Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Is a Christian Nation Anti-Christ?

2:14 PM by Christi Bowman

I love dialogue. My favorite part about reading a fellow blogger's blog is reading the comments his/her post has stirred his/her readers to make, because that is where the true conversation lies. A writer cannot disclaim everything nor can they come close to considering all of the opinions out there concerning the subject they have chosen to expound upon. It disturbs me when people get angry at the writer for not considering a certain aspect before writing his/her post. There is absolute merit to a reader pointing out something they believe the writer has not thought about when making his/her point...it is integral to discussion. Pointing out holes in a writer's thought helps both the reader and the writer form a more thought out opinion as long as both the reader and the writer are willing to be open minded. Still there is no need for anger, or sarcasm, or treating a writer as if they are stupid and not aloud to have an opinion if their post fails to champion a certain reader's opinion on the subject.

"To please all is to please none"

This post is a follow up post to yesterday's post: "Is Living Counter to American Culture Un-godly?" A dialogue about my post began in the comments section of Facebook. It seems that some readers saw my post yesterday as an attack on consumerism. It was not. My brother in law, as part of his response posted this:

"If instead I hear you call for a change in America because of over-indulgence, I can support that"

I love the family marrying my husband has brought into my life...and I thank my brother in law for his support as that means a lot to me. His comment about yesterday's post sparked this reply from me (spruced up and expounded upon for blog purposes) and I am writing it as a blog post because I think it helps further expound on what I was actually saying yesterday.

Viva la dialogue!

I don't think I would push for a change in America. Pushing for a change in America because of a belief system is exactly where I believe the problem lies! Because Christians believe in the "godly" heritage of America, it seems they feel they have a right, whenever they feel a Christian ideology has been trampled upon, to dictate the morality of the nation by shaking their fist in the air, insulting the American people by insisting on a national return to God, and dictating that return by insisting on the need to follow the particular Christian path they deem is the most correct and therefor the biblical one. I believe this is anti-Christ in that Jesus did not get the Roman empire nor the Jewish nation to back his ideology as part of his plan.

Why, if this was not the example that Christ set, do Christians, of all practices, feel the need to get America, the nation, on board to make their ideology legit? Why is their so much faith and trust in the dirty rotten system? What I don't believe Christian's realize, and maybe I am naive in this, is that if America, the nation, were to adopt a certain way of practicing Christianity, then because America is a nation and can only do what a nation does, then that particular way of practicing Christianity would become oppressive and therefor anti Christ.

Christianity preaches "Do unto others as you would have it done unto you" and "Love others as you love yourself" right? Why can't Christians practice what they preach and in so doing love Muslims, for example, like they love themselves and realize that since Christians would more than likely reject a Muslim nation it is more than probable that Muslims would reject a Christian nation and MAYBE...JUST MAYBE separation of church and state exists for far more reasons than to protect Christians from other religions, but it also serves to protect other peoples from the religion of Christianity (yes Christians, unfortunately people need protection from some of you as well)...HECK...I think we would ALL agree that if America adopted as its national practice some forms of the religion of Christianity (Fred Phelps anyone?) even those who call themselves Christians would feel oppressed...NOBODY wants a nation that gets behind a religion...unless it is their religion...and then it must be their faction of that religion. Why does a religion need a nation's help unless its plans are to be oppressive? The very call by Christians for the return of America back to her "godly" heritage is not only insulting, it is downright oppressive and anti the Christ it claims to follow!

To get to the point of my post: This is exactly why I have determined that living counter to the Christian culture of America is in fact very Godly. A Christian nation is anti-Christ!

Anti-consumerism was NEVER the point of yesterday's post. It was just ONE of the many ways of being counter cultural that I listed. Maybe it was the following quote that led some readers to believe I was attacking consumerism:

"Know ye, that not the happiness of this earth is the sign of God's grace, and not him whom the Lord loveth doth He exalt with happiness and good fortune. The possessions of this earth are not the prizes which God distributeth among His chosen. The possessions of this earth He giveth to the wicked for the little merit that is in them. Often He maketh His chosen one the target of arrows; His beloved ones He rewardeth with sorrows: He filleth the way of the righteous toward Him with thorns, for the sorrows of man bring him nearer to God." ~ The Nazarene (pg 301)

I utilized that quote as a way to insist that every time a people group gets national status to promote their ideology they are the oppressors and therefor the rich. That quote was an excellent way to say that God does not bless by wordly riches. If God were to bless with wordly wealth than most of the world's population would be DAMNED just because of where they were born and I refuse to believe that! It is a popular Christian belief in America to THINK God blesses monetarily because that is what Christianized America would have us believe...but Jesus himself states: "I do NOT give to you as the world gives"

I am NOT against consumerism as a nation of people practice it per se...I AM ABSOLUTELY AGAINST THE CHRISTIANIZING OF CONSUMERISM! Christianized consumerism absolutely oppresses those who in no way can afford to live up to the standards of the American dream. It leads them to believe that the blessings of God do not fall on them and therefor they must be one of God's unlovlies. The Christianization of of consumerism leads to debt as no one wishes to believe that they were solely created to be ignored by their creator and so they are willing to pay for the so called blessings of the American god with credit...and then the Christians come out and say that debt is a curse...does tying heavy burdens on the back's of people while not lifting a finger to help carry them ring a bell to anyone???

