st examples, still often have the attitude that are morally superior than those who believe differently. I see nothing Christ-like about this at all.
When religous folk put their dogma over basic human decency then they have gone badly wrong. The problem I see too much with Christianity is that it places emphasis on the outer world, instead of the inner one. Thus their concern is not to become better Christians, but to try and convert others to their point of view, and condemn them if they don’t agree. This is not what Jesus taught at all. He very emphatically told others with this attitude that they needed to clean their own houses, intead of worrying about others”. Frankly I think this attitude among Christians may lead to their extinction. This kind if theology is not sustainable in a civilized world and people have every right to object to that.
Ah, Morgan. I think I made an offensive comment. I meant to say that this attitude may lead to the extinction of the church, simply because it gives it a bad name. That is not to say that the church should go extinct or that I condemn all Christians as being this way. I do not consider that Christianity as practiced by progressives to be uncivilized. I hope I have made myself clear.
You’re fine. Don’t stress.
I think the fair thing to say is that the majority of them SAY they’re straight. No one I know who really is straight feels the necessity to defend their positions this way; the only people I know who do are some I suspect are hiding their gayness from themselves and the community. You need only look at how many conservative anti-gay crusaders get caught with some other guy’s hand in their pants to know exactly what being anti-gay is really about among conservatives.
An interesting take from a Christian. Obviously I am not a Christian, but “People who have been smitten by God’s mercy aren’t oblivious to the reality of sin; they just don’t need to talk about it all the time. They’ve been set free of the need to justify themselves by parading their vigilance against the total depravity of everyone else.” is an attitude that I can get behind.
Word! Thanks for sharing it bro. That’s the attitude that Christianity is supposed to be. I’m sorry that most of us don’t act like Jesus at all.
Morgan: Excellent stuff. As I wrote on Facebook, I spend the first part of my criminology class trying to debunk the idea that criminals are different from “normal people”. I look at Spiderman villains who are created through genetic accident, look at Dick Tracy comic strips (the bad guys had names like wrinkles and mumbles — physical defects made them “oher”). Then I move on the Lombroso (who measured skull size to determine criminals were biological throwbacks to an earlier evolutionary stage). By the time I get to the learning based theories or the control theories, I’ve pretty well established that any of us could do those bad things in the right situation. This idea of duality helps justify inhumane incarceration conditions, denial of rights, and expectations of recidivism. It’s the general case of the specific theological case you rightly explore. Thanks for exploring this.
ohhhh great, NOW i want to take a criminology class! thanks for sharing that interesting bit of info and thanks for an excellent article. looking forward to more.
Can I use that picture as my FB cover photo?
I have had a similar thought (and posted on it in the past) about the focus on homosexuality as a sin in particular. I believe the reason there has been such focus on it in particular is that, depending on whose figures you believe, only 2-10% of people are gay. Therefore, if you focus on homosexuality as the great sin, it is something that is not even tempting to a good 90% of people. That makes the sinner (for the majority) someone else. It is much more pleasant to worry about the sins of someone else than to do serious soul searching about the areas where you fall short yourself.
Morgan, I frequently read and often enjoy your insights, but tonight is an exception to that usual enjoyment. Their are some VERY broad brushstrokes and caricatures that actually seem to demonize those would want to do things like raise their children in an less violent environment, or Fathers who try their best to train up their daughters in the way they should go.
I’m thankful my parents took me to those “purity” ceremonies and demonstrated how much they cared for me, but here you are trivializing these people in away that actually makes them seem like they are the ones more totally depraved by being a “suburban church”.
I would also have to disagree with your premise that carrying a gun to church would embody a two-fold doctrine of sin. 1) If your saying that we’re in error if we don’t think we could stoop to killing someone over a doctrinal issue in a service and therefore shouldn’t carry a gun, should we not bring an ipad or laptop because we would be arrogantly assuming that we aren’t depraved enough to use it to look at porn at church? 2) Whether its coming from “out there” or “in here”, preventing injustices from being forced upon the weak or defenseless is a Godly trait (ie-Ps 82:3, Is 1:17). Several years ago a man walked into the church I was on staff at (in a more urban environment), went right into the children’s service claiming a girl was his niece and sat right by here. She immediately told the children’s pastor that she had no idea who this guy was, but he insisted she was a relative.
We had to forcibly remove this man from this environment who was railing threats and profanities. We attempted to minister to him, got him coffee, prayed with him, but we also had to call the police who arrived about 15 minutes later. I would never desire to have to use lethal force in a church or anywhere else, but if this man had done something to harm or kill a child or children in the church while we waited for the guys with the guns to show up it would have been a tragedy.
Its exactly because we acknowledge this depravity is evident everywhere, but also there are people called righteous, that we must have the righteous (not perfectly sanctified…but righteous still) defend the defenseless (including, but not limited to, our own sons and daughters).
Thanks for speaking up and doing so in a respectful, humble way, because otherwise I would not be convicted. I was incredibly frustrated with the vote in the Senate and the thought that millions of people who believe as I do have created the dysfunction. I think I shared that I lost a girl in my old youth group to gun violence; before that it wasn’t something I thought about one way or another. I also think that there is a tendency in evangelical culture to over-hype sin not in the form of genuine confession but as a means of showing that you’re on the “right side.” There is something at play in the manufacture of suburban identity that involves values which are in conflict with kingdom values. It’s hard to figure out how to say that without saying everyone who does X is doing so because of Y. Certainly it’s not the case that caring about your family’s safety makes you a Pharisee. I will try to do better. Please continue to be a truthful friend. Forgive me for my arrogance.
I appreciate your humility and your ability to differentiate between people exchanging differing ideas from people insecurely attacking each other. I wish this was the normal way for those of us who claim to follow Christ to interact online and in the real world. Its a tough job wrestling with the scriptures and discerning the voice of our Shepherd on these difficult issues. Processing them together without breaking into little tribal communities where everyone thinks the same is so important. If somehow Jesus can band together tax collectors and zealots, there’s hope that our full range of differing viewpoints among Christ followers doesn’t have to disintegrate our bonds of love in Christ.
Thanks brother. Keep wrestling and keep calling it out when the Spirit says to do so.
This is pretty much why I deleted my FB. I got tired of heaing about sex and guns.
Hey I took a look at your blog. I’m glad you got out. Interested in your piece on foundationalism.
I too would love to stand up in church and read this; specifically to the people who thing I am “bad” because of the people I mix with, some of whom are not only “not Christians” they are from “other religions”.
When I was a teenager, the PCC at my church decided to bring in new, very strict, criteria for attendance at the youth club. They did it to keep out the boys they believed to be “bad” because they had long hair and wore leather jackets and werent from the village I lived in. I knew that actually, these boys were nice lads, genuinely Christian and clean living, it was the sons of the PCC members who dealt weed at youth club and had expectations of the girls. I left and went to another church!
When it turns into us and them, that’s when we know we’ve stopped being Christian.
Roger that! I once heard someome explain that the original meaning of ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ has nothing to do with loving yourself. Instead, it means we need to see our neighbor as being a member of our group, one of ‘us’. That opened my eyes. Thanks for your article!
This is a warped article. People against gay