Great article by Hemant Mehta on The Washington Post: How the Web is killing faith:
Church used to be a one-way street. The pastor fed you information and that was that. The Internet upended that model and gave people the opportunity to talk back. Now, they can weigh their own arguments on matters of faith with that of people who disagree. Many Christians won’t go actively searching for dissenting views, of course, but what about doubters? What about young Christians who aren’t sure they accept what the church teaches them? They’ll be able to come to their own conclusions and they won’t necessarily be the same ones their parents and pastors want them to adopt.
This is why atheists love the Internet. We can tell Christians the emperor’s not wearing any clothes. We can question the dogma they’ve simply accepted all their lives. We can expose religious frauds. We can explain the many unfortunate consequences of unquestioned belief. The Internet is blind faith’s worst nightmare.
The genie’s not going back in the bottle. Religious leaders should be very afraid.
The harder the struggle, the more we appreciate the reward. A year ago this weekend we found out Kathryn was pregnant. Not long after that we through we thought Kathryn had a miscarriage. At that point her pregnancy had a 50% of being viable. Now a year later we are so thankful and appreciative to have a happy, healthy, giggling Hana. To understand the struggle it was to get to this point, watch the following video and then read the reposted blog below it. The reward is worth enduring the struggle, and our lives have been changed for the better.
Fifty Percent Chance
“Oh my god, I’m bleeding.” Startled, I looked through the bathroom door where my eyes meet those of my wife, ten weeks pregnant. I saw the small pool of blood on the bed sheets as I rolled over. Her clothes beside the bed stained as well. I forced some awkward words of encouragement as she broke down in the shower. As I went to her side, I fought to keep that word out of my mind - miscarriage.
A month earlier, I sat on the edge of the bed as Kathryn emerged from the bathroom with home pregnancy test in hand. “Let me see the directions,” she said. “You’ve never needed them before,” I responded. There it was - the word “PREGNANT” with a bright, blue line beside it. The second test reported the same result, only this time with a pink plus sign.
The next five minutes of my life were the most terrifying in my life. The thoughts came fast and hard, like blows in a title fight. “We weren’t planning on this. Not this soon. What are we going to do? Are we ready for this? We can’t possibly be ready for this.”
A month is a long time to dwell on just one thought. It is a long time to spend analyzing from every possible angle. We only told our immediate families. We knew it was early and, of course, things can go wrong early. We had decided to tell our friends after our ultrasound appointment. A month is plenty of time to fall in love with someone you have never met.
The darkened room was lit by a black and white monitor.On the screen, just noise, then, a shape. A little peanut shell of a shape. Sounds came next - muffled at first, and then forming an unmistakable rhythm. Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. The reality fell like a hammer.
I had never felt a great desire to be a dad until I heard the heartbeat and saw the sonogram. The technician tried to snap a few photos for us as the little peanut shell wiggled on the screen. “It’s doing a little dance for us,” she said. Overcome with emotion, I quietly wiped away a tear as I stared at the screen in amazement.
Both our phones buzzed as we sat in the restaurant booth. “I just posted the sonogram,” I explained. We looked into each other’s eyes, hardly able to contain the excitement. It was a relief to finally be able to let everyone know the good news. “I’m going to post this on Facebook and Twitter, too.” “Okay!”
That evening we tried to cling to at least some small bit of hope as we drove to the emergency room.. We didn’t think there was much they could do. We had to know for sure, one way or the other. Kathryn remained strong as she endured the endless pricks, poking, prodding, and, finally, another ultrasound.
The doctor reentered the room to give us the news. Though the bleeding hadn’t stopped completely, the tiny heartbeat was still there. Our baby had made it through the night. Kathryn had what the doctor called a “threatened miscarriage.”
Between twenty and thirty percent of pregnant women have bleeding significant enough to seek medical attention. Of those, fifty percent go on to have a normal pregnancy. “Fifty percent,” I though. “Not ten, not twenty. Fifty percent. We have to be in this fifty percent.”
