I love horror films. I didn’t always love them. I’m not even sure when that shifted. I always loved mysteries and thrillers with a twist; stories like the short ones on The Twilight Zone were always some of my favorites. I didn’t watch much horror when I was growing up. I guess partly because I was scared, and partly because the church we attended kept going all-in on how horror movies (and rock music and Dungeons & Dragons and more) were gateways through which demons could cross and possess non-Christians or oppress those who were saved. There’s nothing like being terrified and receiving Blessed Assurance all at once.

Though it’s not one of my top horror favorites, the 1976 film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, Carrie, contains some of the most memorable scenes and lines in cinematic history.

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There’s Power in the Blood

If you have any kind of history in a particular lane of Conservative Evangelical Christianity, then you might be involuntarily (and annoyingly) humming to yourself right now. As I think back to some of the hymns that were in the Southern Baptist Hymnal, it’s the ones that were about the blood of Jesus that were the most fun to sing. They had the catchiest tunes and seemed to be the easiest to memorize. In the years since I’ve been deconstructing and reconstructing my faith, I realize how incredibly weird it is that all of those songs and visualizations and talking about blood never once struck me as abnormal or gross. That’s because it was not abnormal or gross. It was why I was saved: The power of the Blood of Jesus who died on the cross for all of the sins of all humankind.

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood.
Would you o'er evil a victory win?
There's power in the blood of the Lamb.

There is power power wonder-working power
in the blood (in the blood) of the Lamb (of the Lamb)
There is power, power, wonder-working power
in the precious blood of the Lamb.

If you were humming and forgot the lyrics, that should help. You’re welcome. If you’re reading this and appalled that such a hymn even exists, then I am glad you feel that way and I am glad you are only now learning about it. There are a number of hymns – not just exclusive to right-wing Christianity – that refer joyously to the salvific power of the blood of Jesus, which is part of the theological theory of atonement that holds the death and specifically the blood of Jesus was necessary in order for Jesus to serve as a substitute holy sacrifice for our sins before God so that we could be reconciled into wholeness as Adam and Eve were before they fell into sin.

While this technically provides salvation for everyone, people who believe in this atonement salvation also believe that it must be accepted individually in order to hold true. It’s not universal salvation. Unless you have said “yes” to the Power in the Blood, you might as well be pre-prom Carrie. (I admit that’s an analogous stretch, but I’m trying to stick with the theme here.) Universal salvation also doesn’t make sense because it paves the way for a person to avoid punishment – eternal punishment – for refusing to repent and receive the free gift of salvation. Why should someone who is unrepentant get to spend eternity in glorious heaven with me when I have done all I can to be a pious and morally upstanding person my entire life? It’s not fair!

Whips & Chains Excite Me

The idea of punishment, particularly physical punishment, for a wrong is central to many right-wing Evangelical Christians. It was in the Independent Fundamentalist and Southern Baptist as well as the Presbyterian (PCA) churches and schools in which I was raised. Corporal punishment was encouraged in the home and practiced in the Christian schools. The reality of eternal torment in hell consistently loomed as a threat for those who refused the free gift of the Power in the Blood. And so, whenever it came time to talk about the sacrifice that Jesus made when he died on the cross, there was extraordinary attention paid to his physical suffering. The “why” was addressed – because he had to die – but the true focus was on how much suffering Jesus endured on our behalf. It is the suffering we all deserve and, if we accept the free gift of salvation, we can avoid it by earning a place of eternal bliss in heaven.

You deserve to be beaten. Jesus was instead. You deserve to get spit on. Jesus was instead. You deserve to be betrayed. Jesus was instead. You deserve to be taunted. Jesus was instead. You deserve to be flayed and bloodied and pierced and nailed to a cross. Jesus was instead. Yes! Yes! Yes! More. Tell me more! Tell me how bad I am and how much Jesus suffered! Yes!

When you are told that the physical, psychological, and emotional torment that Jesus endured was specifically on your behalf and specifically so that you yourself would not have to endure it, then it becomes personal. You don’t feel his pain, necessarily, but you are ever so grateful that he endured it for you instead. So, of course, you’ll receive the gift of salvation! And because he suffered so much, it’s all the more reason anyone who refuses the free gift should suffer, too. Plus it says so in the Bible, right?

