Re Thinking it all.

I stop and see the confusion of the world and wonder…is the confusion of the church a better substitute.

In the last months as I have battled depression, failure and all manner of personal demons I have heard to think hard about some of the moments that have defined my past year.

I have had to rethink politics. Will all my friends shouting and campaigning under the Black Monday Movements actually cause change? Is it a passion filled tirade with about as much future as the white rhino and the life span of a fly? What are my views about politics anyway?  I have had to answer these questions and still refine those answers.

I have had to rethink church. Right now there seem to be several factions split between the traditional churches and here we have all those Anglican protestant and other traditional denominations. There is the “born again” faction characterized by wild gesticulations and noisy overnight services. Then there is what I call the alternative style churches. There are mostly new and tech savvy for the most part. This is where you find the bohemian crowd and the others who found their traditional churches too…well traditional and the born again churches I guess too noisy. Please note I said church and not faith.

I have had to rethink dreams. Anyone who has followed this blog or read any of my pieces on Facebook has come across the Chasing your dreams series . I have had to rethink this whole concept. I have accepted that time is a greater ally and the straightest path is not always straight and that sometimes I need to stop and camp a whiles on this journey. I have learned that when you smile, make sure you fangs show but like a gentle she wolf, never bare them in anger, malice or hate. Just let them know you have them as well and yours Is a choice not to use them…unless they provoke you.

I have rethought money and poverty. These two seem to be the yin and yang of my existence. Money is not what I work for but it’s a just recompense for the expenditure of my talent. The journey out of poverty is not that easy. Stop reading get rich quick scheme books, work hard, save as much as you can, give as much as you can and be content. The last bit is playing me.

I have rethought friendship. This is the one year that most of my friendships seem to have imploded or just gone into some sort of coma. I will not lie, I am not all torn up about all of them. In fact these days are am not as quick to save friendships. I believe they should develop organically and just go where they may of course with a little trimming and such here and there. I am not trying to grow a bonsai tree but a radiant flourishing bush or tree. I do my part or what I can cause at the end of the day no amount of water or manure makes trees or bushes grow faster…perhaps a little better.

I am still rethinking…perhaps soon we shall share deeper exactly what I have been thinking on some of these topics.

And now into the fray: Religious Freedoms?

(this is a loooong one)

I have finished reading an article online in which a University Professor asked his students to “stomp on Jesus” or more accurately write the name Jesus on a piece of paper and place it on the floor and then stomp on it as part of a lesson on intercultural Communications. This particular exercise was from a teachers handbook that accompanied the text book “ Inter-cultural Communications: A Contextual Approach, 5^th edition”

Even as i read this i am reminded of the uproar that surrounded particular incidences where the Prophet Muhammad was made fun of either in speech or at that time caricature. At that time i really thought that perhaps Muslims needed to loosen up and not be too uptight. In fact i was really annoyed that people seemed to walk on eggshells when it came to Islamic issues. I was like, “ how come Christianity or other faiths don’t inspire such uproar from their follower” and i also wondered as to why, when it did, most people just brushed off the other faiths with the response, “get with the programme” and many times these other faiths were beaten into submission with big words like bigoted, narrow-minded, backward etc. etc. Basically they were about as in touch with modern society as dinosaurs and so had no right to speak or at least that is what it seemed.

I came to the conclusion that such “respect” from the secular world depended on how you used machetes in relation to human heads and your prowess with stones and said human heads. I further hypothesised that perhaps it was high time Christian demanded respect for their Faith minus the ‘pangas’ and the like.

But Muslims have been over taken as the number one indignant lyrical waxing inducing topic by homosexuality. I bet the best situation for anyone seeking asylum in a “western” forward looking society would be for one to not only me homosexual, but also Muslim, persecuted by Bible waving Christians and Governments in the a certain third world country. But this is just a stereo type. Oh and i digress.

So reading the above mentioned article plus the many debates i have followed on Facebook between apologist of Christian faith and apologists of the atheist “faith” i have noticed that perhaps the “open minded” people are not as open minded as they claim to be.

