Filed under: Christianity, Uncategorized | Tags: religion, Unchristian, Gabe Lyons
In his book Unchristian (which he co-authored with Dave Kinnaman), Gabe Lyons examines the results of a nation-wide survey that revealed that people outside the Christian faith typically have poor perceptions of Christianity. Lyons worked a researcher for the Barna Group and now serves as the founder of the Fermi Project. I spoke with him on March 26th when he visited my university.
Q: What is the most common reaction you’ve received to Unchristian?
LYONS: Actually it’s been a very good reaction. We weren’t sure that would be case, we thought there would be folks who wouldn’t want to hear these difficult things about themselves that we were describing and researching. But the reality is it’s been interesting to see how widely received it’s been. Like almost across the board with different types of groups that some people might not have thought would have embraced it have done so. So we’ve actually gotten very little negative feedback. Maybe we should have gotten more!
Q: So how do you react to some of the criticisms that you have gotten, that it’s a good thing that Christians are disliked by the world, that we should be anti-homosexual and judgmental?
LYONS: I think it’s absolutely false. If we look at Jesus as one example, when He comes on the scene 2000 years ago, that He embodied something 100% different from the religious people of the day that you could have pegged with these perceptions…judgmental, hypocritical. In that day, the religious were the ones who hated Jesus and were part of his crucifixion. For me, if we were hated for perceptions like “Christians are annoying because they’re so kind, so loving, they care for people so much that we think it’s fake,” then it would be a completely different story. But the perceptions we got back are really across the board the opposite of how we’ve been called to live. Some folks have an ax to grind, maybe because they’ve gotten a negative reaction when they’ve presented a witness to somebody. They see that as a mark of credit towards them: “I must have done something right because the gospel’s offensive.” The reality is the cross can be an offensive thing to a sinner when they first recognize it, but people shouldn’t ever be offended by the messenger, because that really comes down to 2 Tim. 2:24 and 25. The spirit of the Christian in any kind of discussion should be civil, should be to provide an answer but in a gentle way. So how can you have those kinds of relationships and conversations and still have that perception, I don’t know.
Q: In your book, you assume that all Christians believe homosexuality is a sin. So what about Christians who interpret the Bible a little differently, or even Christians who are in the GLBT community? Aren’t you just reinforcing the anti-homosexual stereotype by making this assumption?
LYONS: Obviously that was a tough one to write about culturally. Where we landed on is a lot of the definitions we give to human beings are derogatory, so even naming people as homosexuals is not consistent with how we talk about other human beings. We don’t call other people ‘heterosexual.’ We call them by their names. Part of this whole labeling idea that’s happening culturally that Christians have really fed into is not the way that Christ necessarily viewed people. He sees the woman at the well. Does He call her a prostitute? Is that how He sees her, as somebody in sexual sin when the reality is even though He knows that’s part of her background He sees in her the image of God and what she can become. He tells her to go and sin no more but He treats her like a human being. Instead of labeling people as gay, straight, bi, whatever our world wants to put on people, we need to see people as human beings made in the image of God. I don’t think we’re feeding into the current stereotype, but our main point in the book is that homosexuality doesn’t seem consistent with Christian discipleship. But we’re not the ones who are ultimately called to judge that. Unless we’re willing to talk about every other sexual sin, we shouldn’t be camping out on this whole homosexual deal. Let’s talk about pornography, let’s talk about adultery, let’s talk about any number of sexual sins and make them all part of a bigger discussion about sexual brokenness. That’s the better conversation.
Q: Will you be writing any more books based on further research?
LYONS: I’m working on a book now that is not based on research as Unchristian was, but it will deal with what it looks like to be Christian in the West. How do we be faithful but also credible? I don’t think the two are exclusive of one another. I think we can be faithful Christians and also be very credible, respected, and civil as we really embody the gospel and its truth. That book should be out next spring, in 2010.
Q: Do you have any practical suggestions for Christians who want to reach out to the secular world but haven’t had much exposure to unbelievers?
LYONS: There’s nothing better than just jumping into any scenario, just working alongside people in a non-profit or social situation happening in the city. You can’t just sit in a classroom and learn about how to interact with non-Christians. It becomes a big project. When you get into people’s stories and care enough to ask people about their stories what we find is that things are way more complex than we ever thought, sitting in a classroom trying to learn about it. The reality is when you show God’s love to people that what comes with that is an understanding of their condition and the realization that “Who are we to judge this person or look down on them?”
