Words of Wisdom

* Originally posted 12/10/05

Let me start off by stating what should be obvious: “There is no war on Christmas.” Likewise, “There is no war on Christianity.”

It seems like everyday some Christian leader is spouting nonsense about how the government, the Supreme Court, the ACLU, etc. are trying to destroy Christendom. In a sense, Christianity is under siege, but the danger is not coming from the outside – it’s coming from within. We live in a society with greater freedom of religion than has ever existed in our world, but power-hungry Christians aren’t satisfied. In 2002, 82% of Americans identified themselves as Christians, but they still claim to be a minority that faces discrimination.

Let’s face it, we don’t suffer any real persecutions in this country. When somebody makes you feel bad for going to church on Sunday, they aren’t truly hurting you. Now, having your skin slowly peeled off, or being fed to lions, or being beaten to death – that’s what real persecution is! The church faced it for years after Jesus and many people in the world still face things like that today, but not in this nation. Many choose to ignore the real persecutions, whether they be religious or otherwise, in this world and whine about how the ACLU won’t let you pray your Protestant Christian prayer in a public state-funded school that could contain people of many other religious backgrounds. Christians will throw their weight around when teachers balk at teaching garbage science or when they aren’t allowed to put up a nativity scene on every street corner, but they are ignoring the real problems in our world. Is it because they don’t care?

Thousands of people die in Africa daily of preventable diseases and our churches are spending their money on erecting bigger and better building with all the bells and whistles so that everybody in their 90% Christian neighborhood can see how much they love God. Hundreds of thousands of people are suffering mass human genocide around the world, while many Christians are fighting to have the Ten Commandments on our public courthouses! Not to mention the terrible social injustices in our own nation, where there are still children who don’t have enough to eat despite our status as the richest nation in the history of the world.

Can you imagine what would happen if Christians pooled their resources and worked together on these problems? I can just imagine it here in Memphis, where poverty, homelessness, and crime are rampant through the city. If the large suburban churches came together with the goal to end poverty in the city, they could do it and we would all be better for it.

But, Christendom is currently too embroiled in pointless “battles” to care about the issues that really matter…

Sorry for the rant, I just had to let out two years of frustration at these white, evangelical, SUV-driving, suburbanites that are ruining society…