I’ve been reading Sean Penn’s San Fransico Chronicle diary of his June journey to Iran. He gives us a glimpse of his antisocial personality when he says in his day 3 post
“I am a reasonably social person, but that isn’t to say that I have been in a group or a party of more than four or five people without the support of alcohol in as long as I can remember.”
I was raised in a Christian household and went to a Christian school since third grade. I also went to a Christian college. This upbringing introduced me to the Christian music scene. But I’m not necessarily talking about the praise, worship and hymns many non-Christians may stereotype. Believe it or not, the Christian music scene has pretty much the same genres of music that are available to the mainstream - the only difference is that the lyrics are often Biblically-based or considered family-friendly.
Over the years, many of these Christian bands were second rate alternatives to their mainstream counterparts, but a lot has changed. Groups like Stryper, Jars of Clay, Lifehouse, Sixpence None the Richer, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, DC Talk and others have found success in the mainstream and Christian scenes alike.
This brings me to talk about a recent happening. Last weekend I visited my brother in the Chicago-area. I went to his church and was surprised to find that Rex Carroll was playing in the worship band! Rex was the mastermind behind Whitecross, the Christian heavy metal group I enjoyed back in the day. Although I never really was into the metal scene, Whitecross was one of those groups that really allowed me to “praise and worship” while listening to some cool music. Rex Carroll is a phenomenal guitarist - I would encourage you to check out their most popular release entitled In the Kingdom.
Interestingly, after speaking with Rex I found out that the group decided to reform to re-record their original self-titled debut album. They are taking pre-orders for the album due for a September 12, 2005 release.
Tags: [Christian, heavy metal, Christian music, Christian rock, Whitecross, Stryper, Jars of Clay, Lifehouse, Whiteheart, DC Talk]
After reading a recent op-ed from the New York Times (hat tip to Nomad @ mod-blog), I found myself alarmed to see that extremist jihadist ideology is being introduced to children by an American video game maker.
The software maker appears to produce some entertaining games for children of the Muslim faith, but “Ummah Defense I” stands out for its underlying message of intolerance for other faiths:
“It’s the year 2114 and the Earth is finally united under the Banner of Islam. As a member of the Intergalactic Muslim Council (IGMC), your job is to help coordinate Dawa efforts on other planets. You couldn’t be happier with your work, until the Flying Evil Robot Armada (FERM) attacks your home planet of Earth. It seems there was one disbeliever, known as Abu Lahab XVIII, left on Earth, and in his desperate attempt to deny the truth of Islam, he has constructed a whole army of robots to destroy the Earth and all of its Muslims. (He needs to use robots because all the humans had embraced Islam).”
Does this storyline suggest that mainstream Muslims feel that the whole world should be devoid of any person who does not share their faith? Are nonbelievers to be destroyed? What a great not-so-subtle way to brainwash Muslim children. At least Christians “brainwash” their children with games that promote love instead of hate.
Tags: [Islam, Muslim, jihad, war on terror, waronterror, 911, 9/11, video games, children]
WorldNetDaily: Statement of Group Claiming Responsibility
Note that both Iraq and Afghanistan are mentioned together. Caution: There is no conclusive proof at this time that this group is responsible for yesterday’s terrorism.
The third and final installment of my three part series on being Radical Christians deals with evangelical Christians and our failure to be a light in the GLBT community. I recently stumbled upon a blog (technorati search on “Christianity” revealed the post) that appears to deal with GLBT issues. More interestingly, I stumbled upon a specific post from one of the authors entitled, “Queer and Christian?” Here’s a portion of what the Ona Marae had to say:
“I am one of those people that finds it easier to be Queer in a sometimes hostile Christian environment than being Christian in most Queer environments. This is not due to a wishy-washy faith or embarassment about my beliefs, but rather the fact that Christianity has been used to do massive spiritual violence against my community.
If you look carefully, it’s not the agnostics or athiests in this country doing the Queer-bashing, it is, for the vast majority of the time, Christians. While there are other world religions who find homosexuality (etc) incompatible with thier teachings, American Christianity has it down to a nasty and political science.”
Ona goes on to say:
“To be as brief as possible, Liberation theology comes out of Latin America and basically states that God is on the side of the Oppressed. If you look through all the texts Christians call their Bible, you will see that God stands in alignment with the marginalized, the oppressed, the widow and orphan, the refugee, women, Samaritans, Lepers and anyone else who is ostracized by their society. I find it interesting that Jesus’ words of accusation were for the religious leadership of his day, not for the people they called “sinner”. I wonder who he would call a serpent today….”
Hmm…God is on the side of the oppressed? I’m not quite sure I can follow this line of reasoning. Once again, I will try to offer my “radical right wing religious” perspective as civilly as possible. I do not want to put GID and other sexual issues discussed here on the same level as what I’m about to say, so please do not misunderstand me.
