In My Name, Pastor Joseph Crippen, November 13, 2016

This is a wonderful sermon given just after Donald Trump was elected into public office. I would include a disclaimer saying that this doesn't express my views, but if that were the case, I wouldn't be sharing it.

Christianity and Halloween

A lot of Christians go absolutely nuts over Halloween.  Not in the positive way that several children do.  They go nuts in a bad way.  They panic at it being evil and satanic.  There are some who even suggest answering the door for trick-or-treaters to tell those children that they'll burn in Hell for trick-or-treating.  Really?  And you the houses giving out raisins were bad.

Historically, Halloween may have some origins from what is now labeled as Paganism.  So does Christmas, but Christians don't complain about that.  It also came from All Hallow's Eve, which developed when former Catholics wanted to find ways to do things that Protestant Reformers didn't allow them to do.

Having given those brief comments on Halloween's history, however, Halloween is currently a day where people hand out candy to their neighbors' children.  Does Jesus not say to love one's neighbor as oneself?  What's more loving to one's neighbor than giving them free candy?  The way I see it, Christians should be celebrating Halloween.

Can't churches have their doors open and candy set aside for trick-or-treaters?  Maybe put up a sign or two wishing them to have a happy Halloween.  Maybe even have members of the congregation to volunteer to take the kids trick-or-treating if the children's parents are busy and can't find a friend.

All in all, I see embracing Halloween as following Jesus' message to love one's neighbor.

Shalom!

Conversion Statistics?

It has seemed to be fairly common for Christians to be focused on how many people are being converted.  Sometimes it is denomination specific, such as with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, better known as the Mormon Church.  People continuously look at polls and statistics of how many people there are of what religion, percentages, etc.  People have said that Christianity is statistically on the decline.

Something interesting that Mormon missionaries are sometimes told is to not think about numbers, but to keep "spreading the word."  Several years ago, I encountered street proselytizers, and I was polite and pretended to be interested.  They were handing out pamphlets.  One of them commented that many people don't accept the pamphlets, and that it was fine.

Although I don't think we should be thinking about are how many people are becoming Christians, I'm going to disagree with these certain Christians on the attitude towards numbers.  I think there are numbers that matter, concerning Christianity.  I think Christians should be focused on how many people are being impacted in a positive light by Christians.  Christians are to be servants and helpers for all people.

What is the statistic that matters here?  The closer to 100%, the better.  The higher the number, the better.  However, this is not a statistic we can keep track of.  In brief, let's forget about conversion attempts, and let Christianity spread, not through people becoming Christians, but through people being shown love from Christians.  Let Christians be servants to the people of the world.  Isn't that what Jesus taught his disciples to do?

Shalom!

The Christian Name

I've encountered quite a few people who have said that they no longer identify as a Christian, but as a Jesus follower instead.  They do so because people typically associate the term, Christian, with hypocrite, homophobic, bigot, dogmatic, or many other things of the like.  They prefer calling themselves something else, such as a Christ-like, Jesus-follower, or Christ-follower.  There is nothing essentially wrong with doing that.  However, do we really want to surrender that name to the hypocrites?

Martin Luther King Jr., Desmond Tutu, Dorothy Day, Rosa Parks, and many others identified as Christian.  When we surrender our name to Fundamentalists, we're also surrendering their religious identity as well, along with the religious identity of people like Saint Francis of Assisi and Hildegard von Bingen.  When we surrender the name to Fundamentalists, we're giving these Fundamentalists more power.  We're letting them have complete control over the religion.

Something similar going on at the moment is that a terrorist group that used to be known as ISIS has given that name a negative meaning.  Isis was originally the name of an Ancient Egyptian deity.  She was a venerable figure, a loving mother and wife, as well as a symbol of women's empowerment.  Before this terrorist organization existed, there were groups and people who were named Isis.  People have named their daughters Isis, there's a store that has Isis in it's name, and there are other stories that could be given.  Some of them have been dealing with hard times, and have been worried about needing to change their name.

