The New Religion of Guilt, Anxiety, and Shame

Being the makers of our "selves" isn't all that great

Photo by Jas Min on Unsplash

Putting aside a religion of “guilt and shame” (as maybe claim that Christianity is) was supposed to lead to freedom and life.

And it might for those most recently leaving the church (who still live by the Christian value of love).

But the burden to…

• be your BEST SELF,

• to FULFILL YOUR POTENTIAL,

• to find and do YOU,

… causes just as much guilt, anxiety, and shame as multiple generations unlearn the gospel of God’s love (i.e. see the current mental health crisis and the failure to know what to do about it).

To replace religion with “the self”—that we fashion by ourselves (as self-made)—is just to shift from seeing ourselves through God’s eyes to seeing ourselves through everyone else’s eyes.

The former is the face of love. The latter, much more fickle.