I attended a church meeting the other day (please don't stop reading just on account of that!), at which an attendee was saying that it's tough being a Christian when Christians are so reviled. Another attendee supported the first speaker's comment by saying that it causes her some anger to see her way of life and values being eroded. "Hm," I thought, "I don't have any of those feelings. Something must be wrong with my version of Christianity." The more I think about it though, the more I think maybe nothing's wrong with my brand of Christianity, I just have a different perspective is all.
Here's my perspective: I chose my path. As a Christian, that's what you do. As a Christian, you choose to see and live in the world in a certain way. People who are not Christians choose to see and live in the world in some other way. As I understand it, the foundation of Christianity is free will, the ability to choose our path. As a Christian then, I have to be OK with others' choices. I am not called to like them, but I am called to respect others' right to make those choices. Perhaps I feel called to try to help them make different choices, but I am not called to make the choice for them.
The latest conservative Republican attempt to limit access to abortion by first redefining what constitutes rape is a case in point. While some will get caught up in the madness of what equals 'rape', the real issue underlying all this is where my focus is fixed. The goal of this new legislation is clearly to so redefine rape as to limit access to abortion to a much smaller subset of cases. Here, the Republicans are doing the very thing that I object to most with Christians: they are forcing their personal choices on others. I believe it's bad policy and worse, it's bad Christianity.
In this country, as in many others, there is a separation of Church & State. There is a reason for this: my religion may not be yours; my understanding may not be yours. To prevent needless nattering, state/federal law must be based on precepts that do not trample on either of our beliefs. Simple enough. The trouble comes when religious conservatives bring their freely chosen precepts into the drafting and application of law. That kinda sounds like the marriage of church and state rather than the separation thereof and I'm thinking it's the wrong way to go.
Our Christian responsibility is to demonstrate by our lives that Christianity is a good choice, the best possible choice. What we are not called to do, is to drag people across our chosen finish line against their will. God himself does not do that. He stands at the door and knocks. Barging in through the closed door as the Republicans are trying to do is simply the wrong approach and frankly, it taints everything else they try to do.
Here's my perspective: I chose my path. As a Christian, that's what you do. As a Christian, you choose to see and live in the world in a certain way. People who are not Christians choose to see and live in the world in some other way. As I understand it, the foundation of Christianity is free will, the ability to choose our path. As a Christian then, I have to be OK with others' choices. I am not called to like them, but I am called to respect others' right to make those choices. Perhaps I feel called to try to help them make different choices, but I am not called to make the choice for them.
The latest conservative Republican attempt to limit access to abortion by first redefining what constitutes rape is a case in point. While some will get caught up in the madness of what equals 'rape', the real issue underlying all this is where my focus is fixed. The goal of this new legislation is clearly to so redefine rape as to limit access to abortion to a much smaller subset of cases. Here, the Republicans are doing the very thing that I object to most with Christians: they are forcing their personal choices on others. I believe it's bad policy and worse, it's bad Christianity.
In this country, as in many others, there is a separation of Church & State. There is a reason for this: my religion may not be yours; my understanding may not be yours. To prevent needless nattering, state/federal law must be based on precepts that do not trample on either of our beliefs. Simple enough. The trouble comes when religious conservatives bring their freely chosen precepts into the drafting and application of law. That kinda sounds like the marriage of church and state rather than the separation thereof and I'm thinking it's the wrong way to go.
Our Christian responsibility is to demonstrate by our lives that Christianity is a good choice, the best possible choice. What we are not called to do, is to drag people across our chosen finish line against their will. God himself does not do that. He stands at the door and knocks. Barging in through the closed door as the Republicans are trying to do is simply the wrong approach and frankly, it taints everything else they try to do.
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