The Un-Holy Trinity, Part I

If you have spent any time around Christians or in mainstream Christianity, you may have heard of the term, "The Holy Trinity." If you haven't, in basic terms it means this:

That God is three persons, (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) in one person.

Right.

Well, whether the Holy Trinity exists or not, I don't know. But there is another Trinity in Christianity, one that is more pervasive, more real and more heartfelt.

It is what I have called the Un-Holy Trinity. Let me explain what I mean.

While the Holy Trinity is a belief of much debate and theory, the Un-Holy Trinity is one that is felt, experienced and more of a spur to action than its antecedent.

The Un-Holy Trinity is defined as:

Fear.

Shame.

Guilt.

Unfortunately, these are the true three Gods of this generation's experience of Christianity. Let's address them one by one.

The Fear part of Un-Holy trinity:

Fear is the father part of the trinity, because it overrides and directs all the other aspects of the "christian's" life and motive. Walk into almost any contemporary christian church in the U.S. and you will undoubtedly hear certain things that you ARE NOT to do. This list ranges from "pride of the heart" (whatever that means) to cursing to adultery with any number of vices in between. What is unchanging is the reality that almost all churches hold to their own particular set of vices to rail against. What is also shared is that there is the subtle but visceral feeling of fear if anyone were to dare to defy these. In my experience, it is rare that pastors or churchgoers will outright tell you that you are damned for eternal flames for this, but there is the more pernicious insinuation that you, by your actions, are going to be "out." Out of the club, which, by association, puts you out of God's club.

So for the compliant and heartfelt sincere person of faith, what are they to do? How will they feel anything but fear, lest they be cast into the outer darkness. And possibly the most damaging part of this is that it is felt in the pursuit of virtue.

The person, the human, who according to the church is created in the image of the almighty, is treated in a way to make them afraid to LIVE as they would want to because the proposed punishments are terrifying.

Could it be possible that people would LIVE more if they were unencumbered by the fear of damnation whether it be spiritual or psychological? Would there be more life, more joy, more adventure, more risk and more reward if the source of this fear were eradicated and individuals could be reminded of their ability to LIVE a life. Not simply exist.

"Most men live lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them."

The church bears much of the culpability for this. Repeatedly threatening with subtlety the punishments to come, it is easy for people to become paralyzed until the day they die, unable to sing their song.