Q: Tell me a little bit more about the Fermi Project.
LYONS: It’s a non-profit that’s focused on helping people understand what it looks like to redeem cultures, to help faithful Christians understand that this is part of our call to Christian evangelism and discipleship. So we’re trying to educate and expose Christians to what our culture looks like today and what will it take for the gospel to go forward, what might it look like 20 years from now and how we can be creating that future, not just reacting to everything. Www.qideas.org is where everything feeds right now, even more than Fermi, because we’re trying to create a space where people are learning big ideas about all of this.
Filed under: Christianity, Politics, patriarchy | Tags: abortion, gay marriage, Jonathan Krohn, Missionaries to the Preborn, proposition 8, quiverfull, Reformed, religion, Ron Paul, Rush Limbaugh, Twilight
There are some people, some trends that rise above the level of pet peeve. They are not merely petty annoyances, but rather sources of deep personal disturbance. Here is Sarah’s List of Things That Really Bother Her, 2008-2009 Edition.
1. Twilight Fans
“Fan” doesn’t really describe the depth of devotion these misguided (mostly female) people feel for Stephanie Meyer’s hideous Twilight Series. If you’re not aware, the Twilight Series is a badly written account of one idiotic teenage girl’s obsessive infatuation with her abusive vampire stalker. The series culminates in her marriage to and pregnancy by said stalker. The resulting fetus nearly kills her, but she refuses to abort. So she births Killer Fetus and her werewolf former flame immediately bonds with it. In other words. this is the story of an idiot, centuries old sperm and a pedophiliac werewolf.
What’s worse, girls love it. They’re obsessed. They dream of Edward Cullen (that’s the creepy stalker vampire, who just happens to glitter in the sunlight). They want to have his Killer Fetuses. In the names of good literature and feminism, I hereby name Twilight Fans the most horrifying phenomenon of 2008-2009.
2. Proposition 8
The only reason that California’s newly passed Proposition 8 is not at the top of my list is because I believe the Supreme Court will overturn it. Otherwise, Proposition 8 and its supporters handily beat Twilight Fans as the most disturbing trend of this year. A recap: Prop 8 bans same-sex marriage. The Mormon church poured millions of dollars into the campaign to pass Prop 8, as did conservative Christians. Prop 8 flies in the face of a Californian Supreme Court ruling that made same-sex marriage legal. The pro-Prop 8 campaign, currently spearheaded by Kenneth Starr (that’s right, the guy who impeached Clinton) is now arguing that all same-sex marriages that took place before the passing of Prop 8 should be nullified, which means that these 18,000 couples will be forcibly divorced. Supporters of Prop 8 have shown a total disregard for the civil rights of millions of Americans, and completely deserve a place on my list. If the Court does not overturn this ban you’ll see Prop 8 overtake Twilight Fans. I find it an amusing coincidence that the Mormon Church has a hand in both Prop 8 and Twilight (Meyer is a Mormon).
3. President Bush’s Midnight Legislation
Sorry, no funny picture. But in case you don’t know, former President Bush left the women of America with a parting gift: he issued an order that would redefine abortion to include contraceptives. The order would allow doctors who mistakenly consider contraceptives abortifacients to refuse to prescribe them. Fortunately, President Obama (I’ll never get tired of writing that) will overturn this blatant attack on reproductive rights. I like my birth control, and frankly, the Catholic Church can kiss my ass. It’s my uterus, not the Pope’s.
4 (tie). Christian Zionists
Christian Zionists have been around for a while, but they make my list this year because of their response to the Israeli invasion of Gaza. Actually, make that their nonresponse. These fanatics believe that Israel has a right to all the land in the Levant, even if those pesky Palestinians happen to be living there. The truly ironic thing is that these Christians believe most Jews are going to hell. As for the state of Israel itself, well, this list is for trends/people that bother me. If I ever compile a list of Countries Whose Leaders Should Be Arrested for Genocide, Israel would be on it.
