The idea of human depravity and sinfulness doesn't make sense to me anymore. If we were totally broken as these teachings say then that would even interfere with how we understand Love and the Divine.

Yet, we see acts of altruism all the time. The guy that runs into a burning building to save a child is one example of altruistic behavior. If we are totally depraved you would not find acts of bravery like this in the population.

I now define sin as a sort of trauma. Our "sinfulness nature" is born out of trauma that we began to experience early in life. This trauma compounds to twist and warp our perception of self and needs.

This becomes cumulative brokenness but not because we are inherently bad but because we have experienced trauma upon trauma.

Religion is a system where humanity expresses their perceptions and concepts about God. It is often not a very good lens to view the world through but some ideas certainly are better than others.

The Christ story is definitely a compelling tale of sacrifice and Love even tho it has been perverted into a system of manipulation and control by the evangelical/fundy church.

Love can be found in all faiths. Some have only a sliver of it but it is there. We do not need a religion to tell us what Love is or how to Love. I believe we have a natural Love nature but it is all the trauma we experience that buries it.

As a child I experienced next to no Love. It was a dark abysmal time for me. I often wonder how I survived. Fast forward to when I became a parent and had to take care of littles myself. I had no framework to go by.

I never had parents that took any time to be parents. I was the loneliest child on the planet.

We tried the usual fundy parenting books at the time. Some worked well for one kid but not at all for our other. Eventually I stopped looking outward for what my kids needed and looked inward.

"What did I need as a child growing up?" This was the best parenting strategy ever. It was easy to see that Love, in all its expressions, was the only path to choose.

Love is like the air around us. We can't see it but we can see it's effects. You are born of Love and worthy of Love. Who you are is an expression of Love.

There are no bad people. Only bad behaviors. A faith that covers you in shame and false salvation is not worthy of your attention.