The following night I kissed Kathryn’s belly as we turned off the lights, both of us physically and emotionally exhausted but thankful to be home. “Fight hard, little one,” Kathryn encouraged. In the darkness I reached out and rubbed her stomach. Tears ran from my cheek to my pillow. I thought of the black and white screen, the heartbeat, and the dancing peanut. “Please don’t leave us, little baby,” I whispered silently, still rubbing my wife’s belly. “Daddy is here and he loves you. Please don’t leave us so soon.”
Hana turned four months old a week ago, and we participated in a child dedication service at our Unitarian Universalist fellowship this past Sunday. Some people have asked what a UU child dedication is like, so here it is for your viewing pleasure:
“Hang on, let me go find the book,” said the older gentleman wearing suspenders. I was about to do something I swore I’d never do again for the rest of my life.
We first attended our local Unitarian Universalist fellowship in October because we were going to a seminar on “Parenting Beyond Belief” and, out of curiosity, attended the morning service. We’ve been attending ever since, and on a recent Sunday morning we finally signed the membership book.
When I walked away from my Southern Baptist church I decided that I was walking away all churches and all congregations forever. I was angry and bitter towards anything to do with religion or faith because I felt betrayed by what I percieved to be an institution that sold out it's values for partisan politics and cultural warfare.
Now I feel like I am walking away from atheism. Not because I believe in anything supernatural but because atheism doesn’t have much to offer. Simply put, atheism only says what one doesn’t believe in. It doesn’t say what values or morals we hold. I just no longer find it a useful word in describing myself. I want to tell people what I DO believe in.
I became more of a fan of Stedman after he wrote this article calling out an atheist who said we should profile Muslims or anyone who looks like they could be Muslim. Some atheists call Steadman an “accommodationist” when it comes to religion, but I don’t care if they call me that as well.
What brought me back to a faith fellowship was the idea of shared values. Unitarian Universalism, for those who may not be familiar, is creedless but affirms values such as the inherent worth and dignity of every person, free and responsible search for truth and meaning; and justice, equality and compassion in human relations. Many Christians (and Buddhists and so forth) also share these principals and the values of humanism as well. Whether or not there is a higher power, we focus more on serving our fellow humans; a value we all agree on.
This idea was reinforced when I spent an afternoon hanging out at a cookout against Amendment One hosted by people of faith - the son of televangelists, a gay Christian author, a former Billy Graham staffer, a Unitarian Universalist minister, and others. We were people united by the values - in this case equality and the inherent worth a dignity of all people - which were more important than specific religious beliefs.
When I finally took the final step away from Christianity it was because I was finally being honest with myself in that I just no longer believed in anything supernatural – no matter how much I desperately wanted it to be true. It would be dishonest of me to try to deny that I believe that there is a lot I can still learn from people of faith or that – more importantly – we can’t work towards common goals through our shared values.
I’m looking forward to what new places this journey takes me, and what new people I meet. I understand that Chris Stedman will be the Wild Goose Festival this year as part of an interfaith tract. It will be interesting to see what dialogue we can develop with those of different beliefs but similar values. I won’t be attending as an atheist, or even a faitheist, but as a Unitarian Universalist interested in interfaith cooperation.
Sometimes you have a burn a bridge so the fire and smoke can serve as a clear and visible message to others. Today I placed this letter in the mail addressed to my former church of 20 years whose current pastor endorsed Amendment One:
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to you today as a former member of your congregation. I have a simple request for which I would like to ask your assistance:Please remove my name from any and all church records, rolls, and memberships, including any mailing lists and, if possible, any baptism records. I would prefer to no longer have my name associated with your congregation in any way, shape, or form. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
It was a farm in rural North Carolina where Christian singer Jennifer Knapp took the stage. “I just want you to know you are a child of God, I’m a child of God, no matter what your sexual orientation is you are a child of God. I want you to know that it does sincerely get better, and there are a lot of other people here at this festival that would like to tell you it gets better as well,” at which point the crowd cheers and claps in solidarity. I could not have imagined this scene even a decade ago.
Tuesday North Carolina will vote on Amendment One which will ban gay marriage, which is already banned, and deny any recognition of civil unions or domestic partnerships. In the battle over the constitutional amendment, the Christian Left has found its voice. The battle has essentially been one pitting Christians versus Christians.