The article clearly states how being “different” from the main stream, in this case Christianity vs. liberal whateverism (i term coined to represent the apparent lack of any sort of belief system among today’s youth), means you get to be “mistreated” legally. Some of the words used by “secularists” vs. “faithists” really leave me dismayed and i wonder if they actually are as liberal or open minded as they claim. Words like bigoted, ignorant, small minded or narrow minded are bandied around freely. Sometimes threads descend into needless provocation and veiled insult. Mark you, both sides are not innocent, but perhaps more is expected of the liberal forward looking open minded folk than sheer gutter talk and underhandedness.

Why did this professor have to pick on Jesus of all religious figures? According to a friend who i once asked a similar question, it’s because Christians are the ones who proselytize the most.

I was confused because i thought their aversion was to all faiths that rejected the forward march of science and the crystalline “truths” it embodied. It seems there is some bias coming from both sides of the isle…oops sorry...road.

I am a Christian and my faith informs a lot of the decisions i make and it’s from that stand point i write this article. I may not know all there is to know and i don’t claim to do so. Something don’t make sense still others make total sense but i also know that salvation is both and event and a journey and to borrow the word s of Paul the apostle, we know in part but then we shall know in full.

And this is my take on some of the controversy:

I believe that Atheist need to show some respect even for those things that they do not agree with. There is no difference between what you do and what the roman church did back then. You both operate from a pedestal of superiority, one stemming from the fact that they felt they were called of God and another from their intellectualism.

Both of you have persecuted in one way or another those that do not see as you see. The church did it with inquisition and burning but the scathing attacks launched from blogs, post, comments and dialogues is just the same but without the physical flames.

Perhaps it would be prudent for the secularists to realise all that they do is simply because they hold the popular opinion just as most of the people then were behind the church’s actions.

Of course secularism claims to be more educated and enlightened and progressive now but don’t forget the same could be said of the church at that time. Who knows, should this world tarry for some more trillion years, our knowledge would look just as archaic to people in the future as stone tools seem to us today.

Isn’t the amount of abuse heaped on those that have tradition Christian views towards certain subjects not be compared to the abuse that those with alternative lifestyles have suffered? Granted fewer traditional Christians are beaten or maimed or killed by radical secularist however the ostracism they face is probably as damaging.

If you are truly open minded and liberal dear secularist, perhaps the old adage would work perfectly, live and let live.

A word to the Christian

Much of what i have said above applies even to us.

Treat all divergent views with respect and learn that you can disagree without being at war. Do not resort to abuse or maligning of any sort in the name of defending the faith. Remember, the faith we now practice has been here for year and has faced even greater more focused opposition. God is capable of defending himself. That’s why we believe he is supreme.

I sharing your faith, remember that God did not ask you to seek converts but to speak Truth. Stand for it whenever possible and speak up when needed. Do not argue, or use fear tactics or such other tools of “public speaking” Instead share, simply what you know, what you believe and why.

Our avenue is love, first for one another then for the non-believer. The book of acts, so aptly named, demonstrated the faith and love the believers showed for each other and it testifies that this is what drew the people of that time. I think it’s a method we could try.

Know that God has not forbid you from questioning him both about what you understand and don’t understand. Questions do not scare God. However you cannot fling away the scriptures based on what someone said or what you read or heard because the answers you seek are in the word. You cannot find the truth about Christianity apart from Christianity. I Hope that made sense. You cannot ask a baker the secrets of plumbing.

Perhaps also it would be a good thing for you to read intensively and extensively and prayerfully ponder these things through the word of God. I shall illustrate.

Seven days is how much time scripture says God took to create the world. I believe our idea or concept of time may differ from God. So perhaps, evolution or aspects of it are also Gods method. It would also be good to note that while we may have evolved from monkeys, we don’t seem to be evolving into anything else.  That may not be the best example but i hope you get the gist of what i mean.

There are those among us who lean towards more liberal inclinations. I have seen many use their status updates to belittle and poke fun at their own faith for various reason. I think that this is bad form indeed. To those i say, be careful because you associations may be mistaken as your endorsements and while you are passionate about ridding the faith of “ignorant radicals” you still have a responsibility to speak and stand for the truth. Besides, you are also held to the same level of scrutiny as the other xtians are, so if in your crusade for reform you do something the faith considers wrong, you will be held accountable for it.