At what point would you draw the line on this “oppressed” line of thought? Would God be “on the side” of the oppressed folks who have sexual inclinations (whether nature or nurture) towards incest or bestiality or necrophilia? The point I want to make is that these groups (bestiality, alcoholics, incest, necrophilia) too can be considered oppressed because society would frown on persons who have these sexual inclinations or persons who embrace alcoholism. The Bible instructs persons to not get imbibed on too much alcohol and it also instructs persons not to have sexual relationships with family members, animals, the dead, or persons of the same sex. That’s my perspective which I feel is clearly laid out in the Bible. Others more knowledgeable than I can provide better arguments on the subject.
This isn’t about taking sides…but if God did take sides, He would take the side of humanity - because we are ALL sinners. I sympathize with anyone who does not “choose” to be the way there are, but resulting behaviors are not necessarily in line with what God would consider “blameless.” And, as Christians, aren’t we instructed to be imitators of Christ, to strive to be pure and blameless? Now, while I may disagree with the “taking sides” argument, I do believe that Jesus Christ died for EVERYONE, regardless of inclinations based on nature or nurture. It is His forgiveness of our sins that allows us to be seen as blameless, but we must be repentant.
Nonetheless, I agree with Ona that the evangelical Christian community has done an abominable job reaching out to these oppressed persons, but I would argue that the failings of evangelical Christians is primarily due to apathy or selfish concerns (e.g., preserving traditional values, etc.), not hate. Certainly the GLBT agenda threatens evangelical Christians because, unlike the other “opressed” groups I mentioned, society is beginning to accept the GLBT agenda - that these behaviors are perfectly normal and acceptable. Radical groups like God Hates Fags paint Christians in a hateful angry light, but the challenge is for Christians to make their voice heard too in a thoughtful way. Groups like James Dobson’s (Focus on the Family) PAC try to, but perhaps they too cross the line at times. “Mainstream” evangelical Christians might instead be apathetic because they feel that it might be a lost cause to reach out to people who seem unwilling to interpret the Bible as a God-breathed literal text instead of a “dynamic” text that changes with society’s norms?
As I mentioned in an earlier post of this series, I feel that Christians need to walk a fine line between judgment and compassion. It is much easier to be aloof and judgmental rather than participatory and compassionate. I believe evangelical Christians must make their thoughts known, but in a loving way. Take what Leviticus 19:7 has to say:
“Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt.”
I believe that this powerful yet simple verse explains it all. As Christians, we must acknowledge that we too are the worst of sinners, but we should compassionately point out the sin of others, yet love them, not hate them or ostracise them.
In my call for us to be Radical Christians, how might we reach out to the GLBT community for Christ? Perhaps in following the South Beach Diet credo of “less (bad) carbs, more (good) protein,” Radical Christians should follow a credo of “less judgment, more love.” If we acknowledge that we are just as sinful and struggle with temptations equally, then perhaps we can view others more as Jesus does. GLBT persons will not change their behavior just because a Radical Christian calls them sick sinners. Similarly, I might not change my behavior if I did not respect the opinion of the person who challenged me. Evangelical Christians do not win converts or transform a person, only God does. Therefore, let’s give room for God to work - state your position, but then through words and actions, love as Christ loves.
Thus concludes this series, “A Call to be Radical Christians.” I believe that Christians must
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Tags: [GLBT, Christianity, morals, values, sexuality, homosexuality, diversity]
In part I of A Call to Be Radical Christians, I argued that Christians should learn how to be empathic towards others. I concluded the post by quoting I Peter 3:8 which says:
“Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.”
Of the five traits identified in this passage, the term “harmony” jumped out at me. Let’s examine this word from a music perspective. Harmony refers to the chordal structure of music, meaning that different notes played simultaneously can produce beautiful music together.
Today I would like to discuss racial diversity and the Christian church. I do not think God calls us to to be identical. In fact, the Tower of Babel reference reminds us that God wants there to be diversity. However, this diversity does not mean that evangelical Christians should have a predominantly Caucasian church right next door to a a predominantly African-American church. Part of my argument for a more diverse church draws on the recent trend in the radio business to change more traditional homogeneous formats to heterogeneous formats. This new format is commonly referred to as “Jack FM.”
I’ve made no bones about it - I would like to understand both the right and the left, the conservative and the liberal, the white and the black, the homosexual and the heterosexual, the Christian and the Muslim. I guess this fascination to really understand the perspective of others (particularly those with polar opposite perspectives) originated during my psychotherapy training in marriage and family therapy (I do not practice now). As a therapist-in-training, I had to accumulate many hours of supervised direct therapy with individuals, couples, and families. I already had three strikes against me. I was:
Those three attributes set me up for being anything but empathic with persons who were different than me. What would I need to do to really understand the struggles of a single African-American mother of two? How could I work with a widowed African-American man who served as a Tuskegee Airman in WWII? Learning to be empathic was part of my vocational training. Similarly, as Christians I believe it should be “part of our training” for us to understand the perspectives of others who differ from us in order for us to better display compassion. I think all too often evangelical Christians tend to mimic the example of the Pharisees and Sadducees rather than the example set forth by Jesus. I believe that because the Pharisees adhered to a strict interpretation and observance of the Mosaic law, they favored judgment of others over a love for others. On the other hand, Jesus personified the fruits of the Spirit, including exhibiting traits such as love for others and kindness towards others instead of judgment towards those who were considered sinful or oppressed.
