On Questions of Religion and Bashing

[kcr]

When I was a teenager, Salmann Rushdie published Satanic Verses. I had never heard of Salomon Rushdie before then, and I had never had any contact with Islam at all, not in any meaningful fashion. I had been too young at the time of the Iranian hostage situation, and, at any rate, I was a Polish Catholic living among Irish Catholics in New England. The arguments about the Troubles taught me that even my religion, what had been taught to me as the source of all that was good, could spill blood. What struck me about the death sentence for Rushdie was not the hate but rather the fear. What truth could Islam have, I thought,safe and snug in the arrogance of a teenager, what good could it be, if it was afraid of criticism? What kind of religion couldn't laugh at itself?

And then I became more politically aware, both in terms of the secular world and the politics of the Church. I watched the GOP make a fetish out of the flag, and the Church crush Liberation Theology. If people like me, people who believed, essentially, the same things I believed, could fall into the trap of fearing dissent, then it seemed reasonable that Islam was less to blame than some of the people who populated it.

So what?

So may people on this board have complained about bashing Christians. While it is true that there are a minority of people on this board who cross lines of decency and truthfulness in their attacks on Christianity, it seems to me that too many people are equating dissent with bashing. Their Satanic Verses, it seems, can be found in a myriad of posts on this board. I understand that a little bit. With the ascendancy of the Christian Right in the minds of the MSM, being a liberal Christian can be frustrating.

But impulse to defend our faith against those who question it is misplaced. Christianity -- especially liberal Christianity - is stronger than that. As citizens of a democracy, we all have the responsibility to question the effects of any decision or proposal by any group that affects the public. Religion receives no pass just because it is sacred to so many. As Christians, we have an obligation to help others understand, and to reach for a deeper understanding ourselves.

The proper response to the Salomon Rushdies of the board is not to silence them; it is to refute them. Or, in failing to refute them, to better understand our own religion. Ours is a faith that has withstood lions, intercene bloodletting, and Jerry Falwell. It is strong enough to withstand the questioning of a few members of a message board. And, in the end, the unexamined faith, like the unexamined life, is a shallow and useless thing.

[blue agave]

1. Whaaat ?

[pinkpops]

2. The only ones I see attacking Christianity are so-called

Christians who bend its message to suit their needs. I mean, where does Jesus say to attack the evil-dooers -

"Let's put it this way", said George, blowing the smoke off his pistol barrel, "They are no longer a problem to the United States and our friends and allies."

[seabeyond]

3. jesus doesnt need me to defend him

i agree. i am a christian. have lived it all my life. my children went to a christian school. i pulled them out friday. for exactly that reason. i, nor my children could question the behavior. though absolutely hurtful to my boys, the opposite of the goal of christianity, we couldnt say it out loud

you are right on. i will always question whether it is jesus's words, or if it is man's word thru his interpretation

that is my job as a christian. that is my job walking in christ lite