Anti-(fill in the blank)

I realize some people say things just to get a rise out of others.  Sometimes a person will say something from a defensive, ignorant position.  Still others open themselves to a certain element of transparency, but they seem to always be thrown back into the pot of saying-it-just-to-get-a-rise kind of folks.

Below, I’ve posted an excerpt from the formerly Christian author Anne Rice.  Now, I don’t know too much about her, but as I mentioned in my post last week, I relate to many of her sentiments.  I am also firmly convinced that she doesn’t fall into the group of saying certain things just hoping to rub someone raw, but of course we could probably say that is at least partially true of Jesus.  But, as last week, I’ll save that for another post.  Possibly next week.

All that to say, below is Anne’s quote.  I contend that it’s worth some serious consideration for those of us who claim we fall under the Christian umbrella.

Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten …years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.

As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of …Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.

Now, I know all the arguments, because I’ve heard them before.  ”That’s a brash generalization.”  ”Not every Christian is like that.”  Both arguments, if we stretched them out a little bit are probably at least partially true, but that’s the problem.  Us evangelical  Christians are awesome at pointing the finger at other people and making brash general statements, so this one really isn’t too far out of the park.

So, there’s quite a bit to say on this matter.  I’m rather interested in what others have to say, so feel free to offer any thoughts, experiences, feelings sentiments that might help us move more toward being more fully human and making our short existence here a better one for everyone.

As the prophets of scripture were known to do, I’d like to offer a bit of a scathing commentary.  I along with Anne, would argue that if indeed God created, and it was good, he’s likely not going to be anti anything.  Besides that, if anyone can name anything that Jesus was “anti,” as it pertains to the realm of God being realized here and now, for everyone, feel free to clue me in.  I also feel somewhat immobilized by evangelical Christianity and I am convinced Jesus didn’t live as he did, teach as he did and socialize as he did to found a new institution to imprisons its members, binding them in a biblical straight jacket of rules.  I much prefer living life to its fullest than moping around worried about the last twenty sins I committed, or better yet, the sins everyone else around me is committing because they haven’t set up camp next to me…

More on this as the conversations continue.

Listen…

You know, I can’t even remember the last time I sat down to write anything here.  I think that’s partially due to the fact that I haven’t been overly angry about a whole lot over the past several months.  Now, that’s not to say that I’ve avoided dissent altogether, or that I only write when I’m angry, because neither is the case.  That being said, I will say that this has often been a place of release, likely because of nature of blogging in the first place.  It’s here that I have the illusion that someone is listening because I can say whatever it is I need to say with little to no judgement.  And so somehow, I feel a little bit better and a little less mad at the world.

But today, I thought I’d get right back on track and offer a few thoughts about the state of the world we are living in and how much it chaps my hide.  Specifically, there are a couple things on my mind that I wanted to share, and then, in an effort to be a bit more disciplined, especially in writing, I’ll be back next week to continue the conversation.

Have you ever felt like no one knows how to listen anymore?  And not just the kind of listening that is quiet until I finish my thought and then you say whatever it was you were planning to say, but truly listening, conversing.  As far as I can tell, there are very few people in my life that are good listeners.  That’s not to say I’ve got it down either, but selfishly, I would rather blame someone else at the moment.  I’ve recently come to realize that I am not at all a good listener, though I’m more of a quiet, gentle natured person.

And isn’t it true that it’s easier for us to poke holes in other peoples character to match the holes we have, rather than taking responsibilities for our own flaws?  At this point in my life, I do not need someone to tell me what to believe, or how to live.  I’m not interested in being manipulated.  I just want someone to listen, in the fullest, most deeply relational sorts of ways.  My wife and I have had an ongoing conversation that one of the things that we most desperately need is for a community of people to love us just as we are, without condition, ever.

Thus, I can in some minor ways relate to the oppressed group of people that Derek Webb talks about in one of his more powerful songs.  The song title is What Matters More, and its highly likely that I’ve referenced it before.  Derek speaks a powerful critique against the religious behavior that isolates the gay community as perceived outcast, dysfunctional members of society.  It is because of that overtly judgmental attitude and demeanor that I have of late, had great difficulty associating myself with any sort of organized religious order.  Lately, I’ve shared the same sentiments as Anne Rice, but I’ll save that for another post.

Needless to say, Derek Webb’s prophetic voice speaks specifically to the anti-gay segment of evangelical christianity, yet I’ll include the lyrics on this post because I believe it also speaks to the notion that we’ve got everything figured out, who’s right and who’s wrong, and we refuse to sit down and truly listen to and engage in conversation/relationship with those people to who we most disagree.  And specifically, I’m speaking to evangelicals and the hair brained notion that Jesus came for us to work tirelessly to convince everyone around us to think like me.

It is within that process of thinking that I cannot, and will not associate myself with that group of people.  I do not know all the answers, nor do I presume to.  It is also not my ultimate calling to convince everyone around me to think exactly as I do, refusing to listen and learn in real and powerful ways from those around me.

So, I conclude this lengthy (sorry) post with the lyrics to What Matters More and I ask that you consider with me what kind of person these words challenge us to be, religious or not.

You say always treat people like you’d like to be
I guess you love being hated for your sexuality
You love when people put words in your mouth
About what you believe
Make you sound like a freak

‘Cause if you really believed
What you say you believe
You wouldn’t be so damned reckless
With the words you speak
You wouldn’t silently consent
When the liars speak
Denying all the dying of the remedy

(Chorus)
Tell me, brother what matters more to you
Tell me, sister what matters more to you

If I can see what’s in your heart
By what comes out of your mouth
Then it sure looks to me like being straight
Is all it’s about
It looks like being hated
For all the wrong things
Like chasing the wind
While the pendulum swings

‘Cause we can talk and debate
Till we’re blue in the face
About the language and tradition
That He’s coming to save
And meanwhile we sit
Just like we don’t have give a shit about
Fifty thousand people who are dying today