Agnostic Affront
So why is Evangelical Christianity sweeping the nation? Is it a sudden desire to achieve peace and harmony with our fellow humans through selfless acts? Or maybe it's a reaction to rampant materialism and the excesses of our modern world and a desire to return to the natural, sustainable existence of Biblical times? Maybe it's both of these and more, but I doubt it.
The distressing thing that I've noticed about the new wave of American revivalism is that it seems to be primarily concerned with many things other than the central tenets of Christianity as I understand them. The rise of (get ready for the oxymoron of the century) "mainstream evangelism" in America seems to be fueled by a desire to inject conservative and, in some cases, reactionary beliefs into politics and society.
It's an ingenious plan really. What better way to bring the glory of Bible Belt politics to the more secular and liberal areas of the nation? By switching the national dialogue from a conflict of political ideology to a conflict of morality and faith-based values, you can re-frame any debate. You don't have to deny the civil rights of gays and lesbians because you're a close-minded, homophobic hatemonger. You can deny them civil rights because it's a moral and religious issue. Your religious beliefs say that homosexuality is wrong. Nobody can question you because you're just trying to get into hetero-heaven. You come off smelling like a rose and the queers can't get married. It's an ingenious plan. Really!
I'm not saying that every born-again Christian is insincere. There are probably many people who have recently felt a religious re-awakening and desire to live closer to the teachings of Christ. Certainly not everyone is latching on to this movement for political and economic gains. However, membership in a church has always been about more than just the religion. Church has always functioned as a community center and has always provided a social network for the congregation. It sounds great, but a social network is one thing and a spiritual country club is quite another. That's the dark underbelly of the social network created by these new revivalist mega-churches. That's the dark underbelly that has begun to rear its ugly head in my home town.
Using your church and religious affiliation to consolidate power in local government and forcing that religion into the secular world of public schools just don't seem like very Christian things to do.
So why is Evangelical Christianity sweeping the nation? Is it a sudden desire to achieve peace and harmony with our fellow humans through selfless acts? Or maybe it's a reaction to rampant materialism and the excesses of our modern world and a desire to return to the natural, sustainable existence of Biblical times? Maybe it's both of these and more, but I doubt it.
The distressing thing that I've noticed about the new wave of American revivalism is that it seems to be primarily concerned with many things other than the central tenets of Christianity as I understand them. The rise of (get ready for the oxymoron of the century) "mainstream evangelism" in America seems to be fueled by a desire to inject conservative and, in some cases, reactionary beliefs into politics and society.
It's an ingenious plan really. What better way to bring the glory of Bible Belt politics to the more secular and liberal areas of the nation? By switching the national dialogue from a conflict of political ideology to a conflict of morality and faith-based values, you can re-frame any debate. You don't have to deny the civil rights of gays and lesbians because you're a close-minded, homophobic hatemonger. You can deny them civil rights because it's a moral and religious issue. Your religious beliefs say that homosexuality is wrong. Nobody can question you because you're just trying to get into hetero-heaven. You come off smelling like a rose and the queers can't get married. It's an ingenious plan. Really!
I'm not saying that every born-again Christian is insincere. There are probably many people who have recently felt a religious re-awakening and desire to live closer to the teachings of Christ. Certainly not everyone is latching on to this movement for political and economic gains. However, membership in a church has always been about more than just the religion. Church has always functioned as a community center and has always provided a social network for the congregation. It sounds great, but a social network is one thing and a spiritual country club is quite another. That's the dark underbelly of the social network created by these new revivalist mega-churches. That's the dark underbelly that has begun to rear its ugly head in my home town.
Using your church and religious affiliation to consolidate power in local government and forcing that religion into the secular world of public schools just don't seem like very Christian things to do.
posted by adelino @ 11:31 PM
1 Comments:
At 1:56 PM,
adelino said…
whoa there wally. it's one thing to say that there is bigotry among some christians and quite another to make a personal claim. remember that comments are supposed to be positive on this blog. nobody is saying that some non-christians aren't bigots too. what we're trying to understand is the greater motivations for some in the evangelical movement. that's quite a bit different from persecution. also remember that christians have more than made up for their brief period of being persecuted and killed. in the words of monty python, "nobody expects the spanish inquisition!" nobody expected hernando cortes either. there are countless other examples including the current war in iraq. we don't need the snippy biblical aphorisms. we don't judge the christians who believe, but the ones who force those beliefs on others. you can judge too, but not in a personal manner.
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