Members by Invitation Coercion Only

This sets up a perfect situation to gain new members to the Christian community. They can avoid punishment by simply accepting the free gift of Eternal Salvation. If you just tell your friends and family how much Jesus suffered for them, that will probably convince them. Why would someone who lived so long ago care enough to suffer like that for you or anyone else? Of course they should want to get saved; and if you love them, then you need them to get saved.

Through the lens of a blood-purchased Eternal Salvation, Christianity becomes a members-only club which adds to its exclusivity and exceptionality. That is why Christian Nationalism pairs so well with American populist ideas. What better way to establish authoritarian control than to proclaim that the “sincerely held religious beliefs” of most of the nation’s inhabitants are the beliefs upon which that nation was founded? Truth isn’t necessary. Only perception.

When Jesus was ministering, his invitations to people were open ones. Jesus didn’t exclude. To the contrary, he often pissed off the political and religious elites by spending time with social outcasts and so-called sinners. Jesus did say cryptic things and sometimes cruel-sounding things like telling his followers they were going to have to give up their family ties and livelihoods. And he was clear that his Way wasn’t easy; suffering was involved. But he never (at least not to my recollection) ever claimed that any person was ever unworthy of God’s love or that any kind of transaction had to take place for anyone to become worthy of God’s love. Jesus just said, “Follow me.”

The Great Commandment

In my decades of apostacy, the one biblical thread that kept me connected to Christianity was what is known as The Great Commandment. It appears in two Gospel texts: Matthew 22:36-40 & Mark 12:28-34. In each vignette, Jesus is asked which is the greatest commandment in the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus gives an answer in two parts: 1) Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself. He offers these as a summary of all of the teachings of the Law and Prophets. It’s what we commonly refer to as The Great Commandment in Christianity.

I held on to this because I felt it cut through all of the bullshit surrounding modes of baptism, dietary restrictions, how to pray, when to worship, and so forth. Here was an answer from Jesus Christ that gave the foundation. I felt (and still feel) that if followers of Jesus can get this right, the rest will fall into place. You know what isn’t included in The Great Commandment? Suffering. Death. Piety. Blood. Atonement. Repentance.

Love God.
Love Yourself.
Love Everyone Else.

It is so mind-numbingly simple, isn’t it? This is the Way of Jesus. This is what he pointed to when he was asked – specifically – what mattered most. Is that why it’s so difficult for us to grasp? Maybe. Maybe that’s why Jesus was often insistent that his disciples do their best to think like children: not simple-mindedly, but open-mindedly, before we become tainted and cynical because of the shitty nature of the world around us.

The Powers Drew the Blood

There is so much to talk about on this topic but I fear that, much like the Broadway musical version of Carrie, this essay might flop if I don’t wrap it up soon, so I’m going to try.

I think the simplicity of The Great Commandment strikes fear into the Powers of Religion and the State. Jesus wasn’t tortured, beaten, and executed because he had to suffer to satisfy God. Jesus was executed by the State at the behest of the Religious Elite because he dared to upset the balance of power here on earth. People began caring for each other and that terrified those who were in charge. The Religious elite colluded with the State to have Jesus executed before he could rile up more people into loving themselves and their neighbors.

And here we are, over 2000 years later, and the Religious elite who want to ensure they have as much control over people as possible continue to spin the narrative of individual unworthiness before God. You get reminded of how impossible it is for God to love you unless you accept the gift of the Blood of Jesus to wash away your sins. So The Great Commandment to love your neighbor as yourself is impossible to fulfill unless a person receives Eternal Salvation in just the same way. Otherwise, they are unworthy of God’s love until they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb too.

The Gospel According to RuPaul

Drag icon, RuPaul, sums up the heart of the Way of Jesus and The Great Commandment at the close of every episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I am not surprised that it’s a queer person who famously says this, either. So much of the journey of every queer person is learning to love themselves while existing in a world that tells them they are unworthy of love and acceptance. (Sound familiar?)

The Twist at the End

When you learn to love yourself just as you are (Mister Rogers helped us with this) then you can love your neighbors exactly the way they are, too. This is how we start building communities of mutual care and that are focused on equity and shared abundance. This is the Way of following Jesus.

You’re connecting with the Divine (whatever that might mean to you) because you’re connecting with your authentic self and you’re making space to connect authentically with others in your community.

Suddenly, you’re following The Great Commandment.