4 (tie). Christian Patriarchists
The Christian patriarchy movement (closely tied to the Reformed and Quiverfull movements) makes no qualms about its goal to reestablish patriarchy. Organizations like Vision Forum actively push patriarchy as an appropriate lifestyle. I visit Vision Forum’s website for a good laugh; they often feature articles on the scandal of sending your daughter away to college. Members of this movement believe that young women should remain under their father’s control until they marry, and they cannot marry without the father’s consent. Traditional gender roles are strictly applied. Women in this movement typically wear long skirts in an effort to be more ‘feminine’ and are taught to believe that their main purpose in life is to be submissive baby-makers.
The Duggars of TLC fame are members of this movement, as is evangelist Voddie Baucham. Sadly, supporters of patriarchy are gaining momentum in the American church. It’s impossible to guess how many young women are being oppressed by this ideology, forced into a life where their higher education is not considered important and their fathers have say over every aspect of their lives.
5. Ron Paul Supporters
These sad people just can’t accept that Ron Paul is a.) a crackpot and b.) he will never, ever win a presidential election. Ron Paul may have lost, but God damn it these diehards still love the old fart. The fact that Ron Paul’s policies are completely insane doesn’t really factor into their thinking. He’s on the fringe, and so are they. Fortunately for the United States, it looks like they’re staying there. Rather unfortunate is their inablility to STFU about Ron Paul. Give it up, people. Tear down that poster hanging in the student center. But by all means emulate the man who stood in my local busy-as-hell intersection holding a Ron Paul sign.
6. Missionaries to the Preborn
Usually supporters of the “pro-life” movement would be higher on my list. However, Missionaries to the Preborn are so ridiculous that they are merely annoying, and serve no actual threat to reproductive rights. These brave crusaders believe that abortion is murder, and that the fetus is sacred. They even condemn birth control as abortifacient in nature (it’s not, for the record). The founder of this group is so sexist that he wrote an essay in which he lamented that women have the right to vote. Suck on that, Susan B. Anthony.
Missionaries to the Preborn rely on pseudoscience and graphic images, which they display by the side of the road for all to see. In their quest to paint Planned Parenthood as a modern Nazi Party, Missionaries to the Preborn utilize all the weapons at their disposal to fight what they truly believe is a war between good and evil. Fortunately for women, they’re so hilariously crazy that they are completely ineffectual.
7. The Secret Life of the American Teenager
Stephanie Meyer probably watches this series. “Secret Life of the American Teenager” romanticizes teen pregnancy and presents a version of public school that belongs in a category with “Reefer Madness.” I attended two different high schools (private Christian and public) and I never encountered characters like the ones presented in “Secret Life.” It’s completely unrealistic, and it teaches girls that hey, it’s not such a bad thing if you get pregnant. Abortion is unthinkable, and maybe your boyfriend will marry you even if he’s not the father! It’s all good! With teen pregnancy on the rise, a show like this a stupid idea.
8. Jonathan Krohn
Unlike John Stewart, I have no qualms about mocking Jonathan Krohn. Like my mother has so wisely told me, “If you stick your neck out, expect to get it cut off.” I don’t plan on cutting anything off Jonathan Krohn. But he is an annoying little twerp who is, fittingly enough, being lauded as the future of the Republican Party. Krohn has nothing new to say. He’s a fourteen year old parrot. And I will say this: when I was his age, I was a conservative too. I volunteered for conservative campaigns, I wrote letters to the editor condemning Al Gore. Seven years later I’m the pro-choice Vice President of my college’s chapter of College Democrats. In other words, there’s still hope for Mr. Krohn. Until then, I will revel endlessly in the idea that the Republican Party is so weakened that it is forced to appoint a fourteen year old homeschooler as its torchbearer.
9. Rush Limbaugh
I had hoped that this bloated drug addict held no real influence over the Republican Party. But the Republicans, not satisfied with Sarah Palin and their pre-pubescent homeschool cheerleader, have elevated Rush Limbaugh to the status of Party mouthpiece. That sound you hear? That’s the sound of the Republican Party’s credibility dying a slow and painful death. Limbaugh’s radio show, which runs for three (!) hours every day, is beloved by millions of beknighted listeners who haven’t yet realized that it is not in their best interest for Obama to do like Rush says and fail. LOL, Republicans, LOL.
