Anonymous Seminarian

tbh I don't have like a really systematized belief around universalism. to me universalism is about trust in God to redeem all of creation in accordance with scripture, especially Romans 8.

@ohholydyke wrote a really lovely post about scriptural support for universalism which ends with "Not one shall escape God’s love. Not one shall remain in death."

My favorite quote on universalism is from Cardinal Kasper: "The prior reality of divine mercy must have the first as well as the last word. Jesus Christ as judge of the living and the dead is, indeed, the one who has died for all on the cross. We may hope that he is a gracious judge."

As for those who don't believe in Christ: I do not, cannot, and will not believe in a God who would condemn those who do not believe consciously in Jesus Christ to someplace called hell. First, faith is given by God. God can't elect some but not others, condemn the others and be just and merciful. Second, there are too many Christians who pose a stumbling block for others to come to faith (through oppression) and there are people who have simply never heard the story of Christ. These people can't be condemned by a just and merciful God.

While I do believe in the elect (this is the explanation for why some are called to faith and some aren't), the purpose of this election is for the salvation of the world (Rom 11:25-32) and for us to do God's work, not for us to be anxious about who is saved or not, not for us to lord over others our election, and not for us to threaten others with hell.

As for those who oppress others: I do find this to be the most challenging aspect of universalism. If there is no justice on earth, and universal salvation, when will justice be given? I don't know the answer. it isn't given to us to know. All I know is creation will be released from sin (Rom 8: 18-25) and that God is making all things new (Rev 21: 1-7) and anyone who is restored in salvation will be made new and will not be what they were on earth. What this will look like is a mystery; I know nothing about it and I only trust in God that it will be done.

Some people solve this issue with purgatorial universalism; some people will be purged of their sin after death before going to heaven. This is fine. I'm agnostic on purgatory because it isn't scriptural and I think it oversteps human knowledge to attempt to explain the mystery of salvation.

God wants all of creation to be reconciled to God. How this is carried out is God's work. My role is to enter God's creative work, to be transformed, and to be a worker of that reconciliation. I hope and pray for the salvation of all, which is all that I can do.

This is not metaphorical. I mean actual, literal pieces of paper/plastic/metal/whatever explicitly erected to inform the public.

“How did you know this was the right trail?” I read the sign.

“Wow, how did you know what that flower is?” There’s a SIGN.

“How did you know we needed to use the side door?” THERE IS A SIGN POSTED ON THE FRONT DOOR.

Just…why are we having such different experiences of the world? People can read. I KNOW they can read. There’s nothing wrong with their vision.

Just. READ. THE. GOD. DAMN. SIGN.

This also applies to:

Syllabi

1. Does OP mention an obligation on victims to forgive abusers who have learned from their past actions?

2. Does OP mention any work on the part of victims to educate their abusers?

You can't change anything with your actions so don't bother. You going vegetarian won't shut down a factory farm so don't bother. You buying something in sustainable packaging won't make a dent in the landfill so don't bother. You donating five bucks to a charity won't solve poverty so don't bother. You buying ethically-made clothing won't stop sweatshops from operating so don't bother.

I agree that the only way these problems are going to get solved is if the government enacts regulations to do so, but the key point here is that the government is not going to spontaneously do that. Everybody says they want to protect the environment and for people to make a living wage in the abstract but as soon as regulations start being passed people start throwing fits about how it's impacting their lives.

If the government banned factory farms, meat would suddenly be priced like a luxury item and people would throw fits about how poor people can't afford protein anymore, if they banned plastic packaging people would throw fits about how we're expected to bear the increased production costs, if they banned imports of items made in sweatshops or by slave labor people would throw fits about how they can't get their coffee and chocolate and electronics anymore.

There's a post on here about how community river clean-ups don't actually make much of an impact on water pollution, because the major cause of water pollution isn't random trash but industrial and agricultural run-off. But the clean-ups are still extremely valuable because they get the community invested in the cause of water pollution, the community starts taking pride in their local environment and start actually caring about environmental regulations on a personal level, and that grants activists the buy-in to push for changes that actually can reduce water pollution.

We absolutely must get individual buy-in before we can expect systemic change. You can't solve systemic problems with individual action, but you can't solve them without it either. Making small changes to your consumption habits isn't going to fix the world, but it gets people invested in and connected to the cause, it makes them feel like they're part of a larger movement, and it primes them to think of these regulations as wins for that movement rather than a sacrifice being forced upon them by the government.

Nazis crashing the fuck out at Elmo for no reason is one of my new favorite genres. Literally this pic: