What is the Christian religion must be answered from more than one perspective. The first answer would be to define its religious view, in other words, what do Christians believe. Another answer is to define how they carry out their beliefs and how do they view outsiders who either do not have any religious beliefs or how do they view outsiders who disagree with the Christian viewpoint. The insight provided here is given from the perspective of a New Age or New Age Christian view from someone who has seen much, both good and bad in Christianity, from a lifetime view of this religion and its people. I wish to share what I feel is my unbiased view so the reader can make up their own mind.
In the case you might be researching to find a religious foundation in which to seek a church to raise a family, I will also give insight into the social role of the Christian religion in our western society and culture. This makes three viewpoints: first is what do Christians believe, second is how do they behave as a religion, and lastly what is Christianity’s stand as a social institution in our western culture. Given this landscape to survey, you can then decide for yourself if Christianity, or any religious role for that matter, is a good fit for you and your family.
The First Answer: Christians believe that there is only one God, and He is in three persons or roles, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Jesus Christ is the son, and he died for our sins. All of us have sinned and we must see ourselves as sinners, and then accept Jesus as our savior to be saved and our sins forgiven to get into Heaven. There are many variants of this belief, and they all emphasize different parts of this. Catholics for example emphasize the importance of Mother Mary of Jesus, and Pentecostals on the other hand emphasize the importance of the Holy Ghost and its presence in much of their services.
The Second Answer: Almost all the Christian world sees God as preeminent, and the ever-present barrier between us and God is the state of sin. The belief proposed is we all live in a state of error and chaos. When we experience the religious conversion of finding Christ, accepting Jesus as our savior, from then on, we are saved, and our lives will begin to align and prosper in a manner God has willed for us. In almost all religious worship, emphasis is heavy on the importance of God and His presence, and His view of us only. Little or no emphasis is ever placed upon our importance and beauty as His highest creation, which is us.
Worship songs are full of this, ‘only God matters, and I and my uniqueness are to be seen as nothing, and I do not matter as an individual’ viewpoint. Put another way, ‘God and others and everything else comes first and I come last, even in my own life,’ is the overall message. One popular song today has the words of, ‘I am just a nobody, wanting to tell everybody, about somebody that saved my soul.’ So extreme is this ‘demean me and glorify God by this process’ perspective that little concern is ever shown that perhaps to a low self-esteem person, a victim of parental or life’s mistreatment, that the opposite message may be needed by them for them to heal.
There are two layers in Christian church values, and they are separate from each other. The first layer is the beliefs and doctrines themselves, and they are clearly posted in their church websites, signs, and handouts for all the prospective attenders to see. Also is what they do, their view of the world and of you is not necessarily in their theological stated doctrine. You must go there and attend to learn that for yourself. Along with their teaching and ministry values is a mountain of other social and cultural information, taught subjectively and unconsciously. These values hold the real reason and purpose for their church organization to exist, which is almost always for the church itself, and nothing to do with what it claims to represent.
One note before we go further: There is much variation in Christian churches, and in the purposes behind the organizations and those who created them. Some, very few, are legitimate and sincerely believe, teach, and practice well the values they proclaim, as did Reverend Paul V. Miller, Lori’s father. Every ministry Paul was involved in had their stated theological beliefs, but everything he preached and stood for was of character, honor, and virtue of personhood beyond all measure. His presence is deeply missed. If you are searching for such an authentic church as that, you will know it by the cultural values they practice, not necessarily by comparing theological doctrines. Cultural values and recognition of character are what you need, not religious righteousness and judgmentalism.
There are unspoken values in all bad Christian churches and are noticeable in their behaviors. They see themselves as better than everyone else, period. All outsiders are seen as lost and not as good as they are. This is true even when the outsiders are highly in tune with their role in Humankind and are acting out their contribution to others who need their presence in their lives. Recognition of an outstanding life already well lived is not allowed, no matter how remarkable you have done. Entrance into and conformity with the group mentality is all that is recognized.
They emphasize steps of conversion into their denomination as the supreme measure of spirituality. The more you mimic the pastor and parrot the church views the more recognition you will receive. If you promote the church management theologically, you will be recognized as deeply spiritual. You do not need any character, or other signs of personhood or virtue as defined in the Bible to be accepted. Being religious is all they look for. There need not be any signs of spirituality, character, loyalty to family, community, country, or Humankind to fit in.
Many Christian churches hate sex offenders and ban them from their congregation, much like they hated witches over the millennia. Look at the unconditional love they showed to heretics during the Spanish Inquisition and how they tortured learning disabled women who were socially backward during the Salem witch trials. Christianity in bad churches is as much about those they hate as it is about things they love. In low level Christianity, you get credit for hating others not like you. Guilty by accusation is practiced all the time to gain social status within the group.
What Christianity’s stand as a social institution is about self-promotion in bad churches, also teaching character values in good churches. The few nurturing churches out there do recognize values conductive to Humankind. They embrace and teach character, and all the good human values that promote family and community integrity. Finding them is the hard part, but they are out there. The best way to find them is to tell them you are a sex offender and are a restored person with many strong ties into your family. If they accept you into their midst, they may ask a few questions to find out more but will accept you. Your search will be long and exhaustive, but if membership into a congregation is a good fit for you and your family, it will be worth it. It might even prove to be a good source for a career or a spouse if you are single. Always remember as in anything else, look for character, honor, loyalty to family, country and capitalism, and importance of personhood as standards for accepting anything into your life, and that includes churches and religious beliefs.
Just for the record, this is an emotional and spiritual encouragement ministry. We are selling nothing here and are not at the present time even set up to take donations, and probably never will. Your healed life is our reward enough, and we are very pleased with that. If you want to, please share your strength with others in your future so our nurturing can live on.