Christians Against Cruelty

My Politics Aren't Christian

2017-01-21T16:57:00.001-06:00

Love or hate your leader, this is still adorable.

I really wish I could use scripture to say my politics are more Christian than yours. But I can't.

My only comfort is that your politics aren't more Christian than mine, either.

My dad taught that the Jewish people of Biblical times thought the Messiah would bring sweeping social and political change, essentially bringing back the halcyon days where Israel was prosperous and powerful.

But he didn't. Jesus didn't drive out the Romans; he didn't campaign for political office or join the priests or lobby for legislative change.

In fact, the only political statement Jesus made was: "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's."

It's not anti-Christian to make a social and political difference, but neither is it Christian.

Christian is supporting spiritual change on a personal level. "Go and sin no more" wasn't legislation Jesus tried to push through, it was said to a woman whose heart he saw and knew.

Christian is focusing on the spiritual health of the people around you, connecting your life to others.

Jesus spent time with people. He spoke to smelly rooms full of strangers, on blistering beaches, in the dust and the dirt, among the salt of the earth.

Jesus, who is God, paid no attention to the state of his country. He paid attention to souls. When his country killed him, he didn't rail against the political system. He focused on the men dying with him.

Politics inspire our passion, causing both joy and rage, but if we want to follow Jesus' example, we can't allow the problems of the world to ruin the love between us.

The Devil is in the Details, But God is in the Science

2016-11-14T10:15:00.001-06:00

Chemistry Cat likes science.

I'm not a "science person," but that doesn't mean I distrust science. Science is about discovering God's beautiful and infinitely complex creation, and that seems important to me. It's cool to know he created atoms and quarks and bajillions of galaxies and still loves insignificant little us, giving us worth we could never achieve on our own.

This Christian distaste for science is doing a disservice to our people and making our world an objectively worse place because we're also distancing ourselves from the scientific process, a type of thinking that prevents crazy conspiracy theories and those email forwards we should all know are fake but get circulated anyway.

We use God as a defense to stop seeking truth, claiming that "science" is against him. This is not true. Science is neutral, it seeks knowledge, and it is unfathomable to me as a Christian why we should fear knowledge and truth. God is truth. Thus, the search for truth must inevitably lead us to him, and the study of his creation can only bring us a greater appreciation of him.

We need to learn hypothesis from theory from fact and how to test each. We need to re-educate ourselves and pursue truth beyond what we're told by those we trust. We need to be examples for our children, so that they know we are SO SURE OF GOD that we pursue him through study not just of his Word but also his world.

Repressed (A Ramble)

2013-08-04T17:20:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm mortified by the cat.
But I love saying "wobbly bobblies," so it evens out.

I grew up fairly repressed. (And I don't mean just sexually, though I do still react with over-the-top mortification when I walk in on "Game of Thrones" during a part showing wobbly bobblies, and yes that IS what I call my cat's testicles when he cleans himself at me.) Our churches tended to be very repressive and as a preacher's kid I was expected to conform. (Mostly by members. My parents have always been cool. They might have been more stressed by a rebellious kid, but they wouldn't have disowned me.)

So I conformed and was a pleasant, clean-cut, repressed little thing, and that was okay. I still think that, in fact. It's okay to be repressed and it's okay to be not repressed. As long as you're happy with who you are. Problem is, I think some of those adults I met as a child, who approved so highly of me, thought that children who weren't repressed were bad.

And that's so so wrong.

My brother frequently mentions in his sermons how he was as a young man: proud, judgemental, and kinda stuffy. I don't remember that part of him, but I take his word for it. He claims to have embodied the repressive tone of our church, and it took him years to come to a new understanding of who God is and what he wants for us. I don't think I ever got super-duper self-righteous thanks to simple obliviousness (I've always lived a little bit in my head), but I did feel the pressure to be a good role model (which has its own spiritual and social pitfalls), and if asked to point out my own sins I would have had to think about it pretty hard. Which is sad.

