This is http://www.essayz.com/a9306141.htm Previous-Essay <== This-Essay ==> Following-Essay Click HERE on this line to find essays via Your-Key-Words. {Most frequent wordstarts of each essay will be put here.} ========================================================== %CHRISTIAN ESSENTIAL CLARIFY DENIAL ADDICT PERVERT+930614 %NEGATE PERVERSION COLLUSION MORAL CODE SALVATION+930614 %DUAL DICHOTOMY GOOD EVIL KNOW PROHIBIT TABOO JOY+930614 %EXCLUSIVE REJECT EXCOMMUNICATE HOLY MYSTERY SACRED 930614 Addicts and codependents while playing their collusive games of mutual self deception use virtually every reality which they can use, abuse and sacrifice in the service of their manipulative and violent idols. Positive realities which merit respect are violated by being used as respectable masks to hide the manipulative violence done to people who are violated by the abuse of such positive realities. Speaking the truth about such violence will often be part of charitably witnessing to the Christian Gospel. To make clear just what the positive affirmations of Christianity truly are, we regrettably must deny the negative implications which religious addicts and their codependents supporters cause the positive affirmations of Christianity to seem to have. It is not easy to offer such denials in an positive way; yet some denials are essential to clarifying just what the Christian Gospel may honestly point to. It is essential to make clear that the Christian Gospel is not in keeping with the essence of religious addicts' and codependents' disintegrative: assumptions, attitudes, beliefs, convictions, compulsions, perceptions, elitism, exclusivity, rejections, excommunications, dualisms, dichotomies, alienations, diseases, etc. The essence of the Christian Gospel is NOT: 1. A superior moral code or ethical system. 2. A technology by which to achieve salvation. 3. About any form of good conformity. 4. About any kind of dichotomous split in reality. 5. The revelation of a good dual realm of reality. 6. About how to achieve a superior spiritual status. 7. God's knowledge of who is good or evil. 8. Contained in a list of prohibitions or taboos. 9. Contained in a list of required behaviors. 10. Represented by good criteria for exclusivity. Christ does not call us to conform ourselves to His pattern of behavior and appearance. Christ calls us to be true to ourselves and others while following Him. Christ does not call us to sacrifice our unique creative identities or potentials in conformity of any kind. Christ calls us to honestly fulfill our unique creative potentials while following Him. Christ does not call us to join His Exclusive Club by meeting His High Admission Standards. Christ calls us to be honestly ourselves while serving others within honest vocations which are in keeping with our unique talents and potentials. Christ does not call us to pretend to be other than who we really are moment by moment. Christ calls us to grow honestly in fellowship with each other, moment by moment by receiving from Him, and by giving to others, the holy gift of true security which is the freedom to be safely vulnerable in open and honest intimate relationships. Christ does not promise to us freedom from risk, hurt, pain, sacrifice, suffering, dilemmas, problems, and tragedies. Christ offers to us holy ways to follow Him and so mysteriously transcend the tragic alienations and disintegrations of idealistic persons and communities; disintegrations which are often associated with addictive, codependent and collusive: risks, hurts, pains, sacrifices, suffering, dilemmas, problems, and tragedies. Christ does not prescribe for us the details of how we should and/or should not perceive, think, feel and behave. Instead of such prescriptions Christ offers to us holy and integrative ways in which we may come together in God's presence and reflect honestly upon who we are, how we are behaving and growing and/or disintegrating, and upon the qualities of all of our personal relationships. We all need to speak and be the Gospel Truth to keep the Christian Gospel from being perverted and mis- represented by us as sinful addicts and codependents who often play idealistic but yet collusive games of mutual self deception; dishonest games of our sinful diseases which lead us and our religious communities into personal and communal disintegration. (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy) ==========================================================