Post #4023571

2026-07-23 01:11 UTC

Ironically they have done so by doubling and trebling down on secularization. It's natural for authoritarian Christians to detest mysticism, which is intrinsically unpredictable and extravagant and a thing which cut against and challenges existing authority. The Catholic Church maintained a little wiggle room within its massive bureaucracy for mystics, e.g. by shunting them into religious orders and away from mainstream Catholic authority. There's a distinction between Catholic priests and Catholic monks and I assume that similar divisions exist in Orthodox churches. But the businesslike Protestants had NO place for mystics at all, and it was such business-minded Protestants (corrupted, of course, by their fixation on worldly power and money-making) who became the worst reactionaries. (cont'd)

Replies (1)

@mxchara@seattle.pink 2026-07-23 01:16

The right-wing U.S. Christians have dealt with mysticism in a number of ways. The so-called "charismatic" movement, which (I will be very blunt here and maybe offensive to some #Christian persons) I regard as a very successful swindle. Their "speaking in tongues", from what I've seen of its practice, looks to be devoid of spiritual import--but it successfully masquerades as something spiritual. I'm sure there's GENUINE "speaking in tongues" or glossolalia to use the fancy term but it's nothing like what you see from a two-bit Christian pastor who switches their babble off and on in a moment like they were mode-switching between normal conversation and salesmanlike gladhandling. But by asserting this parlor trick with the Holy Spirit, charismatic-style Christians have come up with one way of dealing with the human craving for the mystical. (cont'd)

Open ##4023619