10. Reformed Theology/Calvinism
Those of you fortunate enough to have no experience with conservative Christianity will probably not understand the depth of my loathing for Reformed Theology. It’s simple: Calvinism is responsible for the dominionist “Take America Back for Jeezus!” crap that is currently preoccuping the American Christian church. You see, Calvin wasn’t exactly a big fan of the separation of church and state. His followers aren’t either.
On a nerdy theological note, I also find Calvin’s so-called “Doctrines of Grace” a contradiction in terms. These doctrines have nothing to do with grace. Calvin believed in limited atonement, the idea that Christ’s sacrifice was intended only for the elect, the people God has chosen to go to heaven. That whole Jesus-died-for-the-whole-world thing? Meh. Some Calvinists go so far as to claim that God has chosen who will go to hell. This is Calvinism taken to its logical conclusion, and it’s disgusting. Calvin himself was no gem. He had no qualms about burning people at the stake, and tolerated no disagreement with his reign over Geneva. I see a trend, and I don’t like it.
This is has been an (incomplete) list of Things That Really Bother Me. Check back next year to see if Ann Coulter can indeed overtake Rush!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Christianity, conservative christianity, feminism, fundamentalist Christianity, religion, sexism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/19/gender.religion
In her article “I’m Not Praying” Cath Elliot makes the claim that religion is anti-feminist. “Christianity is and always has been antithetical to women’s freedom and equality, but it’s certainly not alone in this.” she writes. “It’s the patriarchy made manifest, male-dominated, set up by men to protect and perpetuate their power.”
Although Elliot does have a point–religion has been used to justify horrible human rights abuses that include the systematic oppression of women–her thesis is flawed. Religion is not inherently anti-feminist. Neither is Christianity. Individual Christians are often sexist, as are millions of people who may or may not be religious. The fact that the Christian God is portrayed as male doesn’t make Him sexist; if we want to be really theologically accurate, God is a Spirit and doesn’t even have a gender. He’s even ascribed female characteristics at certain points in the Bible.
There’s the problem of the Old Testament, of course. The Old Testament appears contradictory in its treatment of women, first treating them as property but also featuring strong women like Mariam, Deborah and Jael. The two books named for women are in the Old Testament, and both feature women who blatantly used their sexual power to achieve their own ends. These women are still celebrated by Christians, although the fact that Ruth “lay down” with Boaz and that Esther was a concubine are usually ignored.
I think it is Christianity’s traditional attitude toward women that feeds Elliot’s perception. My personal experience has been similar to hers. Most conservative Christians I know are sexist at least on some level. Some are more vocal than others. Worst of all, the women of this movement allow themselves to be oppressed. They are taught the lie that a woman’s place is at home, that she cannot preach or teach men, and that her main function is to be a subservient breeding machine for the head of the household. This is propaganda on the scale of Orwell’s Doublespeak, only this time the Party’s slogan (“War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength”) is lauded as Biblical truth.
Christian women have taken gradual steps toward gender equality. The United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the Reformed Church of America, and certain Presbyterian and Anglican congregations permit female ministers. These churches recognize the inherent equality of women with men. But most denominations still forbid female leadership. The Southern Baptist Convention (with whom Cedarville is affiliated) recently reaffirmed its adherence to traditonal male headship. This creates a poisonous environment for women, and adds to the unflattering perception that people like Cath Elliot have of Christianity.
As long as women believe the conflicting idea that although they are of equal worth to men they are to be submissive to them, Christianity will be used as a tool to oppress and domineer females. Those of us who don’t swallow that lie need to take a stand. We need to reject the false dichotomy projected by Christian patriarchy. Until then, Cath Elliot’s point stands largely unchallenged.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Cedarville University, Christianity, election, God, Obama, Politics, religion
On a brutally hot day in the summer of 2008, Barack Obama visited a blue-collar town in the Appalachian mountains. That town is my town, and I was there to hear him speak. My friends and I had waited in line for hours, and sweat had glued my shirt to my back. I hate waiting in line. I hate getting up early. But I held out, and when I finally walked into that high school gymnasium I realized that the wait had been worth it.
You have to understand where I come from, and what kind of family I have. I am from the South, and I am the direct descendent of slave owners. In fact, my family still has the ledger with the slaves’ names, ages and prices. We are not racists any more, but that is my history. It is the history of many Southerners. There is a reason why Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in the South, and it is not because the South is an open, tolerant place.