I recently attended a cook out against Amendment One with pastor Jay Bakker, son of famed Charlotte area televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye baker. He was joined by a former Billy Graham staffer working to building new churches that are inclusive and seek to live our Jesus’ messages on love of neighbor. There is so much hope to be found in people of faith rallying against the constitutional amendment.
At the same time, Franklin Graham, son of reverend Billy Graham used the Amendment to rally support to his right wing political allies. Even Billy Graham himself published (or at least allowed his name to be included) on a statement in favor of the amendment. It’s a sad end to the life of someone who lived such a life of values. But his support reflects on his generation – hate and bigotry are dying off as, sadly, his generation dies off. In a way feels like Graham is King Edward Longshanks – lying on his deathbed the last thing he hears is the voice of true values outside, yelling for “Freeeeeeedom!”
Young Christians who have become disillusioned with the evangelical church getting mired in right wing politics are changing course, leaving their old denominations, and founding new fellowships. Many denominations are seeing rapid declines throughout this state and the nation. The fasted growing religious group in North Carolina is “none” – atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, non-religious and those who are spiritual but not religious. Their ranks have swelled to more than a fiftth of all North Carolinians.
At the same time, the fastest growing Christian denominations tend to be progressive and inclusive, and label themselves as missional and emergent. Finally the Christian left has found its voice. It has broken free of the shackles of partisan, right wing politics. Churches that preach fire and hellstone against gays love to claim God and the Bible are on their side and all who oppose their interpretation are non-Christian. That is no longer true – Christians are rising up to defend their friends and family, and call out those corrupt pastors who are drunk on the wine of political power and government authority.
As the Presbyterians point out:
"One group of Christians confidently proclaims that a plain reading of the Bible is a slam dunk in their favor. The other side appeals to Scripture’s grand narrative toward freedom and inclusive love.
The argument boils over and ripples through the wider culture. The search for middle ground proves futile. Denominations break apart.
Sound familiar? It could be 2010 — or the mid-19th century.
As U.S. churches and denominations slog through divisive and long-running arguments over homosexuality, many Protestant progressives have sought to claim the historical and moral high ground by aligning their cause with abolitionism."
In the 1,800s churches were split on the issue of slavery – something that is actually condoned in the Bible. As more and more Christians stood against slavery they saw a backlash – the Southern Baptist Convention, for example, was formed to support the rights of slave owning Christians. But the move against slavery was unstoppable. I don’t say this to compare slavery and gay marriages; I simply say this to point out that Christians have faced a similar split before in this country. And once again, the side of love is unstoppable and inevitable.
The hate and bigotry of the right wing, pro Amendment Christians came out during the run up to the vote in their shrill, spittle- flecked rants such as one pastor who said its okay to abuse gay children. But pastors only have power because people choose to listen, and more and more are denying them their power by simply walking away. The fact is that people are tired of hearing hate directed towards gay children on Sunday only to have to go to a candlelight vigil on Monday because another gay youth took their own life.
I was at Out Raleigh this past weekend and the change from even a half decade ago is very apparent. There were churches and ministers of many denominations – the Unitarian Universalists and Metropolitan Community Churches, of course, but also Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist, and even Baptists. When attending Pride or Out events a half decade ago the protesters nearly outnumbered attendees. Now there were more denominations - more denominations - participating than there were total number of protesters. They appeared to be a sad few, handing out flyers about how God Is Love. Why should anybody pay them second thought where there were hundreds of Christians inside the event, hugging and standing in solidarity with members of the LGBT community? If God is Love, then His followers were living out that love inside the event, unlike the bitter rants of the dwindling few protesters. If only they’d come inside the event and talk to their fellow Christians who could tell them, yes, God Is Love, and we show that through how we love, value, and affirm each other.
After I had left my church of 20 years, I remember seeing a former member of the youth group post on Facebook about “the sin of homosexuality. The Bible says it; my pastor says it; that settles it.” Now that she’s finishing college, I happened to run across again her online. I noticed she was posting a lot of things in support of marriage equality. I really wanted to try to contact her and ask, “Who was it? Who did you get to know while you were in college, someone who you befriended or who befriended you, to change your mind? It’s a lot harder to discriminate against someone that we’ve actually met and care about.”
