kill the inconvenient truth
[Another attempt to find myself politically. Here’s to being a left-winger. *Cheers!*]
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
I’m on my dad’s 2000 IBM PC. Imagine what it was like to surf the web 8 years ago. Yes, it’s that bad. My dad, thanks to some neighbors who are tech-savvy, has upgraded to wireless internet. But still, it took about 2 minutes for Firefox to load. No kidding.
Nevertheless, I decided to observe my family as Annie Dillard might, with a careful and thoughtful eye. I guess I realized a few double standards–I’m not shocked or anything–but it just interested me. I will share those observations with you. (In light of Annie Dillard… the author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek… my least favorite book at the time.)
My family is very conservative. Not like… Luke or Adam conservative (uh, make your own inferences off of that) but still, strong Lutherans. My dad’s sister-in-law is probably what I would call a Neo-Lutheran (not like old-fashioned Lutheran, but still conservative).
But my sister and I are more on the left-wing side. [Me? Not as much as her, but let me lump into her group for the time being.]
Okay, back to the story.
They are conservative, which is fine. I like conservatism. I believe in tradition, the occasional legalism when need be. (Again, I’m making unnecessary loopholes here.) BUT when conservatism meets coldheartedness, I get concerned.
And my family is really nice. My aunt, the “Neo-Lutheran,” is one of my favorite people. But, when liberal ideas are mentioned there are walls put up.
I hate the word tolerance because it gets such a bad rep. I don’t believe you should tolerate sin in your life. BUT, I think you should tolerate, or rather, accept other’s beliefs or ideals.
I heard a guy speak at an outdoor concert explaining how evolution was a delusional concept and that anyone thinking differently should be burned at the stake. He said that evolutionists are “ignorant” and according to him ignorant means “stupid.” (And He said that. I quote, “People who believe in evolution are stupid.” I was fuming.)
Stupid? Okay… Mr. Creationist, how’s this for a try, what if we decided that instead of saying all people who are ignorant are stupid, let’s say it is stupid to be ignorant about subjects and judge them anyway.
Did Mr. Creationist even study evolution? Does he not know that evolution IS real? (Microevolution, which has to exist if you believe in Noah’s ark!)
My point is this: if my conservative family can judge liberals without knowing them and Creationists can judge evolution without truly studying it, how are we serving Christ?
This is no longer a political debate, but a Christian one. How is our bigotry showing people the Freedom Christ offers? It’s not.
Hullo, did Jesus sit with his twelve at Seder and discuss why Caesar promoted idol worshiping? Did He sit around arguing against radical politicians or even vent about those “sinful Samaritans” over yonder? No. He loved.
And not only that (as if it weren’t enough) He didn’t even DISCUSS politics (not even once!) He told the story of the good Samaritan, and didn’t even judge the woman at the well. “Give Caesar what is Caesar’s….”
We like to remain ignorant about other people’s beliefs and it builds up walls. You don’t have to sell your Christian beliefs for say, Islam, just because you read the Qur’an.
It bugs me how quick people are to judge other people based off of their beliefs. I don’t want to be hated because I’m a Christian. (yes, I know that will happen regardless). I don’t want to be judged because I believe homosexuals should be allowed to get married.
I’ll only say this once, I promise, DON’T HATE HILLARY CLINTON BECAUSE SHE IS A WOMAN AND BECAUSE SHE ENDORSES PRO-CHOICE.
For crying out loud! Jesus loves her too!
People shouldn’t be judged for their beliefs (their faith in God or lack thereof) or their political party (donkeys or elephants) or anything else.
And now I’m ranting.
It’s Thanksgiving: learn to love. Forget about what people believe. Forget about whether they think its okay to have sex before marriage or if they go to church every Sunday or read their Bible or vote Ron Paul or Obama.
Love them all.
Show mercy.
Speak with love.
Oh, I’m trying not to rant…,
Ezekiel
November 22, 2007