Christian Nationalism, Dark Religion, and Spirituality for Times Like This
Turning inward at times like this, we learn to see in the dark.
Each day brings a night of fear. In response, we have much to say and do, including attending to our spirituality and inner life.
Many are also rightly concerned with Christian Nationalism and its adherents, who claim a divine mandate and act as if they were God. Their hubris and spiritual inflation call for a humble and reverent spirituality as a countermeasure.
In their 2017 book Dark Religion, Vladislav Šolc and George Didier write in the Introduction,
“In Dark Religion, we explore the dynamics and causes of extreme religion, fundamentalism, and fanaticism. Dark Religion, we discovered, is radically uprooted from spirituality. The striving for connection to the Transpersonal, which Jung saw as instinctive, becomes perverted. In short, dark religion hinders a healthy religious approach to the symbolic and thus inhibits one’s ongoing connection to the Self. In its stead one finds a static belief system derived from literalist and concretistic thinking.
This approach obscures the true nature of spirituality and eclipses one’s symbolic relationship to numinous experiences. As a result, fundamentalists believe they have established a literal one-to-one correspondence of identity with God and thus confuse their own will and actions with the will and actions of God; they believe they speak directly for God (vox Dei est scriptor). Hence, the most violent acts of aggression are committed “in the name of God.” In this religious endeavor, the “I” (ego) of the fundamentalist hides behind the image of God while assuming God’s authority as one’s own. Religious extremists, as we will show, identify with their literalized image of God, substituting an awe of the mystery of things for an absolute certainty of knowing the will of God.”
Šolc and Didier add, “Our study reveals that spirituality, besides being an inherent dimension of human nature; is one of our most essential needs. Religion only becomes “dark,” we argue, when we ignore, deny or separate it from its own living roots in the unconscious.”
Moreover, Dr. Leonard Cruz writes in the Forward to Dark Religion, “Each of us faces a challenge to illuminate the unconscious domains of our psychological and religious life and then recover what we have projected onto others. With proper care, the original spark from the numinous encounter can flower as compassionate, soul-building action in the world. Those who recover their projections are less likely to cast their burdens on the other and less likely to perpetrate violence. The Sermon on the Mount captures this sentiment nicely, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.’”
I invite you to participate in Spirituality for Times Like This as part of your healthy and necessary response to our times. The program begins by exploring spirituality and mysticism, followed by a session examining our current times and the forces at work. Suffering is a necessary component of spirituality, and the third session discusses it, as well as The Dark Night of the Soul, which is often the beginning of a spiritual turn.
The second half of the sessions begins with the Inner Life and some of its components, including darkness, light, the divine, soul, spirit, unconscious, psyche, Self, shadow, and other figures and energies. The fifth session is on Co-creation, the idea that humans co-create alongside the divine from their genetics, culture, and inner life. Spirituality for Times Like This concludes with what has been called the raison d’être of all spirituality, Transformation.
Sessions will include an introduction to the topic, definitions of ideas and concepts, and supporting readings, including the Bible, Carl Jung, Richard Rohr, Marie-Louise von Franz, Thomas Moore, and Teresa of Avila. I will also share examples of my inner work. Discussion and questions are integral to each evening.
Spirituality for Times Like This will meet on Zoom Tuesday evenings from 7-8:30 pm (Central), beginning May 13.
- May 13 Spirituality & Mysticism
- May 20 Times Like This
- May 27 Suffering
- June 3 Inner Life
- June 10 Co-Creation
- June 17 Transformation
The program will be recorded, and registrants will receive a link following each session.
This group actively welcomes members of different professions, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, socioeconomic realities, spiritual/religious beliefs and practices, gender identities, gender expressions, and family structures. The expectation is that we come together and try to hold each other’s diverse experiences with mutual respect. Those who may not participate accordingly are asked not to register.
I am using a new model and asking participants to contribute what they can to participate in this program. The suggested donation is $120 for the six sessions, and I invite additional contributions from those who can.
I can’t wait to come alongside you and share this life-giving work. Please email me at revwendyvie@gmail.com to register. Please also share this program with others who may be interested. Thank you.
Comments from Participants
“Rev. Wendy Vie brings deep insight, presence, and grace to every session. She leads with clarity and compassion, guiding fast-paced, thoughtful discussions that draw from philosophy, theology, current events, and her lived experience. This course opened a valuable new door for me, one that feels urgently relevant in times like these.”
– Matthew ~ Copenhagen, Denmark
“We live in a time of spiritual conflict when the rise of a narcissistic spirituality seems to have become the accepted norm. Empathy is presented as a sin, even a fatal sin. What does it mean to live into a spirituality that pushes against the narcissistic movement? How does one respond as an authentic person to the depersonalization rampant in our current cultural situation? Rev. Wendy Vie addresses these spiritual questions by looking at them through a Jungian framework. The paradox of working on modifying the spirit of the culture and society around us by working on understanding our inner life and examining how the dynamic interplay of the archetypes, especially the Self and the Shadow, affects our spiritual journey. Rev. Wendy Vie helps the class explore the impacts on their current personal situations. I found her presentations opening me to new ways of thinking about conflicts incurred in building community, even though I came to the class as somewhat of a Jungian skeptic. I highly recommend this series for those seeking a new way to encounter spirituality in an age of conflict.”
– Anita ~ Baltimore, Maryland
“Initially, I didn’t want to do what Wendy was asking me to do. But I ended up doing it, and Wendy’s class helped me quite a bit.”
– Bruce ~ Los Angeles, California
Pastor Wendy Vie Trittin is an ordained pastor of the ELCA and a Spirituality Guide and Life Coach. She is a member of Spiritual Directors International, Clergy Voyagers, and the Minnesota Jung Association. One-on-one sessions with Wendy Vie are easily scheduled.