When I was about 17, during an online argument, I got accused of growing up in a bubble. I think about that now, and I still think it's not true. I grew up in a pretty judgmental and repressive atmosphere (parents and certain awesome folk excluded), but that isn't a "bubble." I saw plenty of fundamentally wrong things, even if I didn't recognize them at the time. People looking down on and judging others for inconsequential things. Starting full-scale feuds over differing opinions. I've seen liars and hypocrites and people who are never satisfied with anything. Uncompromising. Uncharitable. Unloving.

That's not a bubble. That's just a different perspective on the crappy side of life.

Sure, I grew up sheltered in some ways (i.e. wobbly bobblies). I had to grow out of some perspectives and into a more generous mindset. I had to figure out what the crap all those adults were so fussy about and whether it actually mattered at all, and untangling that morass took a while.

Conclusion?: People can be great or they can be horrible. Sometimes they can be both at the same time. It doesn't matter who they are or where they come from or what they believe. Trust and respect are things we earn through our actions, and I no longer hand them out like candy to my fellow Christians the way I did as a child.

Give your blind faith to Christ. Give humanity, whom he loves, fairness, kindness, and the wary understanding that some of them are going to get up in the morning and think, "Now's a good time to spatter some awful on everyone I know."

Expectations

2012-10-08T12:24:00.000-05:00

"You do good deeds out of gratitude to and love for God."

I got taught this in church as a kid. Even heard it a few times as an adult. The problem? All I learned was that adults expected good deeds out of me to prove my love for God. Whether or not people who say that judge your Christianity by their own personal measuring stick, it's still the implication of that kind of statement.

I personally think that until you start not giving a crap what other Christians expect of you and start focusing on getting to a right place with God, you'll hate being a Christian. Being a Christian to please other Christians SUCKS. It's stressful and you're never good enough. Trust me.

Thank God that he, at least, doesn't expect perfection from us.

Things I Believe

2012-08-05T11:26:00.002-05:00

All humans are imperfect. We've all made mistakes. We've all done things we regret.
God requires perfection.
God sent Jesus to fulfill that requirement for us.
Conclusion: God has not abandoned humanity.

Group Charity

2012-07-29T12:08:00.002-05:00

I wonder what my youth group excursions for charity work actually taught us -- that charity is worthwhile or that the group expects you to do it?

Raised Good

2012-07-26T11:47:00.004-05:00

"Just take me to Heaven now. I deserve it."

The reality is this: kids raised in the church, who obey all the adults and live like we're told, are at a disadvantage because we don't see ourselves as sinners.

If asked, we'll say "Yeah, I'm a sinner." But in our hearts, we think "What have I done that could be called a sin? I haven't stolen, fornicated, gotten drunk, cursed, or worn inappropriate clothing."

We think this way because we're raised to be good little Christians. It's not that our parents have done a poor job or even that our church has forced bad ideals on us. Even with wise adults around us, we are still prone to this fallacy of "What, really, have I done wrong?"

We think we have less to be forgiven for because we were raised as good kids. Sometimes we rebel as teens or stumble and fall later in life, and sometimes we stay good kids our whole lives.

The problem is this: if we don't have anything to be forgiven for, then why do we need God?

God is only useful to people who have made mistakes. Who have regrets. Not us church-grown kids. We're good.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the scariest mindset of all.

People who have had hard, wild, mistake-riddled lives are in this way better off: forgiveness means more to them. Christ does more for their peace of mind, and their gratitude is real and vital and profound.

I want my children to make more mistakes than I did. To take more chances. Maybe if they do, they won't fall into this dangerous mindset.

Lifestyle

2012-07-26T11:17:00.001-05:00

Consider: do you truly 100% believe that Christ is more important than the Christian lifestyle?

When I was younger, back in the days when I regurgitated everything I learned from adults, I really and honestly thought that changing behavior was the key to making new Christians.

The church today places undue importance on new Christians conforming to a certain lifestyle. People who have never known the Christian lifestyle (or who know it but find it stifling) will reject Christianity based on these rigid man-made expectations. It makes people uncomfortable, and not for the self-righteous "we're hitting at their sin!" reason I've heard so often.

These are man-made shackles that the Bible does not require. Yet we are confused when we try to shackle others and they balk?

The Bible teaches that change comes after Christ, not before. When we make change more important than Christ, we drive people away, and we do our faith a grave disservice.

Hobby Time

2012-07-24T10:15:00.002-05:00

Like teaching cats to dance.
A-dorable.

