On Being Judgmental and Systems of “Othering”
Posted: May 30, 2012 Filed under: Blasphemy | Tags: judgment, morality, othering 1 CommentI’ve not officially written about this yet, but it’s something I often find myself reaching in my existential reductions.
Those of us who left religion feel as though we’ve escaped a system of othering. Evangelical Christianity is very exclusive. It has rules for who is righteous and who isn’t, who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. Sometimes these rules are ambiguous and other times they aren’t. At times the way of navigating which is which seems a bit arbitrary and too heavily influenced by interpretation. No matter which way it’s cut to whichever evangelical denomination, it sets up a system of othering, which is a system that claims a higher position than others.
What’s interesting about the groups I’ve found myself involved with since deconverting is that they’re not so different when it comes to this factor of othering. Sometimes they’re more accepting and compassionate, but more often than not they feel like they have a better system of living than evangelical Christians. Because we see evangelicalism as wrong, we’re inclined to “other” it. We disparage it just as they disparage us. And in this way, we are no “better.” We are just as judgmental, and in some ways, we are just as exclusive.
Being judgmental is what cocoons us in our safety zone. The system of “othering” is what makes us feel more confident in ourselves. We find identity in setting ourselves apart in some way, and because of our natural compass toward progress, we tend to think that we are right in our core convictions, which makes anyone following an opposite conviction wrong to us, even if we’re uncomfortable saying it.
It’s natural for us to judge, and I really am okay with being a judgmental person. It’s how I operate in confidence, but I think the key is being aware of this quality and recognizing that there are more systems led by honest convictions that don’t match my own at all and sometimes defy my values. I have to live under the assumption that my core convictions are right, but I have to know that they may very well be ultimately wrong. That is a weird idea to walk with each day, and I don’t know how to hold it. It’s the main thing that keeps me feeling conflicted, but it’s also the main thing that compels me toward understanding.
devangelize me 
I always like to remember that I was once one of those stuck in the belief system which I now consider to be a detriment to humanity as a whole. So it helps me to keep a level head about it all. Thinking back, though religion has caused psychological damage which I’m still in the process of recovering from, I see the brighter side of the experience in that I understand and know how it works from the inside. So I can relate to people who are still there. We’re all in this together. I have nothing personally against pastors as they too are stuck in a system which they do not understand. But when they start subjugating others, instilling fear, and taking every last penny of the less fortunate, claiming that “God comes first”, then I speak up.
One of the local pastors here passed away fairly recently. In his eulogy it was revealed that he was “convicted” by Christ when he was 5 years old after him and his father (who was also a pastor) witnessed a hotel fire. His father proceeded to tell him, “See, that’s what hell is like.”
Can you imagine the fear and stress imposed on that poor man from when he was a child? One is very impressionable at that age so it’s possible that he carried that burden with him for the rest of his life.