In Part 1 of this post, I wrote that I felt both aversion and empathy reading Anne Rice’s choice to “quit being a Christian.” My third reaction was shame that the word “Christian” has been so co-opted in our culture that its meaning is diluted, if not distorted.
Since this nation was founded, a vast number of people have labeled themselves Christians simply because they attended church or tried to be nice. Meanwhile, they may not be terribly concerned to know Jesus and his Way on a personal level. Many from other parts of the world regard anyone in the Western Hemisphere who is not a Jew or a Moslem to be a Christian. The moniker is a way to classify a religio-political group, not to identify people as Christ followers.
For others, such as Ms. Rice, “Christian” has come to mean a person loaded with self-righteous rhetoric stripped of tolerance. She is not the first, nor will she be the last to take that view. As a kid on the Navajo Reservation, I was ashamed to admit I was a Christian lest I be met with the sneer, “That’s white man’s religion.” Some people believe Christian missionaries worked hand in glove with the imperialist government to stamp out the core of Native American way of life. Regrettably, there is validity in these accusations. It is not hard to understand why one might want to distance herself from a word used in contradiction to Jesus’ original intention when he said, “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
The word “love” brings me to my next reaction to Ms. Rice’s announcement. Frustration. Hers is one more example of how polarized we become when we ideologize our convictions. That is, we try “to make others comply with or yield to our set of beliefs (Webster).” In this country, we attempt to influence others toward our ideology either through politics or recruiting. Neither are wrong in themselves; we have the legal right to lobby for or promote what we hold dear. Some would say we even have the responsibility to do so.
What frustrates me is seeing how fundamentalism rears its ugly head in the process. Make no mistake, the monster leaps up from both conservative and liberal camps. It is the natural tendency of human beings to want to affiliate themselves. We like feeling right. It strengthens our sense of identity. The more shrill and extreme the rhetoric, the more we feel justifiably compelled to take a stand for the position closest to our own standards. All too soon, however, we become inflamed with anger and give into the temptation to slander, insult, ridicule, or denounce an opposing faction.
Jesus had no problem debating his opponents. He did not hesitate to call a spade a spade although it got him killed. What set him apart from most of us is that as they strung him up, he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
It is an easy, short slope to slide from conviction to hatred. But at the bottom is Gehenna and death.
It is an arduous, long path to climb from conviction to love. But at the summit is Golgotha and eternal life.
To be continued