Years of hearing racist jokes from my classmates and years of watching the Confederate flag displayed in pickup trucks had not prepared me for what I saw in that gymnasium. The South had come together. The gym was equal parts white and black. I never had any hope that I would ever see such a thing but on that day, I did.
The coal miners sat beside the residents of our low-income housing complex and cheered. As for me, I was busy absorbing the scene around me. I am a cynical person, and I boast a healthy distrust of politicians. I’d supported Barack Obama before he came to my hometown, but that morning convinced me that there was something unusual about this campaign. Obama had done what no other politician had been able to do. He had brought us together.
Fast forward to my return to campus. The reaction to Obama was what you’d expect from 3000 conservative Christians. I had my salvation questioned. I was called ignorant and foolish. I was told that Obama was the Antichrist, and I was told that even if he wasn’t the Antichrist his government would lead to the end of the world.
And do you know something? It already has led to the end of the world. The world as we know it is changed. It is over. And I believe that is a very good thing. Last night, I attended an Obama party thrown by a campus organization called P.E.A.C.E Project. It was the rowdiest party I’d ever attended. There were McCain supporters there, but they were there to support us. No one criticized anybody else. I saw people dance with complete abandon. I saw people with tears running down their faces. I heard a McCain supporter apologize for not understanding what Obama’s election meant to us.
We had been brought together again. Of course, this second time was not just Obama’s doing. God was there that night. And while I doubt he has a political affiliation, I think He was content. On that night, the descendents of slaves and the descendents of the men and women who had owned them danced together.
If I ever have children, and if those children ever ask me about this election, that is the story I will tell them. It is the story that warms me in spite of the insults I hear from ignorant people. It is the story that, for a moment, brought me frighteningly close to patriotism. It is the story of a people, and how they fought, and how they won.
Congratulations, President-Elect Barack H. Obama. Don’t let us down.
Filed under: Christianity, Real Life | Tags: Christianity, God, hypocrisy, Jesus, religion, whining
I have come to the painful realization that I am a whiner. It’s painful because like most people, I tend to think I’m better than everyone else. Now, if you asked me if I thought I was better than everyone else, I would say “Of course not!” But that would be a lie, if an unintentional one. The unvarnished truth is that I am selfish and bitter and angry, and I like to get my own way.
Yes, I am a hypocrite. I leave plates of food uneaten because I don’t like how it is prepared, and then I criticise the wasteful habits of Americans. I complain about my grades when it is usually my own fault for being lazy. I call my friends intolerant for daring to voice their own opinions, and then complain when the same is said of me. I whine with the polished drama of an operatic diva. I am small and petty, and worst of all, I claim to follow Christ.
If I really followed Christ, I would be struck dumb with gratitude at the incredible bounty I’ve given. Then I would seek to give that bounty to other people. I don’t do that. I talk about it and I encourage other people to do it. Somehow I avoid actually following through. If I really followed Christ, I would be gracious to people with other opinions. I would listen, and acknowledge the possibility that my own views are wrong. If I really followed Christ, I would be compelled to perform to the best of my ability in everything I did because I everything I do reflects Him.
I dwell in my bitterness, and I savor my anger. I elevate my own hurts to the level of sacred wounds. I take up a cross, but it’s my own cross: I built it myself and I nailed myself to it. And then the light sneaks in. I pause the pity party long enough to remember Jesus, and all my pettiness burns away to a single tiny pinprick like I’ve been staring into the sun. I am a whiner, but I don’t have to stay that way. I am hurt, but I can be healed. I’ve been freed, so why do I insist on remaining enslaved?
So I step outside my box. I come down from my petty cross. I walk away, and walk forward into that gleam of light. Whining isn’t necessary when you realize you already have everything you could ever need.
Filed under: Christianity, Real Life | Tags: abortion, Christianity, pro life, pro-choice, religion, sanctity of human life
I am a Christian, and I am pro-choice.
Go ahead and gasp. Get the shock out of your system. It’s true: I’m a pro-choice Christian. We do exist, although I’ll be the first to admit that we’re an endangered species. Evangelical culture is not friendly to our kind; in fact, to be pro-choice is, often, to be shunned. I would even go as far to say that pro-lifers are harsher on pro-choice Christians than they are on secular activists. We’re supposed to know better, or at least that’s what we’re told.
