So I had a typical "extremely rude Christian comment" experience yesterday on FaceySpacey. The only thing is, I can't seem to get this one out of my head. It hung around, niggling at my mind, and made me think long and hard about a lot of things. Mostly it made me think about why people are the way they are.
I guess religious zealots, hypocrites, and all around crazy people have been around since the dawn of time, or at least since we decided there was something out there bigger than ourselves and knowing this gave us the right to be righteously indignant at our neighbor's erroneous worship of said bigger thing... And just as long as the zealots have been around, so have the finger pointers... the ones who take pleasure in calling out those they perceive to be hypocrites. The judgers who judge the judgmental.
I guess before I go on about what this whole interaction made me think about, I should share what it was about - (names and avatars have been changed to protect the innocent).
The context? The Poster, who is also a rockstar, reposted an image of a compound belonging to an extremely wealthy televangelist, along with a quote from Matthew 19:24 about how it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven.
Given the exposure of so many televangelists as frauds who rip off their well meaning but gullible followers, and the fact that the example of Christ himself was giving away what you had to those who need it more as opposed to amassing wealth, this seemed reasonable. Let the free for all begin.
First I tossed in my favorite Romans 2:24, as well as a Diderot quote for good measure as seen below - and it just sort of escalated from there.
Initially I was irritated by Rude Christians's "idiots" comment, and feeling very self satisfied with my response. I felt justified because I thought "this person is not acting like a Christian."
Then I went on to think how typical that was, and it made me feel kind of smug and proven right in a way. At the time it didn't occur to me that it was kind of a ridiculous thing to think, really. But, for some reason I just couldn't get this out of my mind.
My thoughts traveled from "Why can't Rude Christian act the way I "know" they are supposed to," to "why does that bother me?" It then progressed to "who am I to decide what a christian should act like, aren't both of us basing our assumptions of that behavior on a questionable text written a couple thousand years ago?" Rude Christian wasn't acting in a way I thought was "good," but then... was I?
I guess my initial irritation at the name calling and whatnot stemmed from my perception of how a Christian is supposed to behave, especially when it happened in the context of Poster, who is also a rockstar, and myself pointing out how the televangelist was not acting the way we thought a christian was supposed to behave.
After thinking on it for a time though, it grew more into the frustration that we can't seem to coexist in our beliefs without pushing our perceptions and assumptions onto each other in a negative way. I am going to use quotes from your revered text to make you look stupid, you are going to feel offended and angry and call me names, I am going feel a sense of satisfaction that I have provoked you to anger, and incite you further with more "facts" when the real fact is, I am intentionally trying to make you look even more stupid and offend you further.
Why?
And while both of us are yelling "that's not what Jesus would do, etc." (me ridiculously so, seeing as I am not a Christian at all so why should I care...), The fact is, we are both wrong.
Jesus was not about proving anyone wrong. He was about kindness. His whole thing was haters are going to hate, and the only thing you can do is love them in return. Kill them with kindness. Win them over with love. Treat them to tolerance so that they can see the love of god. Forgive them, feed them, heal them. Be a human being. Turn the other cheek. Be kind and loving to one another. See that guy over there with no shoes? Give him yours, because you have 10 more pairs at home. See that woman over there with no lunch? Give her yours, it won't kill you to miss a meal. See that person posting angry diatribes against religion? Just be cool. Be kind. Be the opposite of what they have come to hate. Win them over with love and respect and generosity. Turn the other cheek. And in doing so, they just might come over to your way of thinking. They just might too live a life of kindness and generosity - which if we all did - would be great for society. There would be peace, and kindness, we would give each other the same care and consideration that we give to ourselves. We would see the divine in each individual, and we would cherish that. We would be saved... from ourselves. That was Jesus.
Now I know there are Christians out there who would read this and say "but Corvid..." yes, yes, I know... You want your hard core righteous preachy "you're going to hell if you don't get saved" point of view represented... but the problem with that? That's not Jesus. That's Paul. Paul was a douche and a misogynist who, in my opinion, hijacked what Jesus was trying to do and turned it into zealotry and intolerance and hate. Zealots hate. I know, I was a zealot like that once.
My opinion is most likely not worth very much, but I don't think if Jesus were born and lived his life here today he would be picketing abortion clinics and screaming about gay marriage, and calling people idiots on facebook. I think he would be preaching against inequality, helping the poor, caring for the homeless, showing love to those who so desperately need it and do without it every day... He would be calling out those who marginalized the less fortunate, he would be traveling from town to town healing the sick, and spreading love. He would be saying "don't throw the stone unless you have never sinned yourself." Kinda like he did 2000 years ago. He would be showing people god's love through his actions.
The opposite side of the coin is this - I think that for those of us who do not claim christianity as a religion, and often times take pleasure in smacking down those who do who are not behaving the way we think they should... if we are smart enough, and knowledgeable enough about the bible and christian doctrine to call out others, there are two things we should keep in mind. One, if we can recognize people who are being hypocritical, then we should acknowledge they aren't the real deal, recognize that there are many who are, and don't judge the entire bushel because of some bad apples. And two - instead of pointing out the behavior we don't like and deem hypocritical in others, we should try to be the best human beings we can be ourselves. Maybe we should teach the faux christians how to behave through our own example... with kindness, love, charity, etc.
I don't know, this is just my attempt to make sense of this rambling thought trail, this chain reaction set off by a passing interaction on facebook with someone I don't even know. It is my attempt to make sense of myself.
It is easy to get caught up in the derision game, but in the end, it is unkind. There is already so much division, and so much of it is drawn along lines of belief. Belief is something that is supposed to enrich our lives and make us better people. Kinder people.
I am by no means an atheist, I have my beliefs. Maybe I should try to do better by them myself before I go out casting stones.
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