An update from Avi (Amita) Kuttner
Since those taking control of the modern Western empire insist on using their interpretation of the Bible as a playbook, perhaps it's time to empower ourselves to join in the storytelling. The Christian Right and Christian Nationalists are pushing for apocalypse both by directly acting out expectations based on Biblical interpretation, as well as destroying the world to get beyond it. One of their goals is to bring about the second coming of Christ, an odd and twisted path to a better world, an inverted way of hoping that paradise will eventually come to Earth - but only after destruction.
If they are so insistent on using twisted Christian narratives, which, whether we like it or not, underpin the philosophies of our now global civilization, using them as an excuse for hatred, division, and destruction, then we had better respond. So let us play! Play and joy are acts of resistance in a system that thrives on seriousness and despair. Let's play with their story if they will play with our lives. In weaving our version, we can empower ourselves to write our own future rather than being forced to weather theirs.
To achieve this, as a playful, joyful protest in this time of increasing power stratification and inequality, as well as transformation and yearning for something better, I will act out the part of their long-awaited Second Coming of Christ in my own way. By this, I mean I will always act as if I am the second coming, and in everything I do, this is why it is a protest and not simply an intermittent performance. I am NOT claiming to be the second coming; I am playing a character, and this will be a perpetual performance that is political. I plan to begin this ongoing performance on Christmas Day and remain in character so long as doing so is meaningful, given the state of the world. I plan to give regular updates as the character and do live streams once a month addressing global issues.
I invite everyone to join in this act, treat me, or rather my character once I step into him, as the new Christ, interact with him so that he may fully play the role of challenging the rising hatred and help create a collective path toward a version of Heaven on Earth. I have taken on a new name, Avi, and given this name to my character; since I will be living within him, I wanted it to be natural to respond to it. Similarly, he will take on my life, though he will spin and describe my life experiences differently.
The answer to tyranny and stratifying hierarchical power does not lie in an individual saviour but in the collective and the power and agency that comes with remembering what we can do for one another and getting together to make the change happen. Therefore, I aim to highlight the work of community and discuss systemic change, using the expected role of the saviour to remind and return power to the many. Since so many are looking for an individual to solve their problems, directly confronting the idea in the classic saviour character might help get people out of that mindset.
I began work on the basic idea for this character and performance over the summer, having presented my character's arrival and the start of his work in October. I had intended to keep working with the character going forward. Still, I hadn't decided to take it on as a perpetual protest in my daily life until the results of the US presidential election rolled in. I knew I wanted to get out there and push back, but the character I had built was better suited than me, and he already fit within the story being told.
The stories we tell ourselves, the narratives we live by, define our society more than we often admit. Though Christian stories might rub some people the wrong way, given how Christianity was used in colonialism and other forms of oppression - and still is, this is a significant component of why I wanted to work with it. I felt like it was time to make it my own, our own really, to empower us and turn back around what has become a story of oppression into a liberatory practice, hopefully, more faithful to Christ's original message than the actions taken by those in his name over the centuries.
The act begins with Christ's return, his delivery of judgement, and the beginning of his plans for creating Heaven on Earth, which you can watch here. After stepping into character I will be available thereafter as him for anyone who thinks it would be neat to do something interactive with Christ at this time. You can contact him at info@thecomingseason.org for interviews, collaboration, sending ideas, or the like. I will post weekly updates for paid subscribers on my newsletter and bi-monthly ones for free members. I will also interact directly there and gather requests for what people would like my character to discuss in his streams.
The more people that join the act and treat my character as the second coming, the more we can bring essential discussions forward through him around building a flourishing world and loving harder against hatred. I offer myself to this protest performance, but how it goes will be sourced from everyone who joins in; the story will be told collectively. My commitment is to do my best to show up and love as strongly as Christ, care as profoundly as him, and boldly challenge those in power in the name of justice as he did. I am just one person hoping the future can be bright, but together, we can weave our story into being.