Judging versus Judgment

[cicada84]

For much of my early 20s, growing up in a postmodernist, gay affirmative church has often made me feel reluctant to make a stand on most matters, especially ethical ones. I guess because after facing so much judgment and discrimination, one is right to be cautious and maybe hesitant to say a simple yes or no. And I suppose it's not all that bad

Comments

[nikheart]

Hmmm... Could it possibly be helpful if u examine the idea of "God"? Cuz from what I understand from ur writings, ur perceived distancing from God resulted from the inability to make stands/moral judgements

Heya :)

[cicada84]

Hey there :) When I said distant from God, I did not mean God was a separate entity. Did you hear something else? Maybe I could have been clearer. For me, God is divine reality and feeling distant really means being disconnected from oneness and emotional closeness with divine reality.

I suppose to some extent, it's hard to move away from God as a separate entity. But that is my tradition, and forms part of how I arrive at a interpretation of the world as a historically, socially situated Christian. This is where I operate, bearing in mind the limitations of this position. I have come to accept that, personally.

And honestly, I would rather avoid "imaginations" or "constructions" to describe people's conceptions of God, since these terms also have rather negative connotations outside the realm of academia. Rather, I would say that these conceptions are the result of humanity's dynamic interaction and struggle with divine reality.

[nikheart]

Oh and eeerm, one more thing I wished to share: I dun think that being all-inclusive or postmodern should preclude the ability to make stands. Rather, it should be acknowledged on both the part of the speaker and the listener that knowledge is necessarily incomplete so we make stands based on the best of current knowledge. But what it does mean is that one must be prepared to modify stands in light of compelling new knowledge. The advantage that we have is also a keener awareness of how power works so we can use that to avoid the pitfalls of silencing opposing voices

heya again :)

[cicada84]

I definitely agree that being all-inclusive doesn't mean not making a stand, or that doing so means it can't be modified in light of new evidence. But perhaps a position of meaninglessness, and unanswerableness can only be a justified position after much struggle with a variety of competing truths. And even then, we still need to make choices

[starbright_sg]

Welcome back to LJ 8-)

[cicada84]

:)