Minds can be change, not by hating somebody because of their religion or the kind of faith they were raised in, but by being proud of your identity – who you are – and firm in your values but with a heart open to others.
When I look at friends and acquaintances on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else, I’ve seen more people standing up against Amendment One than I have for any political or religious issue, ever. It’s amazing to see so many people standing up for their friends and their family members in a way I’ve never seen.
Come Tuesday night, no matter the outcome of the vote, I think we’ve experienced a shift – a huge shift – in the number of “straight allies” who are unashamed to speak out in the name of what’s right. We’ve seen a huge shift in the numbers of Christians and churches who have said “No more!” to the damaging right wing politics that have harmed our communities and bankrupted our values.
The pro-amendment crowd may celebrate a victory Tuesday night, but it will be a hollow victory. They may win the battle but they are well on their way to losing the war. When we look at the big picture, it is easy to see how much progress has been made: for the first time ever the number of people in America that support marriage equality is greater than those that oppose it.
Equality is overwhelmingly supported by those under thirty. The strongest opponents of marriage equality are those over 60. It is a sad thing to say, but people will look back on that generation and think, “I’m glad they are gone now so I can have equal rights.” Seniors, is that the legacy you want to be remembered for by future generations?
NC House Speaker Thom Tillis even admits that, if passed, Amendment One will last maybe 20 years at most. I say it won’t see the end of the decade, because a sleeping giant has been awoken. If we don’t get the issue back on the ballot next year, we will try again year after that, and year after that, because our friends, our family, our VALUES are worth the fight. The supporters of Amendment One are well on their way to becoming the one thing they hate the most – a minority.
In case you didn’t know, here’s how politics and religion have worked in the state of North Carolina for decades: Politicians tell you how to pray, pastors tell you how to vote, and both are begging for money with one hand while patting each other on the back with the other hand.
The conservative Christian fundamentalists of the right wing have become a misguided group who traded the Gospel of Jesus for the Gospel of American empire; who traded Jesus' calls to end poverty and violence for the Empire's call to wage war and to profit from the underprivileged; and who have traded Jesus’ calls for us to love our neighbors for partisan calls for us to vote against the rights, privileges, equality and even the basic human dignity of our neighbors.
And yet these things have become the biggest focus of many evangelical denominations not because of the teachings of Jesus but because of the ideology of right-wing Christian fundamentalism that has become increasingly interested in political clout, monetary gain, and legislative power over society. Indeed there was a time when the Bible was the law of the land and there was no separation of church and state: It was called the Dark Ages for a reason.
As a fundamentalist you are indoctrinated to believe the Bible – all of it – is divinely without error and should be taken literally in its entirety. The funny thing is that even fundamentalists don’t really take the entire Bible literally. They don’t want to admit it but they cherry pick their verses as much as or more than liberal and progressive Christians.
All the ads you see by Vote For Marriage show an image of a Bible and talk about marriage being defined by God. Well, maybe, but saying marriage is between one man and one women isn’t ALL the Bible says about marriage. Did you know that if a virgin is raped that she can be forced to marry her rapist (so long as he pays her father for the damaged goods, mind you)? I wonder why Vote For Marriage doesn’t mention this? A minor oversight; I’m sure they’ll include it in Amendment 2.
The Bible also clearly states that eating shrimp is an abomination but when’s the last time you saw fundamentalists protesting outside Red Lobster? Apparently we’re to take literally the verses that say “homosexuality is an abomination” but not the verses that say “eating shrimp is an abomination.” This is because morally bankrupt pastors have decided opposition to one of those two abominations is more useful as a “wedge issue” for political purposes.
The fundamentalists have actually their elevated their own political views as high as or higher than the Bible itself. The fundamentalist asks, “Here’s what we believe politically, what scripture verses can we find to support it?” The liberal or progressive Christian asks, “Here’s the teaching of Jesus, what overall message can we derive from them?” This is why a growingchorus of people of faith, pastors, and Christian leaders are uniting against Amendment One and the harm it will bring to our fellow neighbors.