In closing I would like to state that I do not care how any Christian practices their religion. Be it Joel Osteen's "your Best Life Now" or a Mennonite congregation focused on self abnegation. The Christian Bible states that ALL see through a mirror dimly. ALL are wrong in their interpretation of God. Christian practices may have gems that point to God and reveal a facet of Him. Some forms of Christianity may speak to certain people about God and help them see Him more clearly, but no ONE Christian practice is the one and only way to God Almighty...get over yourselves!!! Christianity is one framework among many that God chooses to reveal Himself in...Jesus was a Jew.

May ALL Christians STOP seeking to Christianize a nation, that is by its very existence self seeking, to back up their own ideologies...it makes you look bad, and it confuses people who find themselves at your door step looking for true transformative spirituality! It is obvious you yourselves are spoiled self seekers who seek only to make yourselves comfortable in your own exclusive nation state! Instead choose to delve deeper into your particular understanding and choose to be a light of love and ACCEPTANCE in the dark places people find themselves in.

"When you dig deep enough into your own particularity you find universality" ~ Cornel West

11 comments - Permalink -

 

Monday, November 16, 2009

Is Living Counter to American Culture Un-godly?

12:07 PM by Christi Bowman

I have been researching freeganism and this exploration led to my first dumpster diving encounter last Thursday. This activity is not exactly legal. I found much that was edible especially in the way of produce.

Yesterday afternoon my husband prepared some of the squash that my friend and I had rescued. As we were enjoying our meal my husband stated: "I love eating food that represents standing in opposition to the system."

There is something exhilarating, for some of us residing in the good ol' U.S. of A, about living counter to the culture especially when ingrained deep into that culture is the American Civil Religion that calls itself Christianity. I wear my hair in dread locks for many reasons and I have a piercing on my face. I don't exactly look like your "typical" American and I look even less like your typical American Christian. Many American Christians would not even consider me a Christian and in the American sense I don't think I am.

"For a long time I listened to other people to decide whether I was still Christian or not...the great relief was I decided that I got to say if I was Christian or not and so I have relaxed enormously...I say I am a follower of the Christ path... " ~ Barbara Brown Taylor

I came across a post written by Brian McLaren who recently visited Australia. He stated that in some respects Australia is many years ahead of us because of the absence of cultural religion.

I hear a lot of people barking these days about turning America back to her "godly" roots and that language bothers me. By calling America godly or saying that she once was we label the unholy activities she has been in or is involved with as somehow "Christian". When we insinuate that God is on the side of America than everything that she does gets a free pass and those that stand against her practices are not only un-American but they are also anti-Christian and therefor assumed to be un-godly as well (that is a dicussion that deserves its own post.)

America is famous for her dream and the personification of that dream is known for its certain look, its particular way of being, and its possession of things. America's very mantra of life, liberty, and happiness reaffirms her obsession with "my life, "my liberty", and "my happiness."

"Know ye, that not the happiness of this earth is the sign of God's grace, and not him whom the Lord loveth doth He exalt with happiness and good fortune. The possessions of this earth are not the prizes which God distributeth among His chosen. The possessions of this earth He giveth to the wicked for the little merit that is in them. Often He maketh His chosen one the target of arrows; His beloved ones He rewardeth with sorrows: He filleth the way of the righteous toward Him with thorns, for the sorrows of man bring him nearer to God." ~ The Nazarene (pg 301)

Some of us have been in the process of rejecting the dream for a long time and others of us are in the beginning stages of turning our heads away in disgust (and hanging our heads in shame). The rejection of the American dream can be seen in the many choices people are making that are counter to the culture that tries to swallow us up. For some, rejection of the dream comes in standing up for one's own sexuality or for the sexuality of others that has, for way to long, been seen as "counter to the system." For others rejection of he system can be seen in their political leanings. Some people choose to wear the badge of rejection by their lifestyle choices, how they shop (or how they live without shopping) and in what they eat; others display their solidarity against the system with their appearance. There is no ONE way to appropriately reject the dream; I have found that there is usually a mixture of the behavior practices I have mentioned in a single individual and there are more ways to reject the system than I have the time to mention or the mind to understand.

Calling America a Christian nation makes all the things that we consider American come under this very exclusive umbrella of "godliness". This makes prophetic voices against the American dream very difficult to hear. Americans have clothed their American lives in Christian-ese: Today, to speak out against the American dream is seen as an attack on Christianity and to live in opposition to it, in the myriad of counter cultural ways, is considered ungodly.

7 comments - Permalink -