Tag Archive for 'tolerance'

The Christian Life is …

God is real. The Christian life is about a relationship with God as known in Jesus Christ. It can and will change your life.

– Marcus Borg via The Rev’s Rumbles

What I want to emphasis in the above quote is the word Christian. It is the Christian life that is about a relationship with God as known in Jesus Christ. It is not life in general, but specifically the Christian life. It is not the Muslim life or the Buddhist life or the Zen life or … it is the Christian life. Other lives are also about a relationship with God but as known in or through other people or ideas and not Jesus Christ. But they are still about a relationshop with God.

I’m still shaking my head in disbelief

at the reaction by Signs of the Times to the (self-named) Dyke March in Boston. Maddex basically says that this small group of homosexuals in Boston is a representative sample of homosexuals everywhere and every gay and lesbian acts the same way all the time.

Maddex says:

If gays are the same as the rest of us—if their lifestyles are normal and wrongly maligned—then how do you explain the unhealthy obsession with sex and indecency that is the hallmark of their parades?

Unhealthy obsession with sex and indecency? Have you looked at the heterosexual world lately? TV ads that use sex to sell everything from deodorant to automobiles. Frat parties. Strip clubs. Pornography. Rapes. Mardi Gras. I say there’s a lot of unhealthy obsession in the heterosexual world, too. Then there’s the obsession with sex from the other side of the fence. Anti-homosexual propaganda. Hate crimes. Sex for reproduction only. Missionary position only sex. This, also, is unhealthy obsession.

One would think that if homosexuals were truly psychologically healthy individuals, they would behave like upstanding individuals rather than work themselves up into a debauched lather whenever they congregate.

But just a lather is ok as in college and professional sports, political rantings and ravings, fire and brimstone preaching, anti-_______ (fill in the blank with whatever your favorite pet peeve is) soapbox sermons. We humans act like upstanding individuals about 10% of the time, if you ask me. And for many reasons other than homosexuality.

If you want someone to accept your lifestyle, isn’t the best strategy to show how unthreatening it is?

Didn’t work for Jesus. Doesn’t work for Red Sox fans. Doesn’t work for most evangelicals who insist that we all accept their lifestyle and beliefs and threaten us with hell.

Basically it comes down to this: every single race, group, belief, denomination, faith, age, gender, or whatever, has someone you can point at and say, “Look at how awful that person is.” The problem is when we then generalize based on that person. I could write a similar post as Maddex’s decrying Baptists by citing Fred Phelps and his outrageous, hateful, cruel actions and words. We do it all the time with Muslims, Blacks, men, women, atheists, punks, people with tattoos, etc.

Desperately seeking humble theology

A quote from Chris at The Normal Christian Life who references a Parchment and Pen post. (This P&P post is very honest and commendable. I was not aware of this blog before, but it’s on my list now. But, I have to ask: what is it with “orthodox” Christians and U2??? I don’t get it. I mean, sure, they are good, but come on!) Anyway, the quote:

Oh! I long for a humble approach to theology, one that does not smack of having a corner on the truth, one that teaches Christians rather than validating a doctrinal statement or “my position.” Such a humble approach just might encourage Christians to be excited about learning the truth.

Amen, Chris! When it comes to God, it’s amazing how many people have the attitude that “I may not know everything there is about God but I know enough to know absolutely that you are absolutely wrong!” It’s absurd! And if they didn’t take themselves so darn seriously, it would be laughable.

Live and let live

Is it possible when it comes to religion? Mystical Seeker makes some excellent comments about the “discussion” Liberal Pastor and James McGrath are trying to have with “a militant atheist blogger.” But the “live and let live” attitude is one that I, personally, find impossible with some people. Not that I cannot live and let live, but I find their beliefs make it impossible for them.

Some Christians believe that everyone who is not a Christian is going to hell and will burn forever in eternal torment. Furthermore, they are believe that they are commanded by Jesus to go out and make disciples of everyone; i.e. convert everyone to their religion. This is what they believe. Now, how is it possible to let them live and hold their beliefs when it inevitably means that that they will try to convert everyone to their way of thinking? It is impossible for them to live and let live. They must convert the heathens.

Some atheists believe that religion is the cause of much of the problems in the world. They believe that some of those who are trying to convert everyone go too far and do violence and irreparable damage. And they can point to specific examples which cannot be denied. So, they, too, cannot live and let live because they see a danger that must be stopped.

So, how do we tell the fundamentalist and the atheist that they cannot follow their beliefs when we complain that they do not let us follow our own beliefs? How do we curtail the damage done by some while still trying to maintain the live and let live attitude?

Protection

Massive Attack’s song Protection contains the following lyrics:

I stand in front of you
I’ll take the force of the blow
Protection

Lately, the image that is coming to mind when I hear these lyrics is Jesus on the cross and how he took the force of God’s “blow” and “protected” us.

Then I started thinking about “protection” and how the above seems to me to be a passive kind of protection. Passive with regard to the one being protected, that is. There is no notion of trying to change the one you are protecting. Even Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was made without the precondition that we change. It was made whether we change or not. This, to me, is loving protection.

Active modes of protection would be trying to remove the “force” so there is no “blow” or trying to remove the person so the “blow” doesn’t hit her. Both of these modes attempt to alter the circumstances and are unaccepting of the way things are and so are, in many cases, futile because things are what they are.

Later in the song are these words:

Now I can’t change the way you think
But I can put my arms around you
That’s just part of the deal
That’s the way I feel
I put my arms around you

Here, again is a passive, accepting of the circumstances attitude. I’m not trying to change you, I’m just loving you as you are. Synchronistically, I started writing this post yesterday and read a post on Find and Ye Shall Seek today which talks about Christians not showing passive acceptance towards sinners. It’s a real shame that some who profess Jesus as Lord are so oblivious to how much their actions are so unlike the actions of Jesus.