A life lived in protest to a thing is a life still controlled by the thing it protests. This feels like freedom, but it’s an illusory freedom that can only exist in a universe where that which antagonizes you, and that you therefore protest, is still in control.

Real freedom is discovering a universe that exists outside of the thing you once protested’s control, and ultimately lies in realizing that said thing does not actually exist. One can, from the outside, be an advocate for those still inside, but their lives are no longer controlled by that system. One can even reenter the system as an alien and stranger in order to rescue those calling it home without coming back under its tyranny.

There is a massive difference between these two ways of being.

If I protest toxic religion from within its walls, my protest is more or less a way of dealing with my chains. I’m not truly free, for even my protest is a sign of my enslavement. Real freedom is realizing there is a world beyond, finding it, and then having the ability to come and go from my old world as I please, and then only with the intent of helping those still stuck inside of it.

I often look back and see that some of my most passionate cries against religion were just my enslaved groanings. I still lift up my voice, and still cry aloud against the evils of certain systems, but there is a difference within these days.

As I’ve said before, freedom comes in layers, so never settle for the layer you find yourself in.
~ Jeff Turner