When I was growing up, church youth group was a place where one would go, sing some songs, listen to some gentle morality and flirt with girls. It was the place you could hang out with some friends and go work in a soup kitchen or work for Habitat for Humanity or go put a roof on some orphanage in Mexico and it was all pretty fun. Sure, you couldn't swear or smoke or drink, it was all pretty good natured, like one big Jesus oriented Juicy Fruit commercial.
At that time Christianity was in the church. It was at youth group. It was summer camps.
We didn't talk about politics all that much. Sure, even then they were trying to tell us abortion was wrong, but it was more of a "that's really a unfortunate thing to do, but we will always accept you back into the fold if you go that route" sort of thing.
Even in the wider world of things, Ronald Reagan didn't go around spouting off about his Christian credentials.
There were the occasional crazy fundamentalists who tried to kill some abortion doctor, and of course there was always the undercurrent of homophobia, but everything was else was pretty groovy. Maybe it was the healthy after glow of the 70's Jesus Freak thing, but being a Christian didn't brand you an automatic asshole back then.
Times have changed.
When I look around at the state of Christianity all I see are fundamentalist crusaders. These are a people so wrapped up in social politics they are willing to disenfranchise and alienate anyone and everyone not on their side. The whole culture of the religion has changed over the course of a decade. Whereas before, when I was taught, ad nauseum, to give unto Caesar what is Caesar's, it seems like youth groups now are teaching some kind of Laura Bush cult of personality.
Christianity has gotten so politicized it doesn't seem to be anything like the Jesus-was-really-cool version that I grew up with. Jesus used to be this Jewish guy who was really nice and wanted to get us all a fair shake in the after life as long as we were on the up and up in the here and now and gave him his props. Now it seems like Jesus is this kind of angry American with a hatred of gays, drug addicts and foreigners. He wants to assassinate Fidel Castro and deny legal rights to homosexuals and he calls Arabs "towelheads" and "camelhumpers" and takes it all really, very seriously.
I left "the flock" years ago. Once I started reading about the history of the church I figured the whole thing was a series of political motives since the day Jesus died. I guess what's happening now is simply a logical piece of that process.
Even so, when did Jesus become such a dick?
3 comments:
i'm not sure that it's jesus who is the dick? my understanding is that he doesn't change, but our perception of him does. and that has a lot to do with the social attitude that is prevelant today. i agree with you about everything from the youth groups(I loved making out with Angela when we would walk from youth group to Mickey D's), to summer camps(flirting at the snach shack was a no brainer). i to am turned off by what i see and hear. it makes me sick that i would/could? be thrown into that group too. i wish i wasn't. but there is good out there, just vastly under reported. we aren't bombarded by it, but it exists. for me, mostly in small groups of friends who believe what i believe(and my dog chloe). great post though, really gets you thinking. keep it up tod!
i thought you might find this interesting. i had her for one of my classes, she was really cool. good luck tomorrow panteros!
It is great to read something like that from a Westmont professor. Honestly, being in New York really skews one's view of the world sometimes.
Its easy to get caught up in the Christian bashing when all I hear about is George Bush's massive appeal for Christians. (It runs rampant in my own family- and it drives me up the wall.)
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