Christians need hobbies. We need to have something outside the church that we can focus on to relax and clear our minds.

I've seen far too many Christians so wrapped up in church life that they have no perspective. They can't see the big picture for all the minutia crowding in on them.

This is true for any intensive activity, from video games to work. If church and its goings-on are all you think about, then every little thing at church will take on undue significance. Things that should be minor become huge. Disagreements are blown out of proportion. Frustration escalates quickly to anger. Feuds start over some really dumb things.

Invest yourself in stuff that isn't just church and encourage others to do the same. It will save your sanity -- and everyone else's.

"The World"

2012-05-31T13:47:00.004-05:00

"friendship with the world is enmity with God" (James 4:4)
"the world hates you" (John 15:19)
"you will be hated by all" (Matthew 10:22)

In Sodom (of "and Gomorrah" fame), the townspeople wanted to butt-rape visitors to their fair city. No real reason; probably just out of boredom. I think we can all agree: that's not cool. That kind of hospitality probably deserved the whole fire-and-brimstone response it got.

That's the kind of "the world" I think of when the Bible says "they're going to hate us and we're doomed if we associate with them." The kind that's so far gone down the path of depravity that they're unreachable. That even basic standards of non-religiously-affiliated morality can't influence them.

When it comes to my fellow countrymen and countrywomen (countrypeople?), I think of this:

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:17)

I've seen so many Christians barricade themselves behind church doors, afraid that they might get a little "world" on their sleeves. I've seen Christians who believe there's a spiritual war going on, us versus them, and the front line includes pointing out people's flaws, informing non-Christians that they need to get their lives straightened out, and generally feeling self-righteous while helping no one.

We are not fighting a war with the people Jesus died for. We have no right to scorn those whom God loves. We are not inherently better just because we've accepted Christ's sacrifice.

Get out. Meet people. Understand that just because we're different doesn't make us enemies. We are all loved by God, and that's a starting point right there.

Free Love

2012-04-25T16:56:00.000-05:00

Source

Imagine Christians who treat those outside their faith with love, kindness, and respect. Who explore peaceful and fulfilling friendships with people of all walks of life and who believe that, should discussions of faith occur, they can share the core of their world view, the essence of their soul, without censure or fear.

Now imagine that discussion being hijacked by someone who has to make sure everyone's perceptions are correct, who must make sure that people know right from wrong according to the Bible.

I have seen this happen on the Internet. Worrywart Christians horrified at the thought that a sinner might think their sinning is "okay" due to some imprudent little whelp of a Christian being too free with the love and the kindness.

And this is why people don't like Christians in this day and age. It's not because Satan is inside them whispering for them to rebel against God. It's not because the media is a meanie. It's not our culture. It's not that Christianity isn't "cool" enough. Those are only excuses for why this style of evangelism fails.

Here's a radical idea: It's not them, it's you. Stop being a jerk who treats unbelievers like writhing balls of sin, and start treating them like human beings who maybe don't like getting hit over the head with the Bible. The age where that was effective (if ever) is over.

Give people respect and you'll get respect. It's a simple formula, but one that has been forgotten by what I hope are fewer Christians than the number I've seen online making this mistake.

Disclaimer: Obviously "you" doesn't apply to everyone but, for safety's sake, if you're not sure about yourself, assume yes and take appropriate self-improvement action.

Freedom

2012-04-24T11:08:00.001-05:00

This warns me not bring up
religion or politics.

Jesus didn't come to free our bodies, didn't come to affect social change. He came to give us spiritual change.

The war I see Christians waging on a social or political front for religious reasons often seems like a distraction because it's not what Jesus did. Guys, slavery existed back then and he didn't end it. He didn't even mention it. And I think we can all agree that slavery is bad. This suggests that saving people's souls is more important than saving their bodies, that spiritual oppression is more threatening to humanity than physical oppression.

Therefore, while we should, of course, fight physical oppression because we're humans and that sort of fight is worthwhile, we also need to keep our priorities straight when it comes to which is more important: freedom from man or freedom from sin.