Many have been telling them not to surrender the name of this positive figure to terrorists.  We should do the same concerning the Christian name.

I will confess that I frequently refer to myself as a Progressive Christian rather than a Christian.  However, a major word in that title is Christian.  We can add different things in, but we should make sure that we don't surrender the Christian name to Fundamentalists.

Shalom!

A Challenge of Religious Tolerance and Acceptance

There are Christians and people of other faiths, including myself, who like to have our views challenged.  I put a lot of time into learning about other faiths, and I sometimes find learning about some of their views challenging.  The most challenging part of it for me, however, is not finding out about differences or problems.  The biggest difficulty I have is seeing acts of love and compassion being performed by people of other faiths.  For me, when I help people out, I frequently think about it as a Christian, and I try to help without question.  That is fueled by and rooted in my Christianity.

I was at a backyard party with several Pagans, celebrating a major Pagan festival, and there was someone nearby who needed help.  My reaction to help was as usual.  However, I didn't have all the resources needed.  It felt strange for me, seeing what I should have expected, as these were all nice people.  The host of the party helped the person out, and to all of our knowledge, things turned out fine.

The strange thing here, and I'll admit that this is not a good thing about me, is that I was almost upset to see non-Christians showing acts of love and compassion.  I felt like these were things that belonged to Christians.  The thing is, however, these aren't values that are strictly Christian.  Due to the actions of Fundamentalists, many people de-convert from Christianity, in favor of these values.  Other religions promote these values as well.

Something I realized a short time later was that this is something Jesus addresses.  To quote the full story:

[Luke 10:30b-35] “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

I frequently have quoted that parable and talked about it, usually looking at it in context with passages from the so-called Old Testament about how the Samaritans turned away from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  However, this was a time where I really needed to reflect on the message of that parable.

The message Jesus gives is that those who have different religious practices and beliefs from us are also good people.  The message is not only that we are to accept them, but that we are to also embrace the similarities we share.  I'm not as good at it as I appear to be.

I frequently comment to people that people of all religions have values that they feel are strictly theirs, but belong to many faiths.  Intellect isn't strictly an Atheist value, personal spirituality isn't strictly a Pagan value, religious devotion isn't strictly a Muslim value, and love isn't strictly a Christian value.  However, I don't seriously apply it.  Truly understanding this can be a challenge.  Many of us like having a feeling of superiority of our religions, even if we're accepting of other faiths, but we have to admit that we're not superior.

Shalom!

The Burden Progressive Christians Must Bear

At the beginning of Meredith Wilson's The Music Man, a group of traveling salesmen talk (or semi-rap) about one other traveling salesman named Harold Hill.  In the movie version, just before that scene, one of the salesmen is running onto a train, being chased by angry people from the town.  One of the townspeople makes a comment that they've made it clear that traveling salesmen are not welcome in their town.  That salesman comments to the others on the train that Harold Hill is, in his exact words, "giving us all a black eye," as the next traveling salesman to come after Harold Hill is "tarred and feathered and rode out to the city limits on a rail."  Why?  Because Harold Hill is a fraud, and when people have been ripped off by a traveling salesman who turns out to be a fraud, they're not willing to trust the following traveling salesman.

I've seen this same situation concerning Christians.  There are many Christians that are kindhearted people.  There are many Christians that are anything but hateful or homophobic.  However, so many non-Christians have been very heavily ridiculed by Christians that are hateful, homophobic, spreading fear, bigotry, and discrimination, all in the name of their faith.  They're no longer able to trust Christians who are kindhearted, loving, and accepting of LGBT people and people of other faiths.  I came across a discussion on the internet where one person was being ridiculed for being a Christian, one comment made was from someone who commented about having been hurt enough times by Christians to know better, and that person then said words to the effect of "you're all hateful bigots."