Evangelical rhetoric has declared abortion a sin without acknowledging the fact that the Bible is silent on the issue. It’s true that the pattern of the Scriptures shows that human life is valuable. That is why I am pro-choice. I believe that all human life is valuable, and that includes the lives of the women that seek abortions. A ban on abortion would not stop abortions from taking place, and illegal abortions often kill or maim the women who have them performed.
The implication of the pro-life label is that anyone who disagrees with a pro-lifer is anti-life. This is a ridiculous conclusion. How exactly can one be against life? It’s impossible. No one (no one alive, anyway) is against life. The abortion controversy is about choice. Women deserve the right to control their bodies. You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to agree with it. But if you believe that the lives of women are as important as the lives of men, you will protect their rights. These rights include access to safe medical procedures.
Until we have the ability to define and measure personhood, we do not have the right to condemn abortion. We certainly don’t have the right to condemn the women who have them. If we truly believe that human life is valuable, even sacred, then we will protect human rights. A woman is a human being. We don’t know if the same is true for a fetus. Therefore, we protect the woman first. There’s nothing unChristian about that.
I saw an ad today that really caught my attention. It asked, “How do you end a war?” Good question. I’m not sure how one advertises peace, but kudos to whoever designed it for trying. Anyway, it made me think. How do you end a war?
I’m a pacifist, which might come as a surprise. I’m not a vegan bong-smoking hippie, which is what most people seem to think of when they hear the word ‘pacifist.’ I just think that war is a completely deplorable, abhorrent practice. What gives us the right to take another human life? I don’t understand how a Christian can not be a pacifist. If we’re all made in the image of God, then killing another person is, in a round-about sort of way, destroying a picture of God. The more we kill, the less we know of the divine. That’s a frightening thought. So I detest war. I want it to end. But I don’t know how to do it. It’s something on which I’ve spent much thought. Eventually I came to the conclusion that the only way to end war is to change human nature, which is impossible. Even if we eliminated poverty and provided the world’s population with an education, there would still be war. Educated rich people can be quite greedy. Greed is cause enough for war: greed for power, greed for land, greed for glory.
In short, people aren’t perfect. Until we are, we will possess a bizarre need to conquer each other. War cannot be stopped. It can be limited, but human beings will always hurt each other. We can do what we can to prevent it, and we should. But it will still happen. Welcome to Earth.
Filed under: Christianity, Mental Health | Tags: bipolar disorder, charismatic, Christianity, demons, devils, religion
I volunteer at a juvenile detention home in Dayton. The home recently changed facilities, so this morning our ministry team was given an orientation. This was basically Sharing Our Feelings with the Chaplain. The chaplain is an old, small and charismatic little African-American lady. She’s a spitfire, and she likes to do some Bible-thumping (praise the lawd!). Anyway, she asked me why I wanted to do this kind of ministry. I told her it was because my own experience with bipolar disorder made me want to help other emotionally troubled teen girls. She took this pretty well and I figured that it was the end of the discussion.
Needless to say, it wasn’t. This lady loves to pray, and she loves to pray out loud with everyone standing in a circle holding hands (terrific for a person with OCD). At the end of her prayer she puts a hand on my head (major WTF moment) and prays that the Lawd will deliver me from the ’spirit of bipolarism,’ that I would no longer be troubled by evil spirits, that the Lawd will heal me from the influence of my devil.
I thought about twitching, then telling her the devil was leaving me so she’d feel victorious. I didn’t. I kept my mouth shut until I was out of her sight, then turned to my team members in time to see that every one of us had the same bewildered and bemused expression. The spirit of bipolarism? I’ve got to tell you, that’s a new one. I should run that by my psychiatrist…maybe not. Anyway, this lady wants me to be partnered with her when we go minister to the girls. No. Just no. It’s not happening, no way no how. I’ll jump on a chair and shriek like a monkey until she decides I’m past help and leaves me alone.
