I, again, find myself pondering the ideas of sacrifice and forgiveness. I am still confused about this idea many Christians have that “Jesus died for our sins.” This, of course, well-encompasses the issues involved in sacrifice, as well as forgiveness and redemption.
I do not think I believe in sacrifice, at least in the way it is commonly understood, for anything that could be called a sacrifice can be seen another way—not as a sacrifice, but as the way things are. It becomes an issue of attitude, how it is seen and judged.
I also do not believe in the idea of sacrifice as a demonstration of obeisance or subordination (to a “god,” for just one example), as that is all about manipulation and power over others—a dis-respectable trait in anyone, including leaders and parental figures.
And, so, I suppose I do not believe in the idea of sacrifice, for any instance of sacrifice is, I think, really just a case of wrong attitude, weakness, hubris, or ignorance, and, as such, should not be revered or respected, but criticized for the fraud that it is.
Along these lines, I suppose that one of the reasons I have a problem with this idea of Jesus dying for everyone’s sins is that I do not believe in the idea of “sin.” And so the problem is not any shortcoming on my part, but rather the sophism and misguided nature of the story itself. It is as fallacious as pontificating about how soldiers in Vietnam “died for our freedom.” It is simply a crock, a lie, and the reality is that they died for the brutish, selfish, and misguided ideologies of weak and blind men in power; just like Jesus, in fact.
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From my personal notes, 7/16/00
