I'm not sure which way this leans
A little background first.
filkertom has a link on his Facebook to a picture. This picture shows a chart, comparing elements of Christianity and Islam (I'm deliberately not linking to the page itself). Most of the chart is about stuff that the faiths have in common, not that I care for a lot of the characterizations; the last two items are about multiple wives and consumption of pork. The caption at the bottom sums it up by saying "Women or bacon? Hundreds of years of wars and the world has not come to an answer yet."
I think this is intended as humor.
I am of two minds on how to respond to the more-serious sentiment behind the potential joke. I want to be an outspoken Christian, someone who shows that the religion is more than just Westboro and Pat Robertson and altar-boy molesters. At the same time, I do not want to commit 'not-all-.' The best thing I can think to do is to describe [1] what being a Christian means to and for me.
I believe that the man history remembers as Jesus of Nazareth was a wonderful teacher and example, possibly the best the world has ever seen, and I attempt to follow his teachings and his example in my own life. I don't follow the restrictions that the Old Testament applies to members of the Jewish faith, although I recognize that -- since Jesus was a member of that faith -- they were a significant part of his upbringing. I also have very little respect for Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, or his writings. It seems to me that he went from persecuting the young Christian church to hijacking it, and so my agreement with The Love Chapter and occasional other comments gets filed under 'even a stopped clock is right twice a day.'
I don't believe that homosexuals are inferior or cursed. I don't believe that women should be barred from positions of authority, whether in or out of a religious structure. I don't think that members of faiths (including atheism) that are not my own should be pressured to change, whether that pressure comes in the form of a Crusade, a passive-aggressive "I'll pray for you," or any other kind of assumed superiority. I vehemently disagree with the notion that Invisible Sky Man is just waiting for a chance to ship us all off to an eternally-painful afterlife if we don't conform to exactly what (his self-appointed human mouthpieces say) he wants. I certainly don't think my God cares whether I eat bacon or not, or how many wives (or husbands) I have, or whether or how much I tithe, or how much alcohol I drink, or how I decorate my body [2]. I think my God cares about how I treat His creation, and not just the other Christians, or just the other English-speaking straight white males, or even just the other humans in it.
Jesus said that the most important things we can do are to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Picketing a Planned Parenthood site does not fall under that heading. Neither does voting for a gay marriage ban. Neither does misogynist rhetoric, or anti-immigrant sentiment, or political power-gaming. For me, to love someone means to want what is good for that someone, and that's not always going to be what would be good for me. I'm okay with that; I wish more of the people who share my religious label were okay with that too, and not just because it would mean less trouble for me when I describe myself as a Christian. From where I stand, the kind of behavior I see in other Christians that goes against my concept of the faith seems to stem from their fear, and I don't want people to be afraid. I especially don't want people to do hateful things because they're afraid.
I think that's the core of it, actually. My Christianity is about love, not about fear.
Also definitely not about bacon.
[1] . . . again . . . [sigh] . . .
[2] I happen to really like well-done body art. I just don't deal well with needles. I very much doubt either of these things has much to do with my God.
filkertom has a link on his Facebook to a picture. This picture shows a chart, comparing elements of Christianity and Islam (I'm deliberately not linking to the page itself). Most of the chart is about stuff that the faiths have in common, not that I care for a lot of the characterizations; the last two items are about multiple wives and consumption of pork. The caption at the bottom sums it up by saying "Women or bacon? Hundreds of years of wars and the world has not come to an answer yet."
I think this is intended as humor.
I am of two minds on how to respond to the more-serious sentiment behind the potential joke. I want to be an outspoken Christian, someone who shows that the religion is more than just Westboro and Pat Robertson and altar-boy molesters. At the same time, I do not want to commit 'not-all-.' The best thing I can think to do is to describe [1] what being a Christian means to and for me.
I believe that the man history remembers as Jesus of Nazareth was a wonderful teacher and example, possibly the best the world has ever seen, and I attempt to follow his teachings and his example in my own life. I don't follow the restrictions that the Old Testament applies to members of the Jewish faith, although I recognize that -- since Jesus was a member of that faith -- they were a significant part of his upbringing. I also have very little respect for Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, or his writings. It seems to me that he went from persecuting the young Christian church to hijacking it, and so my agreement with The Love Chapter and occasional other comments gets filed under 'even a stopped clock is right twice a day.'
I don't believe that homosexuals are inferior or cursed. I don't believe that women should be barred from positions of authority, whether in or out of a religious structure. I don't think that members of faiths (including atheism) that are not my own should be pressured to change, whether that pressure comes in the form of a Crusade, a passive-aggressive "I'll pray for you," or any other kind of assumed superiority. I vehemently disagree with the notion that Invisible Sky Man is just waiting for a chance to ship us all off to an eternally-painful afterlife if we don't conform to exactly what (his self-appointed human mouthpieces say) he wants. I certainly don't think my God cares whether I eat bacon or not, or how many wives (or husbands) I have, or whether or how much I tithe, or how much alcohol I drink, or how I decorate my body [2]. I think my God cares about how I treat His creation, and not just the other Christians, or just the other English-speaking straight white males, or even just the other humans in it.
Jesus said that the most important things we can do are to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Picketing a Planned Parenthood site does not fall under that heading. Neither does voting for a gay marriage ban. Neither does misogynist rhetoric, or anti-immigrant sentiment, or political power-gaming. For me, to love someone means to want what is good for that someone, and that's not always going to be what would be good for me. I'm okay with that; I wish more of the people who share my religious label were okay with that too, and not just because it would mean less trouble for me when I describe myself as a Christian. From where I stand, the kind of behavior I see in other Christians that goes against my concept of the faith seems to stem from their fear, and I don't want people to be afraid. I especially don't want people to do hateful things because they're afraid.
I think that's the core of it, actually. My Christianity is about love, not about fear.
Also definitely not about bacon.
[1] . . . again . . . [sigh] . . .
[2] I happen to really like well-done body art. I just don't deal well with needles. I very much doubt either of these things has much to do with my God.