{"id":845,"date":"2014-05-16T15:59:43","date_gmt":"2014-05-16T20:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/?p=845"},"modified":"2015-08-11T18:06:50","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T23:06:50","slug":"the-martyrless-delusion-in-christopia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2014\/05\/the-martyrless-delusion-in-christopia\/","title":{"rendered":"The Martyrless Delusion in Christopia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"File:Guercino<\/a><\/p>\n

Julie Davis comments here on the pending execution of a Christian woman for the crime of not adhering to her father\u2019s religion<\/a>.*<\/p>\n

I grew up with the usual American public school version of history, which went Greek Democracy, Roman Republic, Magna Carta, Pilgrims, 1776, and look everything\u2019s great!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tempting narrative for good reason. \u00a0When you have an awareness of the way God is acting in your life, you begin to see at key moments what the Grateful Dead nailed on the head:\u00a0Everything lead up to this day.<\/em> \u00a0You can see how a series of seemingly random events all converge in unfathomable ways. \u00a0With the Author of History making grace out of garbage at every turn, if you also happen to live comfortably, you might misdiagnose the progress. \u00a0Instead of eternal life, it\u2019s all about the inevitable Making of America.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a delusion. \u00a0We Americans who live in the bubble that is prosperity, freedom, and apparent security are like\u00a0Pleasantville<\/em> without the cheap philosophy.<\/p>\n

Dangerous Satisfaction<\/h3>\n

Back in the Lenten lead-up, this or that priest reminded us that one of the benefits of fasting is a sharpening of the senses. \u00a0I suspect there\u2019s no coincidence between the decline in fasting among western Christians and the increase of our prosperity. \u00a0We are sated, always sated.<\/p>\n

It shows up in our theology. \u00a0Over the hedge in the protestant world, you run into the \u201cprosperity gospel\u201d types. \u00a0Jesus wants you wealthy, and He wants it here and now. \u00a0 Our side of the fence, it\u2019s a bland approval-god we deign with our recognition once a week, or you know, when we get to it.<\/p>\n

Atheism has a certain earnestness to it when those are your alternatives \u2014 if you aren\u2019t going to worship God, at least have the courtesy to admit that\u2019s what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

I hate this. \u00a0My little bubble-world is the path to my holiness, or I wouldn\u2019t be there, but a treacherous path it is.<\/p>\n

What to do? \u00a0Utter abandonment to the Will of God. \u00a0Not really any other way out of it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

*It would please me greatly if the various world democracies would make a consistent policy of aggressively offering asylum in this<\/a> and other cases like it. \u00a0I\u2019m aware of the difficulties. \u00a0That doesn\u2019t make me not want it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Artwork: Guercino [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Julie Davis comments here on the pending execution of a Christian woman for the crime of not adhering to her father\u2019s religion.* I grew up with the usual American public school version of history, which went Greek Democracy, Roman Republic, Magna Carta, Pilgrims, 1776, and look everything\u2019s great! It\u2019s a tempting narrative for good reason. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,51,162,6,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-qa","category-forgiveness","category-human-rights","category-stick-that-corner","category-suffering"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Martyrless Delusion in Christopia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Julie Davis comments here on the pending execution of a Christian woman for the crime of not adhering to her father's religion.* I grew up with the usual\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2014\/05\/the-martyrless-delusion-in-christopia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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