As a result of this conviction, I realize that as a Christian I should not necessarily stay within the comfortable confines of only spending time with people who are like me, thereby solidifying my own beliefs and values. Instead, I must be “uncomfortable” and understand (not necessarily agree with) perspectives different than my own. Exhibiting empathy does not equal condoning a belief or behavior exhibited by others. If you remember, Jesus spent more time with the undesireables, the sinners, rather than with the Pharisees or teachers of the law. The famous oft quoted Scripture in John 8:3-11 portrays Jesus admonishing those who were judging an adulteress. Scripture reads:
3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11″No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Notice that although Jesus did not judge this woman, he did tell her to sin no more. I believe this is the very example we as evangelical Christians must follow. However, it is a difficult line to take a stand against a person’s sin without judging the sinner. Are there times when Christians can judge? Sure, but I believe Christians only have the right to judge other Christians whose sin has specifically affected them. Matthew 18:15-17 states:
15″If your brother sins against you,[a] go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’[b] 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Consequently, I recently stumbled upon two topics that appear to either be ignored or treated as leprosy among contemporary evangelical Christians. The first topic involves Christian congregations and racial diversity and the second involves Christianity and sexual diversity. I will discuss these two topics in parts 2 and 3, but first I want to challenge Christians to do the unthinkable and follow the teachings of a psychoanalyst…
I recently cross-posted “I am a Christian” to a bulletin board I occassionally go to. A responder asked a few questions about Christianity, primarily,
“What I would like to ask you, and I am not saying you’re a theology expert, but you’re definitely well informed, is what do you really honestly think will happen to me when I die? I get angry, sad, happy, I love, I regret, I can be good, I can be bad (but not, I hope evil?), I can do good or bad, I can be kind or selfish, friendly or sullen. Personally, I like to believe that I am more ‘good’ than bad. Will this count for nothing because I haven’t ‘accepted Jesus’ (no insult intended with the inverted commas)?”
What my bulletin board friend asks is the crux of the issue - big questions like “Why am I here on earth?” and “What happens when I die?” I felt my response to him deserved posting here as well, so here I go…
DISCLAIMER: I’d caution you to not equate “religion” with the what it means to be a Christian, because the essense of what it means to be a Christian is not wrapped up in “religion” but a simple faith and a belief that a personal relationship can exist between you and God. Religion as an institution can distort the truth because “religion” is based on humankind’s fallible institutionalization of a particular belief. Here I am discussing a simple faith and personal relationship between you and God.
I will try to answer these questions from my layperson’s conservative evangelical Christian perspective. I will preface my response by saying that I do believe in a literal heaven and hell. In fact, I’d encourage you to read Heaven by Randy Alcorn. The book offers a detailed perspective about what heaven might be like - contrasted with the impersonal clouds and harps depicted in popular culture.
Before reading the rest of this post, I want to encourage you to look at the basic steps for what it means to become a Christian.
When I say… “I am a Christian”
I’m not shouting “I’m clean livin.”
I’m whispering “I was lost,”
Now I’m found and forgiven.When I say…”I am a Christian”
I don’t speak of this with pride.
I’m confessing that I stumble
and need CHRIST to be my guide.When I say… “I am a Christian”
I’m not trying to be strong.
I’m professing that I’m weak
and need HIS strength to carry on…When I say… “I am a Christian”
I’m not bragging of success.
I’m admitting I have failed
and need God to clean my mess.When I say… “I am a Christian”
I’m not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
but, God believes I am worth it.When I say… “I am a Christian”
I still feel the sting of pain,
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.When I say… “I am a Christian”
I’m not holier than thou,
I’m just a simple sinner
who received God’s good grace, somehow.
Tags: [Christianity, Maya Angelou, poetry]
No two issues are more uncomfortable to discuss in social circles than one’s views on religion and one’s views on politics. There’s a USA Today article that addresses how state measures are being introduced to whitewash political expression in academic settings. The argument is that students with conservative views on liberal campuses are being discriminated against by their professors. Results of this bias seem to include unfair grading. Although I consider myself a religious and political conservative and surely feel (and have experienced) this discrimination exists in the realm of academia, I am concerned that these measures will limit the freedom of speech we so embrace. Teachers who use their classes as their own bully pulpit should be disciplined on the homefront, not through state legislation.
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