the persistence of primitive theology

The new pope, Pope Francis, says that we shouldn’t be naive and that marriage equality is a destructive pretension against the plan of God. No one is surprised. And this isn’t to single out the Catholic Church because many if not most churches are the same. It just points to a fact of life: once theology becomes canonized it is here to stay as long as the institution who birthed it and perpetuates it survives.

A friend of mine on Facebook reminded me of the above theology… the umbrella of authority. I was raised on it, taught it, and believed it for a long time. It was simply assumed in the religious culture I was in. Again, the only began to question it was when I somehow stepped outside or bypassed the system that perpetuated this idea and looked at it from a different angle.

This is why for many simply leaving the institution or the system or bypassing it altogether is really the only option left open for them.

As long as we rely upon a book and an institution to determine our lives we will never be free. Never.