With the passing of my father, I haven't been in the mood to write, but after some events of the last few weeks, I have something to say. First, a little story.
I'm Catholic (disclaimer, you do or don't do whatever it is you do or don't want to do). Occasionally, like on February 16th, I'll go to the Saturday evening service, especially if I want to sleep in on Sunday. It's a great part of being Catholic. As the church service began, the procession to the alter had a scary moment. One of the men who was doing a reading became dizzy as he climbed the stairs. He was medium height, with a bit of girth. My guess is he's easily 250 pounds. That 250 pounds started to fall backwards.
My priest, Father Bill, is not a large man. In his 60's, and with some health issues of his own, my guess would be he's a light 170 pounds. He saw the gentlemen stumbling backwards ahead of him, and without even hesitating he rushed forward to try to catch him. Physics wasn't on his side, as the larger man tumbled backwards, caught the priest about about mid level, and, like a bowling ball, knocked him and a few others rushing to help in various directions.
The good news is no one was hurt. The man informed us all he was on a medication which occasionally makes him dizzy and it just so happened he got dizzy right as he stepped up onto the top of the stairs. Father Bill was okay too. He looked a little shaken, but he was quickly back into his good spirits.
Bill never hesitated. He ran towards the falling man, trying to catch him with zero concern for his own well being. Moments like this are a reminder of why I'm Catholic, why I like to believe in the positivity and love which my religion is supposed to be about. If you're falling, they'll try to catch you.
This is why it's so sad to see the far right Evangelical's version of Christianity. They've purged out all of Jesus' compassion and caring, and scream how Christian teachings have molded to their individual political beliefs (regardless of how little piety their beliefs embody), self validating their embracing of anti-Christian things.
Today, Mike Lindell, the FAR RIGHT head of the Minnesota based My Pillow company, showed up at CPAC, claiming God anointed Trump to win in 2016. It doesn't matter most of Trump's policies go directly against Jesus' teaching; seriously, they are the ABSOLUTE OPPOSITE of what Jesus told us to do. It doesn't matter Trump has had multiple affairs against his third wife; including hooking up with a porn star while cheating on his mistress while cheating on Melania right after she gave birth. And it doesn't matter Trump never goes to church. Seriously, Trump DOES NOT GO TO CHURCH! These people (the same people who insisted a near weekly visitor to church in former President Barack Obama was actually a secret Muslim pretending to be Christian!) just don't care about reality. They're so desperate to feel as if they're right, they'll ignore the blinding evidence to the contrary smacking them repeatedly in the head (mocking the handicapped, threatening to sexually assault a married woman, his failure at helping people wiped out by natural disasters, baby prisons, his constant insults and unacceptable online behavior, losing THOUSANDS of children Trump had ripped away from their parents at the border, and then shrugging their shoulders when their horrific mistake was exposed).
This blind worship is the real reason people are leaving Christianity. Far right Evangelicals are determined to make Christianity bow to their political beliefs. When you purge the love, compassion, peace and humanity out of Christianity, and then edit down the remainder of the Bible to fit a specific narrative, it makes a product which isn't welcoming or inspiring. It pushes people away. The only people left are the ones who claim to love the Bible, but who have never really read it. They only want their political opinions validated, and the far right Evangelical version of Jesus (hate others you don't like, Jesus loves guns, needy people are just lazy, never welcome in strangers from strange lands, discrimination is biblical, worship money) gives them validation.
I have zero doubt most far right Evangelicals would try to help the falling man, but if they knew the man was gay, or if they knew the man was an undocumented immigrant, or if they knew the person falling had had an abortion, would they still try to catch them? I honestly feel many of them would allow the person to fall, and afterwards, as they tried to hide their snickering, they'd preach about how bad they felt, how this was Jesus punishing them, and they'll pray for them.
Before far right Evangelical guy comes at me and screams "how dare you," I'm not the one who's caused myself and many others to think this way, YOU are. The far right is killing my religion, and I've had enough. Far right Evangelicals have become heretics, and heretics like to think they're divine, even though they're hopelessly lost.
If someone is falling in front of me, I hope I'll have the courage and speed to catch them, regardless of whomever they are.
Well said. I think the public has changed its view of evangelicals as a result of what you describe. No longer do I give any self-proclaimed religious person the "benefit of the doubt" on their behavior or statements. If other people are like me -- it's huge. It means an incalculable amount of "good will" have been erased from the books of (sadly) all Christianity.
ReplyDeleteIf Franklin Graham acts like a right wing political operative, that's what he is -- he's not a minister. And he shouldn't be described as so in the media.