On New Year's Eve, a journaler whom I often read, for both her fine writing and her window into a life that bears little resemblance to my own, posted a piece that has apparently been making the online rounds, about the need for Christians to speak up and be heard, and the general frivolity and idiocy (my summarizing words, not hers or the original writer's, whoever that may be) of those who protest prayer at football games and similar events. She's gotten a number of warm comments in response, all in support of her position.
As a Christian myself, and one who finds it hard to comprehend the argument of right-wing Christians that they "do not speak up," have "not been heard," and are among the most persecuted of Americans, I felt compelled to object. Here, in part, is what I posted:
"I always enjoy your entries, but I have to register my profound disagreement with this one. We as Christians have never been told to stop praying -- we have just been told that our government cannot further the establishment of any religion, including our own, and that, therefore, public prayer led by government-funded representatives, is usually out of bounds. The fact that Christian churches outnumber others 200-1 is exactly what should give us pause -- if it were the other way around, would you want your school, governor, etc. insisting that another religion's prayers be at the forefront of public events?
It is exactly because we do not live in Jerusalem or Baghdad that we are not subjected to religious expression not our own. (And if you think the Christian right is a "silent" majority, then your ears haven't been open. It's the Christian left that has been too silent for too long.)"
I can't be entirely sure that the above represents my entire comment, because...she deleted it!
In all fairness to the writer, she did send me a lengthy email defending her position and, when I pointed out that she had written an inflammatory entry and then deleted a comment that expressed opposition, told me that she had readers who would perceive my comment as "Christian-bashing," although she herself did not, and did not want either her journal or my email box to become a battleground.
That response was even more disheartening than the original post. Are those of us who are Christians really unable to discuss these matters without being perceived as "bashing" one another? The mainstream media to the contrary, there are deep disagreements within the Christian community -- disagreements over how to read and interpret the Bible; over the role of tradition, experience, and reason; over our obligations as citizens, and over the public role of religion, to name just a few areas of contention. These disagreements indicate a vital and lively church at work, a church in which people are committed to wrestling with difficult texts and millenia of tradition in order to work out a way to live that confirms and heralds the presence of God.
In his wonderful essay on the surprising similarities between the "red-state" evangelical church and the "blue-state" elite of academia, evangelical Christian and Hardvard law professor William J. Stuntz argues that "Evangelicals would benefit greatly from the love of argument that pervades universities. The "scandal of the evangelical mind" -- the title of a wonderful book by evangelical author and professor Mark Noll -- isn't that evangelicals aren't smart or don't love ideas. They are, and they do. No, the real scandal is the lack of tough, hard questioning to test those ideas. Christians believe in a God-Man who called himself (among other things) "the Truth." Truth-seeking, testing beliefs with tough-minded questions and arguments, is a deeply Christian enterprise. Evangelical churches should be swimming in it. Too few are."
In the Jewish school in which I teach, debate and argument are at the heart of learning -- to such an extent, in fact, that the level of dissension is frequently disconcerting to an outsider. However, I have been in countless conversations with conservative Christians who, rather than debate a point, quickly revert to a position that argument is in some way thoughtless or impolite.
I don't want to see my journal, or that of the other writer, become a battleground either. But I do wish that we could find a way to challenge and question each other without animosity.
17 comments:
I cannot tell you how much I love this entry. As a liberal Christian, I am frequently saddened how Christian voices other than those from the extreme fundamentalists are quieted. In my life, the questioning has been an essential part of spiritual growth, and too often for my self-esteem, it has been seen as a weakness of my faith. Christianity has never been a monolithic presence. There have always been differences of views and interpretations, and far too often, we Christians, as a culture and a community, have failed to learn and grow from all the varying inspirations received among us. There is some Christian bashing out there in the American culture, but nowhere near as much as some would like to believe. I haven't read of an American living here in the states having their lives threatened because of their religious beliefs, yet it happens to Muslims and Pagans with frightening frequency. I value our freedom of religion highly, but beyond that, I feel that honoring the separation clause is one way that we Christians "give unto Caesar" that which belongs to the government for all the American people. Sorry about the length of this comment.
I'm extremely surprised that she found your comments controversial enough to delete them. It is a sign of a person not being confident in the basic soundness of their own argument when they do not allow someone to respond. In this land of "freedom of speech", it's amazing how much people really hate to hear a point of view that is not their own.
One of the smartest things our Founding Fathers did was to separate church and state. I find it extremely frustrating to have these conversations with closed-minded people. I agree that it is needed, it's just that I don't always have the energy for it.
I have been checking into your journal from time to time, and very much enjoy reading your entries. This one, however, stirs me to respond - bravo!! I am approaching the topic from a different standpoint, but I very much endorse what you have to say. I was raised Christian, but have since developed a sense of spirituality which differs from that of organized religion. That doesn't mean I don't respect Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, etc., because I do. What I have great difficulty respecting, however, is the stridency of those evangelicals who insist on the absolutism of their viewpoint and their "right" to impose it on the rest of us wherever and whenever they feel it should be imposed. It is sad when we live in a nation founded on accepting differences.
Thank you for speaking up the way you did, and for reinforcing my sense that the evangelical right does not have a monopoly on Chrustian values and mores.
