There is now, therefore, no condemnation...no seriously...well now there's not.

Okay, so I was talking to a sister of mine that goes by Mahogany Homeschooler. She is a beautiful inside and out. We talked about religion, paths, spirituality, and past lives as we always do when we speak. She seems to be more on the path of the Kemetic system while my spirit is tied to the West coast of the continent. Either way we like so many sojourning sistas have a root in the mire of Western Christianity. Yes, that damn quicksand of 1 day of church, 1-2 bible studies (evening and noonday), tithing when you ain't got shit to give and yo lights cut off, and scaring the mess out of you if you even consider exploring other paths. Before you say it, I already know. Your church, pastor, house church, and/or personal path/experience with Christianity was different and this doesn't apply to you.

So here was our main topic. Condemnation.

Now, Christianity is a little tricky with this one because apparently you aren't condemned as long as you are part of the exclusive Jesus club. Once you step away, a.k.a. backslide, you are now open to be condemned by any and all Christians worldwide. Now, this can be done any number of ways depending on your locale. If you are in some "less developed" countries you could be stoned or decapitated, but here in the good old West they will just rip you to pieces verbally and give you an advanced pass to hell. You can do as you please as long as you profess Christ, but once you cross over and denounce him you are now going to hell, and no it doesn't matter how good of a person you are. I could go on, but since you all probably have been adequately exposed to this foolishness I will stop there.

Now that I have chosen to follow the path of Ifa I don't feel the need to judge everyone against my measuring stick. I don't feel that if people don't worship or do as I do that they are going to hell with gasoline draws on. I was raised in a religion that told you not to condemn yet condemned everyone else. Judged everyone except themselves while claiming not to judge at all. I feel that if your path causes you to change for the better and, if possible, reflects your culture somehow then good for you and GO FOR IT! If you can't say this then you probably should reset your navigation system for a path that will challenge you to be more than you are. I don't get so angry anymore at the church folk that won't speak to me all of a sudden though we've known each other for years, I don't get angry when I am black balled, it doesn't bother me that I have a saved, sanctified, holy ghost filled, fire baptized aunt who chose to sit her everybody-going-to-hell-but-me butt out in the car rather than come inside in speak. For the first time I feel pity more than anything. I feel sorry that they have to have the crabs in a mentality to compete for positions and earn points to get into this heaven. I often wonder if I would want to go to that heaven with them anyway. At last I can move in and out of religious discussion without the need to convert.

It's beautiful that I know sistas of all types of beliefs and cultures. It's wonderful that we are all following our own paths. What's best of all is that I no longer believe that they are all going to hell because they don't worship the same God that was used to enslave us, but even then to each his/her own.