The Trouble with Christians or Why We Shouldn't Get the Vote

I got one of those stupid e-mail forwards a few weeks ago about the Islamic day of prayer that happened in D.C. recently. Basically it was a bunch of Christians complaining about the fact that the White House prayer service was canceled, yet a bunch of terrorists (according to them) can crowd the Capital (capital?) and pray together/blow it up.

Of course, this came from some of my Fundaconservachristian relatives. I use that term because, trust me, for my relatives, the three root words there are inexplicably tied to one another. I'm not usually one to get involved in discussions of politics with relatives because it often results in shouting matches/skipped Christmases, but my stupidity got the better of me.

I wrote a politely worded (read pretentious) e-mail about how the people who run are government are not Christians, generally speaking, and thus we can't expect them to act like Christians. I also waxed eloquent about my belief that while no one can avoid voting in line with their morality, and everyone tries to legislate it, a nation's government should work hard at being as impartial as possible in regard to religion. As much as I hate to say it, and I mean that, I had to agree with the militant atheists. A day of Christian prayer at the White House essentially amounted to a federal endorsement of religion. How long until that leads to a theocracy? Then some people get pissed, and throw your tea off of a boat, and it's a whole mess. I might have been a little argumentative (read sarcastic) in mentioning something about the Statue of Liberty and how she says nothing about agreeing with all the white people.

Anyway, despite my obvious attempt at being good-natured, or perhaps in spite of it, this did not result in a logical, polite debate on the nature of politics and their relationship to religion. Instead, what I got was an e-mail in which one of my relatives told me that she doubted my salvation. Her reasoning was roughly thus:

!. Those who have put their faith in Christ are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
@. One of the Holy Spirit's jobs is to convict us of sin and incorrect spiritual decisions.
#. Since the Holy Spirit didn't convict me that voting for Obama was the wrong decision (not simply a bad decision mind you), I surely must not be saved.

Now, anyone who's taken even elementary rhetoric or debate will understand why that argument fails to even approach logic. Nevertheless, I attempted to logically explain (second mistake) that spiritual disagreements do not void salvation. I cited the disagreement of Paul and Barnabas that led them to part ways on their missionary trip, and how that in no way could cause us to doubt the spiritual state of either. When I received a reply telling me that I was basically everything that was wrong with this country, sadly, I gave up. I know. I'm a quitter.

The whole episode left me wondering what's going to happen at Christmas when I'll have to give her a hug and a kiss and wonder if she really thinks I'm going to burn in Hell. Oh, besides that? What has convinced so many Christians that gay marriage and abortion are the only moral issues in politics? What happened to Jesus' teachings on charity, or teaching children? How many of this country's sorry excuses for policy can be traced back to something Jesus said that we are supposed to live out as Christians?

Maybe I'm a cynic, but I think we can learn a lot from Christ. Funny, right? Christ knew that the hearts of people, men and women, were more important than revolution. We've forgotten that as Christians. We're content to stew in our churches about how this country is going to hell in handbasket. We march in picket lines and feel like we're doing the work of Christ, while ignoring that little commandment that tells us go and "make disciples."

I just have to ask: Do we really believe that changing policy will win souls? And if not, then what are we doing?

Not Quite Like Riding a Bike (The Trouble with Titles)

Hello masses, unwashed and otherwise. It's been just over a year since I left you all to your own devices. You're all older and wiser than when I left you. I'm older and...heavier than when I left you.

Don't misunderstand me. It's not like I'm crawling back to you on hands and knees, but, to put this very bluntly, I want you back.

All I know is that I need to get out all these strange, squishy feelings that keep intruding on my me-time. Really, though, I've missed you. You guys were like a second family to me, a second family that I've never met and for all I know could be murderers, rapists, or liberals. Family, yeah. You know who you are.

Everything I said in my previous post is still true. My life with my church family is still as rich as it was, richer even. Like I said before, at the end it felt like all I was doing was complaining. I wasn't adding anything to the dialogue. But I want to come back. There I things I need to say, but it seemed like my sense of humor was being wasted on the cat.

I can't keep doing what I was doing before partly for the aforementioned reasons. I still want to poke Christianity with a sharp stick, to be sure. However, trolling the interwebs for appalling Christian merchandise every other day was getting taxing. I'll definitely still use that as a feature, but it won't be the whole focus of the blog. I've only decided on a couple regular features I want to have here, but I think they're good ideas. Plus it'll give me something to think about in my really boring classes.

Posting might be kind of slapdash until I get the format down. If I can get my hands on what I need I'll be bringing you another post later today to kick off the festivities.

I don't expect everyone to come flocking back. If any old friends show up it'll exceed my expectations. I can't wait to get back into the swing of things.