I don't think I'll convince any religious fundamentalist to change their mind and vote against Amendment One. To paraphrase the great Dr. Gregory House; rational arguments don’t usually work on religious fundamentalists. Otherwise there would be no religious fundamentalists. Still, I hold out hope that we will reject the notion that recognizing and protecting ideas, institutions, and beliefs is more important than recognizing, affirming, and protecting inherent dignity and inherent worth of all people. Ideas and institutions don’t need to be protected - people do.
It was a Sunday evening when I was finally able, under the cover of darkness, to escape from the front lines of America’s culture war to see Blue Like Jazz. The independent film is a college coming of age story that wrestles with issues of faith, acceptance, and forgiveness, and is loosely based on Donald Miller’s New York Times best-selling memoir of the same name.
The religious culture wars are as heated as ever here in North Carolina, especially this being an election year. Some churches have unfurled giant banners in support of an anti-gay constitutional amendment which appears on the May primary ballot. Other churches have spoken out against the amendment. Neighborhoods are divided as yards signs for and against the amendment are everywhere.
Elsewhere in the culture war, a rally in North Carolina in support of flying Christian flags on government property featured a speaker who said those who disagree need to leave America – to which a state senators and US Representatives erupted with wild applause. There couldn’t be a more appropriate time for a movie to come to North Carolina that, in some small way, reexamines the merits and motives of America’s culture war.
The movie
In the film Don leaves his conservative Baptist church and planned enrolment in a Bible college for liberal Reed College in Portland, where he seems to try every just about every activity and group to find where he fits in. As he says, he’s “lost in a sea of individually.” But Don doesn’t try to be an individual; he tries to be everyone but himself. Don has to work past his anger towards the shortcomings of the Christians in his life in order to realize he should have been true to himself all along. Don stops hiding what he honestly believes and who he really is. Only after Don is honest with himself can be start to be honest with others.
Other characters featured in the film include The Pope, a nontheistic senior at Reed who wears religious robes as he bikes around campus, generally causing mischief but, I think, doing so with an honest yet often misguided desire to help others. There’s Lauryn; a lesbian befriended by Don shortly after arriving at Reed who is frank with Don about religion, sexuality, and life at college. And finally there’s Penny; a caring person and a Christian with anti-corporate views.
Make no mistake; this is a college film with college hijinks – exaggerated for comedic affect but never so far as to become unbelievable caricatures. Instead of the usual road trip/ultimate party/get the girl plot the film addresses existential questions. A college comedy that takes on heavy issues such as faith and forgiveness is a breath of fresh air.
The closest movie with which to compare Blue Like Jazz is Saved! - if Saved! had been told from a slightly different perspective. Yet both films actually seem to draw many of the same conclusions; after all, in the end the main characters in both films come to reaffirm their belief in God.
The writing and production are pretty good and the acting very well done. Keep in mind this is a fairly low budget indie film. When one of the major funders of the film backed out at the last minute thousands of supporters donated via Kickstarter.com making Blue Like Jazz the highest funded project on Kickstarter at that time.
My story
Half a decade ago I walked a similar path as Don. I was raised in a fundamentalist Southern Baptist church and became disillusioned with how politically partisan and capitalistic the church had become. So I walked away. But in the end our paths parted ways and, unlike Don, I never came back to the same beliefs I once held. I still have an affinity for Blue Like Jazz, the book, because of Miller’s honestly and genuine search for truth, and because of how, even now, I can relate to so much of it.
Today I’d describe myself as a freethinker and post-Christian humanist and I’m also a member of a local Unitarian Universalist fellowship. Unitarian Universalism is creedless, but we affirm values such as the inherent worth and dignity of every person, along with justice, equity and compassion in human relations, and a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. It’s this search that brought me to the theater Sunday night.
I thoroughly enjoyed the film, but probably for different reasons than many of the progressive, liberal, and emergent Christians who have praised the film. As a teen in my fundamentalist church I watched quite a few Christian films and, quoting the Blue Like Jazz blog, “as writer David McFadzean summarized, Christian movies are like porn – poorly lit, poorly acted and you always know how they’re going to end.” Even as a Christian I grew tired of every piece of media being a propaganda megaphone rather than something more real and honest. I remember Don mentioning in the book the church not needing any more vacuum salesmen.
