I have a friend who describes himself as a “Jesus-ian.” He says he worships Jesus but he’s not a Christian. This used to drive me crazy: Isn’t that like saying “I only sleep with the same sex as me but I’m not gay”? At what point to you get to twist definitions past what they mean?
…which opens up a whole possible conversation about definitions which I’d really like to get into, but is not the point of this post. This post is about religion.
I worship Kali. In terms of formal worship, I do so infrequently and imperfectly, but She is with me and a part of me (literally, via my tattoos), and I often worship informally. Through my relationship with Kali I have developed spiritual relationships with other Hindu deities, specifically Shiva and Ganesha, but also Lakshmi, Durga, and Hanuman.
But I’m not a Hindu. There’s more to Hinduism, after all, than its gods. I’m not a Hindu because I don’t believe in liberation as a basic goal of the human soul, because I don’t accept the Vedas as a primary source of sacred scripture, and because I don’t believe in a guru system nor do I seek to have a guru. Primarily, I think, I’m not a Hindu because I already have a religion: I’m a Wiccan. And while Wicca doesn’t in any way demand that you be exclusive to Wicca (it’s not monogamous), Wicca informs my ritual life and my sense of who I am as a spiritual being. Any Hindu ritual I do is ancillary to my core Wiccan practice, not because Wicca requires it, but because of who I am.
So if I worship Kali and am not a Hindu, I guess my friend can worship Jesus and not be a Christian. I dunno, it still kind of bothers me, I guess because there are SO MANY different kinds of Christians, so many different belief sets that are defined as Christian, it seems like he should fit in there somewhere; if nowhere else, as a “mere Christian,” to quote C.S. Lewis.
But the broader point is that a religion is more than its gods, although we seem comfortable defining religion as “the worship of ____.” Religion is gods, stories, practices, beliefs, goals, and community. All of these. And all of these are found, for me, in Wicca. That other gods are also a part of my life doesn’t actually change that.
Some forms of Santeria and Candomble will invoke Jesus along with all the other orishas. I’m just saying. (At least, according to a book I read about Santeria and Candomble)
Ah, and I meant to include that. There are Neopagans, as well, who add Jesus to their altars. My friend is specifically a Jesus-worshiper in the sense of, Jesus is the Lord, not in the sense of, Jesus is one god or saint or holy being among many.
I too, have friends who use Jesus and Mary on their altar to represent God and Goddess. They are Wiccan and claim to have no ties at all to their Christian up bringing.
I would have no problem with invoking Jesus, if I needed to bring those things that I attribute to him to something I’m doing, just as I might any other deity. I’m definitely not a Christian.
That said, if someone primarily worships Jesus, I don’t know how they wouldn’t consider themselves a Christian, since….well, that’s what Christianity is actually.
Well, that’s my friend, and that’s exactly my point. Religion is more than just which god you worship, and that’s my friend’s point. He primarily worships Jesus but he sees himself as distinctly different from a Christian.
There are so MANY different theologies that call themselves Christian, I kind of don’t see how he doesn’t find himself somewhere in there, but he doesn’t. And a religion is, perhaps, better defined by its theology than its god(s). Or, as I say in Elements of Ritual, a religion combines the four elements as theology, mythology, ritual, and mysticism. So deity/myth is only one part, and if you’re not on board with the other three, maybe it’s legitimate to say you’re not part of the religion.
I cannot say I’ve ever “worshipped” a God or Goddess. Like the relationship I have with my husband, mutual adoration.
I cannot even say they know more than me, or even more power than me, but they have realms of knowlege and prescience (sp) than I do.
To me it remains a situation of communion. That ectsacy, that I cannot describe.
Sometimes, it is a Quid Pro Quo with a function of love.
On the other hand, in the Chinese culture, you do not want to attract the attention of the gods, because they have the power to fuck with you.
The gods, who is fucking whom
I totally understand the concept of worshiping Jesus and not identifying as a Christian. I don’t actually “worship” Jesus but I think he was an exemplary dude, and I hold most of his teachings in high esteem which is reality is more worship than many Christians I see around me, but I digress.
Bottom line, if I did actually worship Jesus I would never call myself a Christian because I don’t like to lock myself into an organized and political religion.
And I might be coming from left field here….
….but I tell people I am Wiccan because I believe in a lot of its concepts. I use its ritual style and feel very spiritually connected with its practices.
But I believe that religion and spirituality are two seperate things. Things that can coincide, but two seperate things. Religion has a lot of rules and practices. Spirituality has a lot of introspection.
Ultimately… IMHO…. I don’t really think we are much of anything, along the terms of labelling and definition. If you don’t practice a religion (even just telling people you are and not practicing is claiming it), you’re spiritual. Being just ‘spiritual’ is fine by me.
(Did that make any sense?)
It definitely made sense. I don’t agree exactly with how you define the difference, but I do agree that religion and spirituality are different.
I would identify spirituality as an inner relationship with deity or spirit, and religion as an outer form. Religion is very behavioral (Earth) and theological (Air) as well as being about specific deities (myth–Water). But spirituality is more Fire and Spirit.
I do know what your friend means. I know several people like him and I asked them what they ment. They all say something along the same lines. #1 Jesus said love god, and they belive that he is god. #2 Jesus said love your neighbor. #3 Jesus said take care of those with less than you ()widows, orphans ect) #4 Jesus said don’t judge others.
They do not belive that the “churches” or the religion of Christanity is what Jesus would support. SO they are not christians, they are as your friend put it “Jesus-ian”>
“..spirituality is an inner relationship, …religion is an outer form.”
🙂
Exactly.
See? You bring these concepts to a wordsmith and they can fix em up proper for you!