It is true that non-Christians have a pretty big burden to bare as well, due to the behavior of Fundamentalist Christians.  People of many different faiths have the burden of negative stereotypes, mostly spread through lies and misinformation by Fundamentalist Christians.  There is a difference here.  We Christians have to face the fact that this negative image given onto us is not just bad press.  It is from peoples' honest experiences and cold hard facts about many that identify as Christians.

Are there ways to deal with this?  The main thing we can do is when we have a chance under appropriate circumstances, to make open statements (via social media or anywhere else) saying that we are deeply sorry for the pain that our fellow Christians have caused all of these people.  We can openly show empathy, and admit that we have a responsibility.  We can also do what we can to be positive examples of Christians as parts of our churches and other faith communities.

In the end, however, we have to also accept the fact that some people have closed their hearts to Christians, and we have to accept that it is for valid reasons.

Shalom!

From One Religion to Another

I've come across stories of parents, disappointed about their children leaving the religion in which they raised their children.  Some of them see it as a failure.  Others have hopes that their children come back.  In fact, my parents and I are one of those stories.

I was raised to be Jewish, and I came to be very proud and passionate about that.  I enjoyed lighting candles for Chanukah.  I loved our Passover Seder.  I even made the decision for myself to be Bar Mitzvahed.  What went wrong?

To be honest, in the back of my mind, I'd always had an attraction to Christianity.  Before I could read, my parents would sometimes read from a children's book of Bible stories.  As Jesus was a major part of western culture (and still is), my parents thought I should learn about him and his story.  I was quite fond of hearing and reading about Jesus.

After being Bar Mitzvahed, I slowly lost interest in religion.  However, after about eight years, I ended up starting to go to church.  I slowly became more in love with Christianity, and I became quite fond of several Progressive Christian writers.  Becoming a Christian helped me better myself, and the symbolic system fit well with me.

I didn't have any problems with Judaism.  None at all.  However, when two people in a romantic relationship break up, does it mean they didn't like the other one, or does it mean that the two just weren't right for each other?  Although I'm still on my spiritual journey, I feel that this is the path that I was meant to be on.

When someone moves from one religion to another, it might be that they had a problem with that religion, but it might just be that it didn't fit them.  Like Felix Mendelssohn was, I am very proud of my Jewish background.  However, I feel that becoming a Christian has brought out some of the best in myself, and I feel that I have been of much more value to the Christian religion as well.

Shalom!

Response to Anti-Christian Sentiments

First off, let's just get this out of the way.  This blog is not a message to those holding anti-Christian sentiments.  This is my advice on how Christians should respond.  If you're someone who holds anti-Christian sentiments and are curious of what I have to say, you can read on.  If you're a Christian wondering how to respond to anti-Christian sentiments, read on.  Otherwise, have a nice day, and I wish you peace and love.

Although statistically, our society has Christians in the majority, in a lot of social circles, and in our industry, you may see quite a bit of anti-Christian sentiment.  Christianity is looked upon as hateful, homophobic, bigoted, illogical, ignorant, and the list goes on.  In Adam Sandler's movie, Little Nicky, there is an extremely paranoid street preacher.  Kanye West had a picture depicting him in a divine Christ-esque way, with an upside-down cross in front, and... let's just say that there's a lot to it.  Other examples might include songs by Marilyn Manson, and some of the jokes George Carlin has made.  There have also been groups of people putting up Satanist statues and handing out Satanist activity books.

How do I respond to that?

To be honest, I don't.  At least not directly.  I frequently see other Christians getting scared and paranoid that the antichrist is coming, and they makes claims that we're all in grave danger.  A couple of major cases have been when my friends saw the Kanye West image or news about the Satanist statue being put up.  The antichrist?  Really?  Others might make very defensive comments about how this is rude and hateful (which I'll admit that I recall doing once or twice in some scenarios).  I'm definitely not a Christian who gets paranoid or scared about the devil, but one who makes big comments fearing the devil ends up looking overly scared.  Making defensive comments will make one come off as a whiny brat, and when openly oneself to yourself as a Christian, one is, in some regards, also speaking on behalf of Christianity itself.