Persecution

2012-04-24T10:55:00.001-05:00

John the Baptist Hanging Out with Salome

When the Bible talks about oppression and persecution of Christians, it's talking about being strung up on racks and crosses and having your bones broken, your head chopped off, or having all your stuff taken and your women defiled because you're not allowed to believe what you want. Not about politically leftist ideologies encroaching on politically rightist territory or internet trolls bashing their keyboards with anti-God sentiment.

That's why it bugs me when Christians in America seem to forget that we live in a country whose very FIRST rule is that people can believe whatever they want.

God has given us great blessings in America and in all the nations where we are free to believe and share those beliefs. Do some folks dislike us, even hate us? Sure. But that's not persecution. That's opinion.

Sticks and stones may break our bones, but, if they do, the people wielding them will go to jail. As criminals. That is the difference between now and the Early Church. So suck it up when people throw angry words at you and praise God for this blessing of a country and the freedom its laws give us.

Baseline

2012-04-20T07:45:00.000-05:00

When I was a teenager, I argued about religion online. Problem is, I argued about details of Christianity with people who didn't even believe God existed. I argued specific Biblical points with people who thought the Bible was fake or flawed.

Those discussions were doomed from the start. We never could have resolved our points of view because the root of those views was so different.

We had no common baseline.

This is why I find it so frustrating when Christians try to change the behavior or lifestyle of people who haven't committed themselves to God, who perhaps don't even believe in God. Behavior and lifestyle are not the problem. You must either establish that core baseline of belief or give up and move on.

Good News?

2012-04-13T12:53:00.001-05:00

People hate Christians who break their own rules. Particularly the Christians who try really hard to force their rules on everyone around them.

Here's the thing: Jesus doesn't like those people either.

In the New Testament, Jesus calls only one group of people names. The religious leaders. Specifically, the "we love rules but don't mind breaking them ourselves" religious leaders who cared more about appearances than reality. He not only calls them a "brood of vipers" but also tells them that their converts are "twice the child of hell" that they themselves are. Matthew 23 in its entirety is a ripping good setdown.

Jesus also becomes violent once (makes a whip and turns over tables), when he finds merchants cheating folks in the temple. Think of it as walking in on con artists as they try to cheat your grandma out of her life savings.

So when you see Christians in your life who are complete hypocrites, take comfort in the fact that the person they worship is as disgusted with them as you are.

"I Don't Know"

2012-04-10T19:25:00.000-05:00

It took me a few years to realize that admitting ignorance is not the same as admitting that you are wrong. Your faith, your beliefs, your system of living are not automatically called into question when you get stumped. When I was younger, a friend asked me what I thought about a complicated social/religious issue. I didn't have an answer, so I broke down crying.

I didn't cry to manipulate him -- I cried because I had no idea and it had never occurred to me that it was okay to simply say "I don't know." I cried because of the frustration of trying to come up with the perfect answer when I didn't have the remotest clue what to say. I cried because, let's face it, the internet has trained us to always come back with an answer no matter how dumb it is or else we "lose" the argument.

Folks, no one has all the answers. No matter your background or personal beliefs, you're going to come across people who disagree with you and who want you to explain things that you maybe have an opinion on but don't know much about.

Let's revisit the scenario with my friend. After 10+ years, all I've come up with is "I don't know. Plenty of people have theories, but I can't give you the detailed explanation you're asking for. I simply have to trust that God is leading me right."

And that's it. Is it satisfying? Not really. I'd like to have all the answers, but I don't, and I've come to terms with that.

Distractions

2012-04-10T18:56:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer: This isn't a passive aggressive post directed toward anyone. It's just thoughts I want to share.

I find myself at a time of life where I have no patience for religious minutia. Order of service, who to be friends with, where you can go, what you can do, and controversial social issues? I feel like this stuff is a distraction -- a trap of Satan that keeps us so busy bickering about the little things that we aren't focusing on the central point -- Jesus. It's like Christian society is an atom and all the nitpicking and minutia are electrons floating around the edge and Jesus is the gigantic nucleus, but so many Christians are chasing the electrons instead of focusing on the nucleus.

I've chased plenty of electrons in my time. But I'm trying to focus on the nucleus now and ignore the electrons -- and the nitpicky concerns of people chasing them. Because I really, really don't want to get dragged back into that mess.