I recently became aware of the Sparkle Creed, a super progressive version of the Apostle’s Creed, modified to include the LGBTQ+ community. It popped up on the religious radar from a recent video of a pastor at the Edina Community Lutheran Church in St. Edina, Minnesota. The Creed is an actual part of that church’s (and others) liturgy and reads:
“I believe in the non-binary God whose pronouns are plural.
“I believe in Jesus Christ, their child, who wore a fabulous tunic and had two dads and saw everyone as a sibling-child of God.
“I believe in the rainbow Spirit, who shatters our image of one white light and refracts it into a rainbow of gorgeous diversity.
“I believe in the church of everyday saints as numerous, creative, and resilient as patches on the AIDS quilt, whose feet are grounded in mud and whose eyes gaze at the stars in wonder.
“I believe in the call to each of us that love is love is love, so beloved, let us love.
“I believe, glorious God. Help my unbelief. Amen.”
Religious groups all over the spectrum are all outraged by this creed, calling it heresy and pointing out things like its failure to mention some of the basic elements of Christianity, as referenced in the Apostle’s Creed, such as Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection. True enough, those major plot points do seem to be omitted. But I rather like it, it’s syrupy and sweet, and certainly focuses on love and inclusion. To make a comparison, the Sparkle Creed is the Godspell to the Apostle’s Creed Jesus Christ Superstar. Happy compared to gloomy.
But the funny thing to me is the overall outrage of the interpretation of something completely made up. All religions are constructs of man, wholly lacking in any sort of reality. They are all 100% completely made up, pure fantasy and always have been. So getting upset over the Sparkle Creed is in the same category as getting upset over the new Disney Snow White not actually being white. Or a black Little Mermaid. All are fantasies, but somehow deeply important to a lot of people.
Maybe though the view needs to change. The penultimate line of the Sparkle Creed says “love is love is love”. In the midst of hating everything else about the Creed, that point seems to have largely been missed. Celebrating the gory death of Jesus as a means to go to heaven has become a culture unto itself, but his real message, the one that gets lost in the stampede for the pearly gates, is one of love. This Creed, goofy and “woke” as it is, reminds us of that. So maybe it’s not that bad after all.
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