The Exhausting Legalism of the Secular World

I'm a religious person. My chosen religion is Christianity. I sometimes get flak from fellow Christians for using the terms religion/religious; those words seem to imply a sense of strict dogma, not to mention the word itself being originally tied to the word bondage. But I don't mind that. I want to be "a bondservant of Christ," forever tethered to Him, unable to escape.

Now that my attempt at piety is out of the way, here's some cynicism.

I've long been amazed - and confounded - by how similar the "secular" world is to the "religious lifestyle" (or, what many people think of a religious lifestyle). The rigorous regulations and rituals that are used to caricaturize we religious folk are abundant in a society that claims no official civil faith.

My mother, father, grandparents, teachers, and every pastor I've ever had - combined - have never imposed on me such a stringent and lengthy list of things I'm not allowed to say for fear of condemnation (a more modern term for condemnation being "cancellation"). The list of these forbidden words and terms is always changing and expanding, making it hard for one to keep up with what's linguistically kosher and what is not. 

I don't have that problem in my dirty little spiritual life. I believe the Scripture, that collection of ancient documents and epistles we came to call the Bible, to be the Divinely authored, Divinely edited word of God, and therefore in no need of addition. And, I certainly consider it blasphemous to propose subtractions, e.g. The Jefferson Bible. In this Book, I'm taught that if I were to say something terrible - something truly terrible, something that breaks down and berates others - my sin is forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I'll not be condemned to hell, or cancelled from His love (apologies for such a sappy analogy, but if it fits it fits). And, my brothers and sisters in this faith, should they abide in it, will be true to edify and encourage me to do better, not to distance themselves from me like I'm ripe with moral Coronavirus (unless of course I unrepentantly persist in such sins).

Along with this list of naughty phrases is a tight and non-negotiable list of places I cannot go and businesses I mustn't engage without compromising my soul (at least, my metaphorical soul if one looks at it from the secular point of view). I've been commanded by secular voices that I shall not enter Hobby Lobby because of its owners' stance on birth control, that eating at Chick Fil A is unclean because of its owners' position on same-sex marriage, that if I went to the theater to see Mulan I'm supporting oppression in Asia and should be cast into darkness, that Colin Kaepernick is a wolf in a sheep's disguise because he sat down during the National Anthem, profaning a Sunday football game, making Nike shoes an abomination fit for nothing but the fire.

Oprah have mercy on you if you need gluten free buns to feed your three kids on a hectic afternoon and Chick Fil A is the closest and most convenient option. Your ideological salvation and purity is at stake. Perhaps there's some loophole in the sociopolitical manuals that will allow this, as long as a sacrifice is made to a gold calf, blue donkey, or red elephant. Or one of those weird Green Party carved images.

Speaking of devils, in conversations with non-religious friends, I've noticed something interesting: the ratio of times I've warned them about the wiles of Satan to the number of times I've been warned about the snares of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk is probably 10:1. In fact, I can't remember the last time I told an unbelieving friend how ensnared they are by the devil. That's either a reflection on my part of how tactful I am when it comes to discussing matters of religion, or a reflection of how bad I am at preaching such truths.

I thank God that He's never cast me aside if I stray from His commandments, and that His commandments are lovingly crafted for my growth, not to exalt myself as more woke or more patriotic than my neighbor. I'm grateful that He is faithful to love me and teach me to do better should I do wrong. That His grace and understanding permit me to shop at Amazon. That He's set my feet upon a rock and not on eggshells. That He keeps me from being drafted to fight in the Culture Wars, as He's already brought eternal victory through the Cross.

The secular world can follow its own bulls and codes and gods. I'm simply not pure enough, progressive enough, patriotic enough to do so. I wasn't born so holy. It's not in my DNA, I suppose. I'm weak - I need a God of grace and love.