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!