(Buy the original cartoon… just email me. Or buy a print of this cartoon here.)
My tagline now is “spiritual liberation, recovery and independence“. This is what I’m passionate about.
- People can liberate themselves spiritually.
- People can recover from spiritual control, bondage and abuse.
- People can independently walk their own spiritual path with confidence and joy.
In this cartoon the couple has decided, for the above 3 reasons, to leave the church. They’ve signed away their souls to the authority of another. Now they want them back. They want to be free, recovered and independent. Of course, they are still a little under the authority because they already are in possession of themselves but don’t yet realize it. But for some people it takes time to know this.
I published a book of cartoons just like this one. For just $9, order “Nakedpastor101: Cartoons by David Hayward“, from amazon.com, amazon.ca, amazon.de. Great for laughs and serious discussion!
My name is David Hayward, and I am the nakedpastor. I am a graffiti artist on the walls of religion.
Were you hiding in the office when we had that meeting a few years back? lol
great tagline
I. Love. This.
Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
OOps! I see a problem here. Another Crystal has popped up. The above comment I. love. This. isn’t the same Crystal who’s been commenting on this site for a year almost. One of us will have to change their name, I think, otherwise the rest of us won’t know who we’re talking to. Which one should it be?
This is the old Crystal talking.
I really identify with this cartoon. Many years ago I was playing music in my church. The pastor suddenly decided that he didn’t want musicians upfront anymore. He said that he wanted us to sit in the pews and stay silent until God told him to put us back up there again. ( This church had its wacky side, but it also had its freedom to play, freedom to sing out at anytime, so I kind of liked that aspect of it.) After a few months of silence, though, I began to realize that my musical skills were suffering, and if I didn’t get back to playing soon, I would have a real struggle on my hands ( I only played in church) so I decided to look around for another church where I could play.
I hit a real problem in that the pastor of the church I was interested in wouldn’t allow me to participate in music in his church without me being “released” from my old church. I wasn’t even a member – hadn’t signed on any dotted line- yet here I was being held in some sort of custody. I knew that there was no way I would be set free from my church because the pastor thought I had gone against the Holy Spirit and was rebelling. He would tell the other pastor that, (they apparently met at prayer breakfasts and no doubt shared experiences of their wayward parishioners ) and so I had to go to a different denomination in order to play again. I did tell my pastor I was leaving – I didn’t just walk out – but he was horrible to me, He said that I had taken far more from his church than I had ever given, and I have never really recovered from that. It is like he took a bit of my soul and trampled on it, at least.
Your cartoons tell a truth about church life that needs to be told. So we know we are not alone in the way we are sometimes treated by those who claim to “love” us, yet hold us captive.
#old crystal (orignal NK cystal!)
OMG – so glad you found the courage to get out and save your soul and preserve your beauty, gifts and authenitcity.
These power freaks piss me off!
One thing I never get about churches is that they don’t remember that people go there VOLUNTARILY. They can leave any time VOLUNTARILY.
Wow! umm… what the… Wow!
Please allow me to have a spit so I can sleep without tracing the edges of this story in my dreams
Crystal, how the hell did those pastors get the idea that you were a limited commodity to be traded between them? ‘Released’? What, were you on contract like a premiership footballer? ‘You can’t play on our team until you get a release from the other team, the ‘association’ won’t allow it’ type of thing.
On the ‘taking out more than given’… my mind leaps to ask the question ‘How would a pastor determine that? If love does not keep score, then…?’
People are not your commodity, Pastors!
james:
Johnfom:
I’m quite taken aback and moved at your reactions to what I wrote. I wish I’d had you on my side when all that happened. I still don’t get the “you’ve taken far more from this church than you’ve given” statement myself. I was with that church for a number of years. I encouraged youngsters to play instruments and even gave free music lessons. When it happened, it was one of the reasons I decided to give up on the charasmatic church movement, even though it had taught me much that was beneficial. When things are bad in that kind of church, believe me, they are bad. Thankyou both for commenting. I feel supported.
Those three points are awesome. I am officially adding them to my ‘mantras’ of what I believe (The ‘mantras’ are a collection of sayings, mostly from other people, a few of my own, that illuminate my core beliefs). I love that you have worded to be so self-empowering, as each person is ultimately on their own journey, and must make take action for themselves.
Yes, yes, and YES! Great cartoon, though it is sad. Some folks actually believe that others have authority over them in some spiritual sense.
Crystal, I also am glad that you had the strength to do what you needed to, and not to let yourself suffer under someone else’s (elses’?) misguided ideas about what it means to serve the church, or to seek and follow the will of God. Or to submit properly to authority (which seems to be an obsession in some churches, and generally they mean human/earthly authority).