The Problem with Being a Christian Liberal
A few things do come up, but for me it always comes down to one thing: the loudest Christians are also the ones who are the most conservative and/or hateful. I didn't just use "and" because the two don't have to go together but when it's in the media, it often does. People attacking abortion clinics, pastors burning the holy books of other religions, and politicians supporting anti-gay groups are all conservatives who use The Bible as their reasoning for doing so. It's like, The Bible says these people's actions are wrong so whatever I do to stop it is right. And because these people are so loud no one seems to see the other classification of Christians: those who believe in God but also believe people should be able to live their lives how they wish as long as no one else is being harmed by it.
As a Christian liberal, I tend to have the same general belief system as this first group but my social beliefs differ drastically. And it used to make me think twice about describing myself as a Christian. Until I realize it wasn't Christianity I hated but the people who dared distort my religion for their own purposes. Because I realized that these people who claim to be lovers of Christ and practitioners of Christianity are missing the most important message in the Word: God is Love.
I still get angry every time someone in the public eye uses Christianity as a reason for their discriminatory actions because it pisses me off that someone would use my beliefs to further their messages of hate, and then claim to not see the consequences of people like themselves saying such things. When adults and people in authority say that gays shouldn't have rights, or Blacks are sub-human, or all Muslims are terrorists and can't be trusted, that shapes our children which shapes our country and our future. And to do so with the "power of God" behind it perverts a religion that was never meant to be used that way.
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That's basically the end of my post about this but in case you were wondering where this came from... I'm back in Louisiana for a few days before I move into my apartment in NY, so I went to my church home this morning. The sermon and teachings were great, as always, until the pastor decided to bring up the comments made by the president of Chick-Fil-A this past weekend. And, of course, he ignored the second half of what the man said, only focusing on his comments about Chick-Fil-A's belief in "traditional marriage". And then he stated how they were going to support him and buy a lot of food from there this week to counteract the boycott LGBT groups are planning for Friday. To go even further, he also mentioned how gay couples were planning on going into the stores and kiss each other as if it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever heard!
Now, while I'm not surprised that these are his beliefs - this is Louisiana and he is Republican - I was both disappointed and furious that he would bring something like this up in church. Not everyone agrees with your political stance and I sure as hell don't want it in my sermon! I came for the Word of God, not the belief of man. Not to mention, half of the people in the church had probably never even heard the remarks Mr. Dan Cathy made and were just going to take whatever Pastor said as true because he's Pastor.
Granted, his father also brought up plenty of political topics when he was Pastor which also irritated me but I suppose I expected better because our new Paster is younger and because I really enjoy him as a preacher/teacher. However, now I'm not sure if I'll even be attending church there next week (my last week home) because I am just tired of the constant political comments, particularly about gays and gay rights. (They've mentioned Gaga's song Born This Way in a similar tone before.) I just feel like the Church should be more responsible about this. You can't teach that God is truth and light and love in the same sentence that you support a person who gives money to anti-gay rights groups. Because that is hate. And as a believer, I can tell the difference.
As a Christian liberal, I tend to have the same general belief system as this first group but my social beliefs differ drastically. And it used to make me think twice about describing myself as a Christian. Until I realize it wasn't Christianity I hated but the people who dared distort my religion for their own purposes. Because I realized that these people who claim to be lovers of Christ and practitioners of Christianity are missing the most important message in the Word: God is Love.
I still get angry every time someone in the public eye uses Christianity as a reason for their discriminatory actions because it pisses me off that someone would use my beliefs to further their messages of hate, and then claim to not see the consequences of people like themselves saying such things. When adults and people in authority say that gays shouldn't have rights, or Blacks are sub-human, or all Muslims are terrorists and can't be trusted, that shapes our children which shapes our country and our future. And to do so with the "power of God" behind it perverts a religion that was never meant to be used that way.
~~~
That's basically the end of my post about this but in case you were wondering where this came from... I'm back in Louisiana for a few days before I move into my apartment in NY, so I went to my church home this morning. The sermon and teachings were great, as always, until the pastor decided to bring up the comments made by the president of Chick-Fil-A this past weekend. And, of course, he ignored the second half of what the man said, only focusing on his comments about Chick-Fil-A's belief in "traditional marriage". And then he stated how they were going to support him and buy a lot of food from there this week to counteract the boycott LGBT groups are planning for Friday. To go even further, he also mentioned how gay couples were planning on going into the stores and kiss each other as if it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever heard!
Now, while I'm not surprised that these are his beliefs - this is Louisiana and he is Republican - I was both disappointed and furious that he would bring something like this up in church. Not everyone agrees with your political stance and I sure as hell don't want it in my sermon! I came for the Word of God, not the belief of man. Not to mention, half of the people in the church had probably never even heard the remarks Mr. Dan Cathy made and were just going to take whatever Pastor said as true because he's Pastor.
Granted, his father also brought up plenty of political topics when he was Pastor which also irritated me but I suppose I expected better because our new Paster is younger and because I really enjoy him as a preacher/teacher. However, now I'm not sure if I'll even be attending church there next week (my last week home) because I am just tired of the constant political comments, particularly about gays and gay rights. (They've mentioned Gaga's song Born This Way in a similar tone before.) I just feel like the Church should be more responsible about this. You can't teach that God is truth and light and love in the same sentence that you support a person who gives money to anti-gay rights groups. Because that is hate. And as a believer, I can tell the difference.