01. What Does Essentialism Promise?
Essentialism promises that you belong.
You are wanted. You are worthy of love. And your belonging does not depend on your religion, your accomplishments, your usefulness, or your willingness to recognize the source of that love.
You do not have to earn the right to exist.
You do not have to prove that you deserve kindness.
And you do not have to become someone else before you are worthy of being treated with dignity.
This is where Essentialism begins.
Essentialism is a way of understanding ourselves, our relationships, and our responsibilities through five virtues collectively called the Lens:
Empathy. Truth. Joy. Kindness. Anti-Greed.
When these virtues operate together, they become Love.
The Lens does not belong to a church, a religious institution, or any particular deity. People of different religions, and people without religious beliefs, can recognize and practice these virtues.
Their reasons for doing so may differ.
Their understanding of where these virtues come from may differ.
But the possibility of living through the Lens belongs to everyone.
Within Christian Essentialism, we understand the Lens as the Imago Dei: the very image of God.
This is the theological understanding practiced in the Shaman States of America, a Christian Essentialist nation.
We believe God created humanity with the capacity to recognize and practice these virtues. We also believe His love is not conditional upon our recognition of Him.
God does not require us to identify Him, worship Him, reciprocate His love, or convert before we become worthy of that love.
He loves us because He loves us.
And when someone does not believe in Him, that does not prevent Him from seeking ways for that person to encounter love through others.
Only God knows why someone rejects Him.
Our responsibility is not to make assumptions about their reasons. It is to practice the Lens.
That distinction matters because belonging and participation are not the same thing.
Everyone belongs to the human family. Everyone deserves dignity and the opportunity to flourish.
But belonging does not mean that someone can harm others without consequences.
Communities have responsibilities to protect their members. They may establish boundaries, restrict participation, or require accountability when someone causes harm.
In the Shaman States, Troubleshooters investigate problems and seek remedies that do not require violence. When necessary, Hunters may be called upon to protect people from dangers that cannot otherwise be addressed.
Even then, the purpose is not to declare that someone has lost their worth.
The purpose is to stop harm and create the conditions in which healing can become possible.
This is especially important when we consider Greed.
In Essentialism, Greed is the desire to take more than needed for status or to lord over another, coupled with a lack of personal responsibility for the pain that causes.
Greed turns relationships into transactions.
It teaches people to demand payment for things that should have been freely given, including love, dignity, and belonging.
It encourages people to believe they must become useful, obedient, wealthy, powerful, or sufficiently impressive before they deserve kindness.
And when someone refuses to pay that price, Greed may encourage others to punish them.
Greed breeds cruelty.
Anti-Greed protects the Lens by rejecting the idea that one person’s dignity must be purchased from another.
Essentialism therefore offers both an inward and an outward promise.
Internally, we learn to recognize our own worth without depending entirely on approval, status, or achievement.
We begin releasing the shame, guilt, and powerlessness that can distort how we see ourselves.
Externally, we learn to recognize that same worth in others.
We practice Empathy without abandoning Truth. We practice Kindness without surrendering boundaries. We cultivate Joy without requiring another person’s suffering.
And we resist Greed wherever it attempts to turn freely given love into something people must earn.
None of this promises that life will become painless.
It does not promise wealth, perfect health, constant happiness, or universal agreement.
It promises another way of understanding ourselves and living together.
A way in which our mistakes can be corrected without becoming our entire identity.
A way in which accountability can exist without endless punishment.
A way in which people can grow without having to prove that they deserved love in the first place.
Essentialism begins with belonging.
And from that belonging, we begin learning how to live.
Return to Ask an Essentialist Theologian
Go to Essentialism Question Two: When does the promise of Essentialism begin?