Faith

I feel as if we have lost sight, as Christians, of what it means to truly follow Christ. There. I said it. For most Christians, at least for those in the US, we've never had to deal with the persecution about which Jesus speaks to his disciples and followers. We have been the majority religion for so long that we have begun to see persecution in the oddest places. "You want be to bake a cake for a gay wedding? Why are you persecuting me?" "I have to respect people of color because of inherent racism and white privilege? But I'm not a racist!" "Muslims tried to destroy us on 9/11. Islam is a religion of violence and anger and terror. Why are you trying to tell me that I have to be more sensitive?" Our inability to see past our own complacency has created a brand of Christianity that, even when we are trying to be progressive and tolerant, cannot embrace the 'other' because we see ourselves as suffering by having to deal with "those hateful conservatives." When will we see that in order to truly follow Jesus we must give up our ivory tower, elitist intellectualism and embrace the radical roots of our faith that call for us to be inclusive of ALL of God's children, even those with whom we cannot agree?

I am interested in the many posts I have seen reblogged and liked on Tumblr and Twitter and Facebook concerning self-esteem lately. To me, this is a faith issue. I could be glib and say that if you only loved Jesus more all of your depression, self-loathing and fear would simply melt away. But I don't think that is healthy. Instead, what I think I want to say is this: if you only loved each other and cared for one another in the way that Jesus (or Buddha or Mohammed or Yoda, for that matter) wants us to, than the world would be a better place. It would be safe for women to walk down the street at any time of day or night in any outfit. It would be safe for a person to admit their weaknesses and fears and feelings of self-hatred without fear of belittling or recrimination. It would be safe for someone suffering from mental illness to express their pain openly and honestly. It would be safe for the LGBTQA community to live and love the way they were created with every bit of potential that we all should have. Love for Jesus or some other divine entity is great only when it inspires you to reflect that love in an overt and affirming way to everyone you meet regardless. Please feel free to reblog and copy and paste to any and all social network.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about something I like to call Pop Christianity. When you hop on the bandwagon as a politician or an “important” member of society just because you think it will play well or you’ll get more votes or it will make you seem “in,” you are participating in Pop Christianity. Jesus wanted each of us to treat each other with love and respect. He did not play to the establishment nor did he pander to the popular societal movement of the moment. He looked at Judaism as it existed when he was alive and spoke the truth to the powerful with a sense of love. That is what he calls on us to continue to do today. Frankly, I believe he would be appalled at how we have perverted and supplanted his message with one fraught with hatred, misogyny, homophobia and fear.

I had someone new follow my blog and it got me thinking about posting again. I am involved in several discussion groups on Facebook and was getting my progressive "fix" that way, but thought I should commit to posting more often here. So I will post at least once a week so that you'll know I am still alive and still fighting the good fight. Thanks for the push, new friend and follower!

God doesn't "do you a favor" because you post your belief on a social networking site. Truth be told, God has more important things to do than keep a constant watch on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. If you want to profess your belief in God, talk to someone face-to-face where it will do some good.