Vicky
My Incentive http://www.livejournal.com/~vxv789/
PS - my apologies for the typo - I meant to write CHRISTIAN values and mores - sorry.
I'm appalled that your comment was deleted. That goes to the heart of many of my problems with the Christian right -- there too often is no room for debate or dissent. Sure, it's her blog and she has a right to do with it whatever she wants. By deleting your comment, she may have avoided her blog becoming a battleground, but she also missed a great opportunity for a legitimate, insightful conversation from all sides.
The entry above and those like it is why I love reading your journal. You have two rare qualities (well, not so rare in journal land but even for j-land your skills are highly developed), you think and you express your ideas beautifully.
Well written. I am one of thowe you would call the "religious right"and have strong convictions. I won't argue about how I feel about the loss of the ability to express my love for the Lord in public. I have been shunned just this Christmas season for saying "Merry Christmas" and was told a stern "Happy Holidays" It definitely is time for Christians to speak up and out. I believe in the freedoms this country has to offer and would never ask others not to speak out. Here's what I will do: I will stand on the word of God and test it all against that word. Blessings, Penny http://journals.aol.com/firestormkids04/FromHeretoThere?
Aaaaaaaah, spoken like a true rational! Oh how you must wish the world were more reasonable than it is. Growing up the Bible belt I can tell you I have had MUCH experience with evangelical Christians, and open-mindedness is not on their agenda. ONE WAY, ONE TRUTH, and etc. I salute you, Robin, for trying to keep the pipeline of communication open!
I was raised in the Catholic Church, growing up with the "enlightenment" of the Vatican II reforms. When I was young, the Church was criticized for preaching that Roman Catholicism was the "one true faith," and that everyone who was NOT Catholic would be going to hell. The Church finally understood what a negative and damaging stance that was, and moved to change it. Now, it seems that the evangelicals--probably the loudest detractors of Catholicisim in the old days--are picking up that old Catholic ball and running with it. "If you don't believe and worship as we do, then you're going to hell. Not only that, but it's our job to make sure the entire country believes and worships as we do." Why are we going backward? Humans beings have the uncanny ability to abandon even the most desirable, positive steps forward. La plus ca change, la plus c'est la meme...or however the saying goes... Lisa :-]
I think the answer is respect. If you show respect in disagreements, and listen with an open mind, instead of from the point of view that you can't because that would mean you are giving up your position, disagreements would be such, disagreements instead of battles. My thoughts are that there are far too many people who think that their way is the only right way and by accepting something different as MAYBE being right in some way makes them wrong. What do we really know for sure? I look forward to reading more of what you write. You seem to be a very level-headed person. :-) ---Robbie
Brava. One of the central reasons I left behind organized religion years ago. Any independent thought was automatically wrong. No discussion. Just wrong. Deleted, one might say.
~~ jennifer
Fantastic entry and I am so sorry your comment was deleted. Discussion and the sharing of our beliefs is vital for the people of this world to understand one another. Great insecurity lies in the position of "my opinion (or belief), and ONLY my opinion (or belief), is the right one."
I respect you! judi
Wow, I haven't checked back here for a while but what I am reading here is truly amazing. Correct me if I am wrong, (which based on your writing style I am sure you will) but doesn't the concept that you have categorized Christians into two categories (left and right) completely go against what Christianity is all about? It is my understanding that there are Christians. Period. Not left Christians or Right Christians or any other type of Christian. Just Christians. So, since you obviously feel the need to re-write the Bible's teaching on what it really is to be a Christian, perhaps you can start by educating me on what exactly a Left Christian is and what a left Christian believes. It is obvious to me that although we may all have our opinion on what is the correct interpretation of the Bible, there can still be only ONE truly correct interpretation. I refuse to believe that when confronted with the creator of the Universe that he will say to one person, "You know you did a good job of not cheating on your wife, come on in" and to another say "You know, I guess I should have made it clearer about how Abraham was wrong for not having faith in Me and then went and had intercourse with his servant. I guess you're covered. Come on in." This is as rediculous a concept as left and right Christians. You are one of three things; A Christian who understands what God expects, a Christian who is learning what God expects, or in the worst case, a self proclaimed Christian who "Interprets" what God expects so that it is convienient for them. I find it mildly amusing that all the comments I read here are in support of your stand. Perhaps it is because you too delete unwanted comments that challenge your way of thinking.
Thanks for the comment. If you go back and read carefully, you'll see that one other commenter did completely disagree with me. She expressed herself so gracefully and generously that it might be hard to tell that we see things differently.
I'll try to come back and respond to your comment in another entry when I have some more time.
i am only sorry it has been so long since i've visited your journal. i love your journal. i wish you lived closer than halfway across the country. i'd love to have a long morning drinking coffee (or tea, i swing both ways) with you and just talking our heads off.
this entry and the comments attached to it are all about the things i have been pondering ever since before the election, but even more so since the election. my partner (she is jewish) and i have been pondering together a lot too. i actually want to do a journal entry about all this pondering and would like to like to your entry. i'll email you to see if this is okay with you.
whoops! that meant to be "LINK to your entry" in the previous comment.
I admire your thoughtful, open-minded approach to what is obviously a very strong commitment to Christianity. I find it offensive that a commenter would have the temerity to suppose and intimate that you yourself delete comments that don't support your position.
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