When I see anti-Christian sentiment expressed, I typically try to roll my eyes and ignore it.  My response to all of it in general, however, is to be a positive example of a Christian.  To be loving and compassionate, to be well-read, to help others, and to have humility.  The reason anti-Christian sentiment exists is because of the large number of Christians that have given Christianity a negative image.

There's a punk bad called Bad Religion, and their logo is a cross with a prohibition symbol over it.  Something to point out is some of the words in "Sorrow," one of their songs:

When all soldiers lay their weapons down
When all kings and all queens relinquish their crowns
And when the only true messiah rescues us from ourselves
Well then I do imagine there will be sorrow no more 

In all honesty, I think of those words as having an extremely Christian message.  However, when that sort of message is looked upon as an anti-Christian message, it just goes to show how Christianity has become misrepresented.

It is up to Christians to be a positive example of the religion, and it is up to Christians to bring an end to the many problems that have caused the anti-Christian sentiment.  If we're going to look at the sentiments from non-Christians, we should think about why it exists.  If we're going to look at it all with honesty, Christianity is under attack... from within.  Street preachers, bigotry-promoting televangelists, homophobic groups, etc. are the main problem.  Non-Christians with anti-Christian sentiment are the victims here.

Shalom!

Are We Christians Our Brother's/Sister's Keeper?

When looking at the actions and discriminatory behavior of Fundamentalist Christians and other such people, there's a question that I sometimes ask myself.  Are we, liberal and progressive Christians, responsible for what they do?  Several liberal and progressive Christians might disagree with this answer, but I do have an answer.  I'm going to answer this question by asking a question.  In the gospels, when the Pharisees are oppressive and hateful in the name of God and their faith, what does Jesus do.  Does Jesus stand idly by and watch?  Does he go to the people that they're being hateful and bigoted towards and say "not all of them are like me?"  Does he walk away and pretend it isn't happening?  Does he do any of that, or does he stand up against the Pharisees and give comfort to those they've hurt?

This may be hard for some Christians to accept, but it is part of our job to stand up for the oppressed and help those in need.  When most of this oppression is being caused by our fellow Christians, we should definitely take action.  This viewpoint may de-convert just as many people from Christianity as hypocrisy has.  This might be hard to accept or embrace.  However, following Jesus' teachings doesn't simply mean standing idly by while people are being oppressed.  It doesn't mean letting hatred and oppression continue.  It means helping the victims out.  Showing loving acts of kindness.

When mentioning this idea to non-Christians, many have said that we shouldn't feel responsible for the behavior and actions of Fundamentalists.  Some have added that we are much more Christ-like than they are.  However, as kind as their words are, we shouldn't let our faith become as corrupted as it has.

There are so many things we can do.  Christians Tired of Being Misrepresented was founded as a way of taking responsibility for the actions of these Christians.  We can also openly express our sympathy to the victims of our fellow Christians, as well as speak against these other Christians.  Primarily, articles have been written against them, criticizing them.  However, we can also write letters to some of these Christians, pleading to them to stop the hatred, but it is best to do that in a loving way.  Many of these actions might have little to no effect, but it's a start.

One thing to remember is that we should always do things with a loving heart and compassionate heart, as hard as it can sometimes be.

Shalom!

More Christian Talk on Pornography

Fairly recently, as of the writing of this, I wrote a blog about Christianity and pornography.  My focus in it was mostly on the process of making pornographic films, and if it was demeaning to women.  There was a Progressive Christian Facebook page that posted it, and there was a lot of discussion.

Something that was a major eye opening experience for me was looking at the people who had clicked 'like' on it from that Facebook page.  When looking to see the names and profile pictures of the people who clicked 'like,' I was expecting a bunch of teenage and college boys to be the ones to express gratitude.  However, to my surprise, most of the gratitude seemed to be from strong and empowered women.

