my friend, including me.
It might not have been explicit, to her face, but she was the talk of the town. People…