Taking fire from both sides
As Don says in his book version of Blue Like Jazz, “Sooner or later you just figure out there are some guys who don’t believe in God and they can prove He doesn’t exist, and some other guys who do believe in God and they can prove He does exist, and the argument stopped being about God a long time ago and now it’s about who is smarter, and honestly I don’t care.”
That’s what will keep the movie from ever gaining mainstream recognition – the Christian right will mostly hate it because the film includes characters who don’t convert to their religion and politics in the end and who are NOT portrayed as villains, and non-Christians will mostly hate it because the main character reaffirms his faith in the end.
The high road above the culture wars puts you in the line of fire from sides. In the end there are no good guys and no bad guys. No winning team and no losing team. There are just people who, like us all have crap in their lives. We’ve split ourselves into opposing camps and we too often miss out on getting to know those different than ourselves and our chosen subculture.
We don’t have real conversations with people of different beliefs anymore in America because we all live in our subculture bubbles where we are always victorious against straw men. When we encounter people with different views in real life we simply read our talking points from the scripts our side has handed us, shouting our bumper sticker slogans louder and louder at each other while we lie to ourselves saying we’re having an honest dialogue.
The point
In the end of the film Don is finally honest with himself, and only then can be honest with his friend, The Pope. No scripts. No talking points. No proselytizing. Unlike every Christian movie before, the atheist doesn’t get “saved.” But, I think – no, I want to believe – that after talking with Don that The Pope realizes that not every religious person is the enemy. Maybe he comes to see Christians as people and judge them on their deeds, not their creeds. Maybe he realizes that pranks against churches aren’t constructive and he leaves behind his Pope persona and finds real ways to help others and have more honest dialogue.
Here’s the point of the film that so many on both sides seemed to miss – we’re all human. Religious or not we all get hurt and we all hurt others, and we can all choose to affirm the worth and dignity of all people or care only about ourselves and fitting in. As the character Penny says, “We all have crap in our lives.” The more we start to be open and honest with ourselves and free ourselves from small thinking the more we see the world is a lot grayer than it is black and white.
“Life is a lot like jazz, because it doesn’t resolve.” That’s true for the movie as well. It doesn’t end with Don knowing all the answers, or with any non-religious characters converting. Sometimes asking the right questions is as important as having the right answers. Life is a journey and maybe we should always continue to seek out truth and meaning in our lives while respecting our fellow humans.
After watching the movie I resumed my usual post as a field reporter in the culture war. I attended a cookout in opposition to the anti-gay North Carolina amendment hosted by a group of Christians. I thought about the film and thought that sometimes we have to be with people different than ourselves because they can show us something new about ourselves. Maybe these Christians are people I can work towards common goals with or even be friends with, like Don with the Pope, Lauryn, and Penny. We can hold different beliefs and opinions while still embracing our shared humanity and affirming everyone's individual worth. “Everyone belongs somewhere,” as the film poster says, and maybe that somewhere is with friends who are Christian, atheist, humanist, and gay.
Is it okay to hate the places you’ve been in your journey? Maybe, but I don’t. I don’t feel like I’m adequately defined by the place I find currently, but rather I feel like I’m best defined by my journey itself and all the places it has taken me along the way.
I get angry sometimes – such as my previous blog post. Sometimes I want to throw my hands up in the air and say, “To hell with all religion – the world would be a better place if every religion was destroyed!” That’s the biggest question I wrestle with right now – do religions do more harm than good? Can anything good come from religion? Ask me on two different days and you’ll probably get two different answers.
My spiritual journey has taken me many places, from conservative evangelical, to progressive Jesus radical, to studying Buddhism, to atheism, and to Unitarian Universalism. I’ve been sprinkled in a Catholic church, dunked in a Baptist church, slain in the spirit in a Pentecostal church, and purified in a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine. It’s been quite a journey and I don’t regret any stops along the way – I’ve met interesting people and seen interesting things. I feel like I am defined spiritually by my journey - by both the good and the bad.
