143. Too Ethical to be Christian

During my earlier days, I had held onto a secret. I was too ethical to really believe Christianity. Then, I was confronted in church one day.  The ideal place to be confronted on one’s relationship with Christ.

          I had attended the Sunday Morning service of the Church of the Drunken Charismatic Lutherans. I was in town visiting my father who was dying of cancer.  I was asked by my good friend’s mother as to why I was in town.  I told her, dad was dying, and I was visiting. After a brief prayer for my dad, I was then asked if I would see my dad before I left for Vancouver. I replied I would, she replied she would pray for that conversation. I knew what she was getting at by the question. Would I be able to wring a death bed conversion out of my dad?

          My dad’s notoriety was all alcohol related.  On a good day he drank a little over 20 oz. of vodka. On other days it was between 50 and 70 oz.  That had been going on for the better part of two decades. It should not surprise you that my dad was dying of pancreatic and liver cancer. And despite my well nursed resentment for his actions, I realized that he was a sick man. Mentally, emotionally, and spiritually sick as well as physically sick.

          Between the two of us, my friend’s mom and I, the one who should be rooting for an eternity of “How do you like the apples?” Should have been me. However, I was the one that saw that sending an old man to hell was wrong. This was a man who had not made a rational decision in twenty years. For him to be judged on making the wrong decision, was beyond unfair. I told her that we obviously were not of the same faith.

Now, you might want to tell me that this woman does not represent your faith. That not all Christians are like her. Or, that you are not THAT kind of Christian.

We have a larger issue. A certain Alabama Senate Candidate when he was an assistant District Attorney had sexually assaulted a fourteen-year-old girl. There are four more that have come forward.  And once again morality and my faith are at odds.

                There is a letter that was signed off by 53 pastors in support of Roy Moore.  3 of them have stated that they no longer support him. They point out that the letter they signed was from before this crisis.  But 50 pastors remain silent, and thus supportive of Moore.

Now, I am explaining that those 50 pastors do not represent my faith. That not all Christians are like them. Or, I am not THAT kind of Christian.

The truth is that those 50 pastors DO represent our collective faith. Too many Christians are like them. It does not matter if I am or am not THAT kind of Christian.

We have branding issue with our faith.  And we do not understand the dynamics behind this crisis. First, the morality of those without faith is better than our collective morality. Think about that for a moment. This not an exaggeration, those of our faith have used the nativity story to explain a 32 year-old-man for having a sexual encounter with 14-year-old girl. This sexual encounter was not consensual, nor was it in the confines of “Traditional Marriage.”

Second, Christ has endorsed this behaviour. The body of Christ, or was our being so just a metaphor, seems to approve of this behaviour. Even if the reference to the faithful being the body of Christ was a metaphor, we are the face of Christ to those around us.  We are the expression of our faith.

I have some suggestions. I always do.

First, let’s admit we have a problem with our morality. As a group we sign off on some pretty toxic shit. It is time that we stopped pretending that it is not our collective morality.

Second, that we demand that we do something about it. During the time of two churches I was discussing the teaching by the one minister with a member of that church. I said I thought the message was more than a little off, he replied, “I know, but he is just so entertaining, he gets me fired up.”  We need to do than more fact checking our ministers. Does the message from the pulpit, bar table, or centre stage reflect your belief? We need to support those who teach, and holding them accountable for the message is one such way.

Third, Tim Minchin, an Australian comic, says that opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. He goes on to say, unlike assholes, opinions should regularly be brought out and examined. That they should be examined by those around us. Are you willing to discuss yours, to explain yourself, and consider criticism without defending your belief?

Thanks for letting me ramble.