I am what you might call a Christian. I am hardly an example
of what has become the predominant image of so. The title is detested on some
level by “non-believers” and accepted by most “believers.” The difference is there
is so much more to my beliefs than that which is given by this title. As people
get to know me, the tables turn. I am treated as a person by non-Christians and
treated as a blasphemer by Christians.* It has led me to decide that the causes
that we fight have taken precedence over the command to love. I have blogged and/or posted many times
countering typical radical Christian views. Here is another.
I first want to start with a look at politics within
Biblical scripture. It was always in the form of monarchy, or dictatorship,
never truly as a republic or democracy. There was one leader. A king. But in
the U.S. we are designed as a democracy (or republic, take your pick). The
people vote on what should be acceptable and unacceptable. God never really
teaches in the Bible how to be in this political system where the rules are set
by the people, both the Godly and unGodly alike. He put in place Godly kings (huzzah!)
and ungodly dictators (boooo). What many
are doing now is trying to work in the old system where we have a ruler. Only
this time, instead of it being one individual person, we are making one
religious doctrine. Just as in the Bible, not every citizen had the same belief
as the man in charge and for that they were condemned. We are doing the same
thing today! If others do not abide by Christian virtues, they do not have the
same rights. Maybe we don’t put people to death or, generally, in prison
either, but we punish them regardless.
In countries where there is a dictator in power, we say it
is unjust and unethical for one entity to call all the shots without
consideration to what the citizens want. And, God forbid, if the dictator says every
citizen must worship as, say, a Muslim and Christians are put to prison for
their beliefs, where they are wiped of opportunities and basic human rights, we
get all up in arms. But what are we doing to our fellow humans here in the United
States? Isn’t it the same thing? Telling them they do not have the right to
love whom they love or love them the way in which they desire to, and if they
choose to do so anyways, against our approval, they do not deserve to live a
life together with healthcare and a right to have a family? (There are tons of
different controversial issues I could insert here but with the recent supreme
court decisions, I choose to take up this one.)
The point is that we only support human rights and justice
when it involves challenging our own beliefs!
Consider religious freedom, the foundation of our country.
We want that right, don’t we? Of course we do. We spend endless time and money
and energy and effort toward fighting for Christian rights—we can’t hinder the
church and priests must have tax breaks and all that jazz. We will certainly
fight for that. The problem here is this: by definition, religious freedom
allows that some people may choose to worship as a Hindu, as a Jew, as a
Muslim, as a Christian, or to not worship at all. If we fight for Christian
rights, we MUST be fighting for the
rights all beliefs. Otherwise, we are
simply fighting for a regression in political values and religious freedoms; we
want OUR religion to govern because everybody else is WRONG. Actually, to be honest, we want our BELIEFS to
govern. I look at these values and these fights many who claim to be Christians
choose to take up and it is often that I wonder if we are even worshiping the
same God, the same idea of love, and much less if we have the same idea of
logic.
Regardless, though, we can use the Christian idea of family.
The father is the head of household and as part of his duty, he disciplines the
children. So if God is the father, it is His duty to discipline. So where does
that leave us? What is our place? It is our place to be disciplined by god our
Father, and other believers of this hierarchy are called our brothers and
sisters. It is not a brother or sisters place to discipline or force siblings
to do something. If anything, it is simply our place to encourage one another to
walk in the way that pleases the father, but NOT to enforce a father’s
punishment. So even if God is displeased by, say, homosexual desires and behaviors
and He wishes to punish those who practice it, where do we hold the right to
condemn them ourselves and try to make them less of a person for their “shortcomings”?
Let’s allow the power to be in God’s hands; after all, He is the Father both of
us and of them, whether he is acknowledged or not—which is the foundation of
our desire to persuade others to believe in Him. Let Him be the judge and jury.
We should love encourage, not hate and enforce.
-End of rant.
*Not everybody, but it is the case more often than not. I do
appreciate those who love me and accept my beliefs regardless.