It was embarassing. I wanted to cry or curse or at least beat a hasty retreat. I must be getting control of my temper because I did none of these things. But I’m still bewildered and a little hurt. I should be able to mention my disorder without worrying that someone will perform an exorcism on me. It’s not right and it’s not fair and I won’t take that. I read a news story about the NIU shooter. Apparently he was mentally ill and took medication, but one of his former professors said that he ‘never wanted to be identified with the mentally ill.’ So he stopped taking his meds, and now people are dead. I’m not exonerating him; he committed a terrible crime. But there is no doubt in my mind that if there was no stigma surrounding mental illness he would have been a much happier (and safer) person. Maybe someone tried to exorcise him, too.
Filed under: Christianity | Tags: Baptists, Christianity, conservative christianity, jack chick, religion
My friend Erin posted a link on her blog to a new tract by Jack Chick. For those of you haven’t heard about Mr. Chick, he is a master of the scare-’em-till-they’re-saved art form. This is a link to his biography: http://www.chick.com/information/authors/chick.asp
I’d never read his bio before. I’ve seen his tracts, of course; he posts them online and sometimes I just need a good laugh. But I read the bio tonight, and it was more sad than amusing. He didn’t like teenagers because they were rebellious. Now, I am a teenager. My idea of rebellion is confined to voting Democrat and laughing at Southern Baptists. Does that mean my soul isn’t good enough for Mr. Chick? Apparently it wasn’t, but Jesus (aka JEE-ZUS!) changed his heart. Now we are all treated to Chick Lit. Here’s an example of his latest tract: http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1044/1044_01.asp?wpc=1044_01.asp&wpp=b. It’s about the end times, the favorite subject of red-faced revivalists everywhere. I don’t like reading about the end times. First of all, he and his cronies are basing their interepretation of the end times on a book that is completely metaphorical. Wormwood? The Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse? Come on. Are we Christians or are we pimply-faced adolescent boys? It makes no sense to base one’s beliefs on a book that reads like Stephen King on acid. The gore and shock factor of Revelations attracts nuts like Chick, and scares the hell out of his victims. Don’t even get me started on the portrayal of Muslims in that tract. It makes me sick. Why blame the Muslims for everything? The history of Christianity is just as bloody as the history of Islam. We’re our own worst enemies, in case you haven’t noticed.
His ‘Statement of Faith’ is equally nauseating. King James groupie? Check. Faith over good works? Check check. Who cares if you help the poor or befriend those nasty teenagers? You’ve said The Magic Words, so you’re good. The rest of his tracts are just as bad. Catholics Are Teh Evilz? Check. Jesus as Gringo? Check. However, I must say that the ones concerning The End Times are the worst. It stuns me to think that people like Chick read so much into the Bible. They’re preaching things that aren’t even there, and then they turn around and point the finger at Catholics and other faiths for doing the exact same thing. This isn’t Christianity. It’s paranoia. It’s hysteria. It’s just sick.
Filed under: Christianity, Real Life | Tags: Christianity, emergent christianity, faith, God, liberal christianity, religion
What’s a radical Christian?
Is it someone who eats granola and makes his own clothes? Is it the preacher spitting fire and brimstone at his congregation? Maybe it’s both; maybe it’s neither. The truth is that I don’t which one is more ‘Christian,’ which is ironic since I was raised in a Christian home. I did the rounds of Awana and Sunday School. I even went to a Christian school for two years.
The result is one very confused nineteen year old. What I heard in Awana and Sunday School means nothing to me. It leaves me cold and empty. The God I learned about as a child is not a God I want to serve. In fact, I’m not so sure that I want to serve anyone at all. I’m not good at serving people. I grumble. I judge and I begrudge. I serve out of a sense of duty and nothing more.
However, that’s not enough for me anymore. The Christians I’ve met recently have something that I don’t have. They’re alive in a way I’ve never known. I’m afraid of what they have, but I want it badly. What would it be like to really know God? To actually feel Him, and not a collection of sermon-induced emotions? I sense that there is Something there, and it is missing from my life.
Maybe being radical is wiping the slate clean and starting all over again. It certainly feels radical, to admit that I really know nothing about God. Sometimes I’m not even sure that He exists. I think that I have been feeling that way because the God of my childhood doesn’t exist. I’ve been looking in the wrong places for the wrong Person, and I think it’s time that I opened my eyes to the God that’s been there all along.
