Day 7: If It Ain't Setting You Free, It Ain't True

"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." — John 8:32

The Great Protestant Irony

There's a particular irony baked into Protestant history we need to talk about. The Reformation kicked off with this revolutionary idea: we're saved by grace through faith, not by following rules. No more earning your way to God through performance, penance, or perfect behavior. Just faith. Just grace.

And then, somehow, many Protestant communities became some of the most suffocatingly legalistic religious movements in history.

I went to a Christian college where we signed a "Community Covenant" each year. The rules were... something else. No R-rated movies (except The Passion of the Christ, naturally). No "blanketing"—sharing a blanket with someone of the opposite sex. You couldn't close your door if someone of the opposite sex was in your dorm room, and even that was only allowed one or two days a week.

Other churches, colleges, and Christian communities dictate regulated skirt length. Lifestyle guidelines control what you can watch, read, listen to.

And this is supposed to be freedom?