There are plenty of blogs out there that are bent on telling you how to defend your Christian faith or how to refute the existence of God and I don’t want to waste more space with that debate.
Instead, I’m going to try harder to focus on the journey – our shared journey as humanity seeks spiritual answers. I want to look at where we are and where we’re going and where our paths meet. Maybe building bridges is better than burning them. We may find more in common that we think.
Along those lines, here is an interesting article in RELEVANT magazine about an ex-Christian atheist reconnecting with his former pastor and working with him on interfaith, humanitarian projects:
“Remember how you told me you had a call to ministry?” he asked as I took a sip of black coffee.
I laughed, nearly spitting it out. “I work for an atheist organization now, so I think it’s safe to say that I was wrong about that one.”
“Oh, see,” he said with a smirk, his eyes darting mischievously between the Bible he had placed on the table and his former parishioner, “I was going to say that it’s really nice to see you’ve realized your call.”
I never did become a pastor, but by working with one, I’ve been able to do the work of helping others all the same. I call it service, he calls it ministry; though our words are different, our values and our work are the same. Because we don’t let different words get in the way, we’ve been able to make that little dent just a little bit bigger.
There was an article recently in the Pasadena Sun which asked the question, "Should the military test spirituality [of the troops]?" Among the opinion pieces weighing in, the Reverend Bryan Griem said,
If you believe in life after life, you fight harder, risk more, and serve better than a guy who thinks, “this is it!” If you believe you’re nothing but worm-food at death, you aren’t going to jump on a grenade to save the platoon, or charge a machine-gun nest expecting to meet Jesus. You’re going to be reserved, second-guessing, and probably be a big fat chicken.
According to this reverend, American troops should be motivated by the same kind of thing that motivated the 9/11 hijackers - that we're going to get a glorious afterlife for dying while fighting the enemies of god. I can't help but note that the Iraq and Afghan wars were orchestrated by leaders who were self proclaimed evangelical christians. And the wars were fought primarily by soldiers who are self-proclaimed christians. When muslims kill civilians it's terrorism. When christians kill civilians it's collateral damage.
What the reverend is really saying is this - it is a lot easier to kill someone when you think your god condones it. That's why the right wing politicians have been so adamant about getting their pulpit puppets to push their "just war" theology onto their congregations - to indoctrinate young men and women into thinking it's okay to kill for America because god loves America more than other nations. The mulims are fighting against Jesus. Kill them. As Voltaire said, “It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”
Conservative Christianity is a religion that does not value all human life. It is one that values christian life. It is one that values an afterlife. It is one in which fertilized egg has more right to life than an Afghan child. It is one in which an American life or a christian life is more valuable than any other. It is, in the end, a cult of death.
A religion can't be a moral belief that cherishes life while it simultaneously decrees that all those who oppose or disagree or simply don't know deserve eternal torture in hell. When christians say, "Turn or burn!" deep down they're really hoping you choose latter.
Some people were shocked recently of a video of US Marines urinating on the bodies of dead Afghans. When you think your enemy is deservedly going to hell to be tortured for eternity who cares, right? What's a little waterboarding or torture in Guantanamo when god is going to send them to be tortured for eternity anyway, right? It comes as no surprise then that evangelical christians in America support the use of torture more than any other group. We shouldn't expect any better of a religion whose highlights include the crusades, the inquisition, genocide, and burning pagans at the stake.Mark Twain wrote in The War Prayer, when we pray for our national deity, Jesus, to protect our nation's troops what we're really praying is, "may our troops slaughter everyone in their way, leaving their fields smeared with the blood of their dead and their children orphans without homes." That is the true prayer of the heart of those who say, "God bless our troops."
As Walter P. Stacy said, "It would be almost unbelievable, if history did not record the tragic fact. that men have gone to war and cut each other's throats because they could not agree as the what was to become of them after their throats were cut."
Humanism, on the other hand, holds the belief that all human life is valuable and affirms the inherent worth and dignity of every person. It's time to release religion and instead embrace peace and justice. We don't need religion to be moral - quite the opposite. To paraphrase Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg, "Good people do good, and evil people do evil, but for good people to do evil - that takes religion."