Something that ended up getting more likes than my blog was a comment one of these women made about why she thinks pornography is so heavily looked down upon.  She commented that the real issue people have is that sexuality is so heavily looked down upon.  Our bodies are considered shameful, sexuality and lust are considered sinful, and they are forced to be repressed.  Admittedly, I think this very intelligent woman was onto something.

Many other comments seemed to be on the negative effects that it has on marriages.  The story typically seems to be a husband is caught watching porn behind his wife's back, and they end up getting divorced.  I wonder if the problem is the watching of pornography or the fact that he was lying and doing something behind his wife's back.  If it is equal to cheating, isn't the husband the problem?  Blaming pornography is like blaming the woman that the man cheated with.  She possibly had no idea that he was married, situation depending.

One issue people seemed to express was about the effects it has on men and the lustful desires it gives them.  In all honesty, I find that viewpoint comparable with the viewpoint that women should cover up because it will add feelings of lust onto men.  People are responsible for their own desires and actions.  Blaming pornography for the actions of men who watch it is freeing them of their responsibilities.  If a man has desires to rape, cheat, molest, or doing anything in that nature, he is responsible for that.  Add to that, if porn has any part in this story, it is that he watched a film because he already had those desires in the first place.

Another issue people seemed to have was that these films are demeaning towards women in how women are depicted in the films.  I think that the problem here is not that pornography does so, but that our society does so.  Our society doesn't objectify women because of pornography.  Pornography objectifies women because of our society.

The last criticism that I will include here is what Jesus would say.  He does say that when a man looks upon a woman with lust, he is committing adultery in his heart already.  Again, that's his own responsibility, and not the responsibility of pornography.  Without porn, people might watch a public speech, where they are sexually attracted to the speaker.  They could watch a scene in a Hollywood movie and have lustful desires.  Who am I kidding?  They could look at the Venus de Milo statue or Michaelangelo's David.  Without porn, people are already committing acts of lust.  Most relationships probably start when two people are sexually attracted to each other, or in other words, have lustful desires.  When I first wrote this blog, I wondered if Jesus is talking about it in the situation of if one is already married or not, or if he is speaking specifically in the terms of having lustful desires without any thought, consideration, or respect for that woman as a human being.  Something about sexual activity is consent, and in the case of someone who has fully consented to be looked upon with sexual desire may not be what Jesus was thinking of.  He lived in a time where, except for prostitutes, there weren't places where people could give an open permission to be lusted after in a consensual way.  Something to note, however, is that it is only during times of watching their films when they have given their consent.

Some interesting things I saw on the other side of the argument was a story from a woman, talking about how she and her husband enjoy watching pornography together.  She was saying it in response to someone who was objecting to pornography, and saying that we should learn to understand intimacy better.  She said that for herself and her husband, watching porn adds intimacy into their sexual relationship.  I really have nothing to say for or against her argument.  All I can really say about herself and her husband is good for them.  It's their life, and I'm unsure if I should even be talking about what they do together.  As I don't have a name or a face included, and the story isn't too detailed, I think I can safely include this story.

In conclusion, I don't think porn is the cause of peoples' problems.  I think porn exists more because of peoples' problems.  Concerning the effects it has on couples, I think the causes there are with the couples, not films being watched.  I'm not saying if people should watch porn or not, that's their own business.  My view is we shouldn't be judgmental unless something is causing harm.  Here, I've expressed that the harm seems to be from other places.

[EDIT: With further thought, I still see nothing wrong with the activity of pornography.  However, there are several mainstream porn films that may have a negative effect on how people are viewing and understanding sexuality.  Yes, these films are meant to be fantasies as movies typically are.  However, these are fantasies that encourage negative behavior.  What makes it even worse is that, due to our lack of sex education, pornography is the main way that young teenagers are being educated on sex.]

Shalom!