Practicing the Non-Sectarian Principle

And how difficult it can be to approach our belief systems with a light touch

Below is a short blog post I wrote in 2018 on the Ground Experience website about the principle of non-sectarianism. After the response I received to another related piece I recently wrote about the death of controversial Christian pastor Pat Robertson, I thought it would be good to re-publish this other piece as the theme of both writings seem to be intimately connected. It has been lightly edited to include a few paragraphs about when I was myself a Nazarene during my senior year at high school. This post is not about any particular faith or ideology (After high school, I no longer followed Christianity though I continue to respect healthy nonviolent versions of the world’s different faiths). It’s just a general musing about sectarianism within different frameworks.

The photo above was taken at the height of the sectarian violence between the Catholics and Protestants of Northern Island.

When I was 17, I joined the Church of the Nazarenes, a Protestant church that my high school friend’s family attended. That family took me in after I was homeless for the summer before my senior year. The mother of that family insisted that I attend a church in order to live in their house. Although she stipulated that I attend church, she assured me that it didn’t have to be the church their family went to.

But, I wanted to travel the path of least resistance so I joined them every Sunday at the Nazarene Church. I even sang at the church, and my favorite Christian song at the time was called “People Need the Lord”, which was popular among the evangelical circuit at the time (check out this version of the song, which was sung by Christian vocalist Steve Green at the Billy Graham Crusade in Denver Colorado, in July 1987).

During that year as a Nazarene, I got my first taste of the sectarian mindset when I read this book called “Why I am a Nazarene and Not a….”. The title of this book and its contents went on to bullet point why a Nazarene should not be a… Mormon, Roman Catholic, Jehovah’s Witness, Seventh Day Adventist, Christian Scientist, and so on.

This book above was my first real introduction to sectarianism. We see this type of thinking in secular contexts as well (e.g. the different forms of feminism and rifts within the conservative right.

This was the beginning of a decades-long interest in studying different systems of belief and thought and a never-ending fascination with the question of how human beings could ever seriously consider that their own ideological framework -with its special language, concepts, practices, beliefs and unique package of enemies to fight against- could be the ONE true secular or spiritual path in history to offer liberation and harmony or justice.

Curiously enough, many movements, including highly structured political movements and their powerful religious cousins, seem to always have a place for condemning heretics, dissidents or simply those who have found a different path, a different set of beliefs and practices towards the same goal, or see a different perspective, which suggests a lack of real faith in the system that is being defended.

It is often said in wisdom traditions across the world that transformational change and its outward expression is intimately bound up with our own individual liberation from all forms of thought that constrain us and keep us from seeing reality or living harmoniously in the world as it is and in peaceful co-existence with others. These forms of thought include personal narratives, systems of political ideas, socio-cultural identities, and secular and religious ideological frameworks that we have built our identities around.

I make no claims here to be a liberated person who has transcended these limitations (anyone who has experienced my hypomanic, passionate outbursts, knows I’m not). And I surely do get caught up in my own paradigms, beliefs, ideas, group loyalties, and unresolved personal narratives.

But, I can’t shake the idea that if we confine ourselves to working for the liberation (or simply for the interests) of our own tribes, communities, values, beliefs, or nations within a shrink-wrapped ideological package that has little to no room for growth or further understanding, we wind up trapping ourselves in a repeating cycle of seeking self-justification, deepening hatred and fear against perceived adversaries, and the constant pressure of having to check and re-check ourselves to make sure we are adhering to the values that have been handed to us—to prove to ourselves and others that that we are on the right path.

I don’t think we can avoid living in the world without frameworks, communities, principles, beliefs, commitments and individual and collective actions against injustices. But, I suspect that stepping out from the frameworks we have tied ourselves to and looking at the raw data of our inner and outer experience might lead to a more realistic approach to contemplating the world, more curiosity about what makes us tick as individuals and as communities, less hatred against one-dimensional enemies, and possibly even the discovery of a natural sense of kinship and harmony with those we have perceived to be different from us.

Sectarianism is an interesting thing. It covers everything. Me against the world. My religion against yours. My religious sect against your religious sect that is in the religion we both share, my family against yours, my nation against yours, and so forth.

Not that differences don’t have their place.

Nations and patriotism exist. A local church with a specific set of rituals exists distinctly from the local church in the next town over. Different families, languages, and customs exist. It’s natural for these differences —sometimes organic and sometimes designed—to exist.

So, it’s wise for us to respect the reality that for many people frameworks and systems can be helpful in navigating the complexities of human life. For some, frameworks can be a powerful and healthy anchor in the inevitable uncertainties of life.

But, it’s equally helpful to hold all frameworks with a light touch. This way, we won’t have to permanently ponder and justify why we are these people and not those people.

A light touch… a light touch… a light touch.