When you think of the word “Christian”, what words come to mind? For me, I think of my faith and what that means to me. I also think about my very fundamentalist background, leaving me with two distinct set of words to describe the same label.
Today, in terms of my own faith, I think of words such as:
I know who I am and what I believe, yet sometimes I forget that many who claim my faith, do not believe as I do. In fact, there is a quite a rift between the now mainstream fundamentalist Christian and the rest of the Christian world. Much like the Muslims, their extremist brethren are defining the whole and it is a shame. There are many Christians out there who share my belief, in fact Larry over at Simple Thoughts of a Complex Mind is one such Christian who believes in love and faith as opposed to judgment and rash rage. In fact, Larry and I have spoken many times about the term fundamentalist and how that term angers him. He is a conservative (political and spirtual) but he rejects the fundamentalist belief. (Larry, if I mis-speak, let me know and I will edit the post asap.)
I mention all of this not as a criticism of fundamentalist, but more as a critique of the rest of us Christians. Why is it that we, like the Muslims, allow our fundamentalist extremes to continually define us? Why do we let this small group speak for the rest of us? Maybe it’s the same reason that only a small percent of our nation votes in an election. Interestingly enough, both Larry and I vote every election. I think, perhaps, our fear of action comes from our fear of being labeled a heathen or “bad Christian” if we take a stand against the very political savy corporate Christian conglomerate. The Jerry Faldwells, Pat Robertsons, Jim Hagees and the rest have convinced us that their way is the only true way. Where have we heard that before? And that to challenge this believe is to reject our faith and God himself. In fact we are lead to believe that any question of the religious machine’s beliefs is to lose our way and damn ourselves to an eternal Hell. And we take it lying down, afraid to be judged by the judgmental and hate-filled masses of the church. Once again, the church has become corrupt, drunk on it’s own power of salvation.
Take heed, my friends. Not all Christians (not all Muslims) are the same. The true believers are out there, flawed, scared, yet full of love and faithfulness and compassion. We just don’t speak up enough. Thanks to my pastor this morning who spoke these thoughts, with a much better presentation, I might add. It was he who posed these questions to us and asked the congregation what we might do about that. I decided to blog on it and put it out there for everyone else in the world.
Today, in terms of my own faith, I think of words such as:
- Love
- Faith
- Understanding
- Compassion
- Tolerance
- Faith
- Judgmental
- Hatred
- Intolerance
- Uneducated
- Rage
I know who I am and what I believe, yet sometimes I forget that many who claim my faith, do not believe as I do. In fact, there is a quite a rift between the now mainstream fundamentalist Christian and the rest of the Christian world. Much like the Muslims, their extremist brethren are defining the whole and it is a shame. There are many Christians out there who share my belief, in fact Larry over at Simple Thoughts of a Complex Mind is one such Christian who believes in love and faith as opposed to judgment and rash rage. In fact, Larry and I have spoken many times about the term fundamentalist and how that term angers him. He is a conservative (political and spirtual) but he rejects the fundamentalist belief. (Larry, if I mis-speak, let me know and I will edit the post asap.)
I mention all of this not as a criticism of fundamentalist, but more as a critique of the rest of us Christians. Why is it that we, like the Muslims, allow our fundamentalist extremes to continually define us? Why do we let this small group speak for the rest of us? Maybe it’s the same reason that only a small percent of our nation votes in an election. Interestingly enough, both Larry and I vote every election. I think, perhaps, our fear of action comes from our fear of being labeled a heathen or “bad Christian” if we take a stand against the very political savy corporate Christian conglomerate. The Jerry Faldwells, Pat Robertsons, Jim Hagees and the rest have convinced us that their way is the only true way. Where have we heard that before? And that to challenge this believe is to reject our faith and God himself. In fact we are lead to believe that any question of the religious machine’s beliefs is to lose our way and damn ourselves to an eternal Hell. And we take it lying down, afraid to be judged by the judgmental and hate-filled masses of the church. Once again, the church has become corrupt, drunk on it’s own power of salvation.
Take heed, my friends. Not all Christians (not all Muslims) are the same. The true believers are out there, flawed, scared, yet full of love and faithfulness and compassion. We just don’t speak up enough. Thanks to my pastor this morning who spoke these thoughts, with a much better presentation, I might add. It was he who posed these questions to us and asked the congregation what we might do about that. I decided to blog on it and put it out there for everyone else in the world.
Posts
1 comment:
Very nicely said. I think that most Christians are not that second type. I do believe that the majority of fundamentalist Christians are good people with good hearts but are often lead down the wrong paths. Good post.
Post a Comment