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Kicking the Samaritan: Christianity and the Anti-Muslim Backlash

by Don M. Burrows in Christian Issues, Current Events, Islam

View image | gettyimages.com

 

By now, the anti-Muslim backlash we witness after every fresh terror attack is not all that surprising. Bigots will be bigots, and they are not known for complexity or nuance in the face of … well, anything.

What makes it more unsettling this time is that while in decades past the top Republican in the country has denounced Islamophobia, this time around Republican candidates for the presidency have fallen over themselves to be ever more hateful toward Muslims.

A full 23 governors (most of them Republicans) announced on Monday that they would not welcome Syrian refugees into their borders, while Jeb Bush noticeably departed from his brother’s more measured words and declared that we should screen people by religion – accepting only Christian refugees and not Muslim ones into America.

As if that weren’t bad enough, the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, then mused on national television that we should look at shutting down mosques.

All of this from the party of “religious freedom.”

We could wax on about how hypocritical they are for thinking religious freedom means actively discriminating against gays or denying your employees birth control, as opposed to, you know, shutting down houses of worship. But their mentality seems far darker than mere hypocrisy.

Need it even be said in this day and age? To turn one’s back on refugees is the epitome of anti-Christian action.

When Jesus was asked what one must do to attain eternal life… [Read more…] about Kicking the Samaritan: Christianity and the Anti-Muslim Backlash

How the Traditional Doctrine of Hell Undermines Christian Character

by Randal Rauser in Christian Issues

Last year I interviewed Robin Parry, author of the book The Evangelical Universalist (which he wrote under the pseudonym “Gregory MacDonald”). During the interview, Robin observed that Christians should want universalism to be true. Indeed, he put the point rather provocatively when he declared,
“You’d have to be a psychopath not to want [universalism] to be true.”
Psychopath?! That’s mighty strong language, isn’t it? But as provocative as that statement might sound, Parry pointed out that Calvinist philosopher Paul Helm agrees on the main point: Christians should want universalism to be true.

If you want to see folk damned, there is something wrong with you

Nor is Helm the only defender of eternal conscious torment to make this point. With the publication of Knowing God in 1973, J.I. Packer quickly established himself as one of the foremost conservative Calvinist theologians and a staunch defender of doctrines like penal substitution and eternal conscious torment. As conservative as he is, even Packer makes the following declaration: “If you want to see folk damned, there is something wrong with you!” (Revelations of the Cross (Hendrickson, 1998), 163).

If, as Packer suggests, you shouldn’t want to see anybody damned, then it logically follows that you should want to see them all saved. And wanting to see all people saved entails wanting universalism to be true.

This leaves us with an interesting… [Read more…] about How the Traditional Doctrine of Hell Undermines Christian Character

It's All About How We See

by Chuck Queen in Christian Spirituality

See what you see. This is the meaning of a Jesus saying in the Gospel of Thomas,
Jesus said, “Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed” (Logion 5, trans. by Marvin Meyer).
Not long ago I went into the kitchen to fix a piece of toast for breakfast. I opened the pantry door and looked in the basket where we keep the bread. No bread. So I looked around in the pantry. Couldn’t find it. I opened the cabinet where we keep the cereal. It wasn’t there. So I did what many people do. I blamed someone. I’m thinking, “Ok, where did my wife put the bread?” In the meanwhile I cracked my boiled egg, peeled it, and as I tossed the last piece of shell in the trash, I glanced around in the pantry one more time and guess what? There was the bread. Guess where it was? In the basket where it was supposed to be. So how did I miss it? How did I not see what I was obviously looking at it?

While this may be a rare kind of experience in the physical world, in the spiritual world it happens all the time. We tend to see reality as we are, not as it really is.

Consider how two Christians can read the same biblical text and interpret it not only in different ways, but opposite ways. We all know how the Bible has been used to support slavery, violence, patriarchy, oppression, elitism, nationalism, bigotry, etc.

In the hands of an unenlightened, unloving person even the most… [Read more…] about It's All About How We See

God Still Wishes He Were Dead: A Scene-By-Scene Analysis of the God's Not Dead 2 Trailer

by Don M. Burrows in Movie Reviews

I’ve been avidly consuming any and all speculation and analysis of the trailers for the upcoming “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” and it struck me that we should do our own scene-by-scene analysis of the latest trailer to drop for another blockbuster sequel. I’m referring, of course, to the no-doubt highly anticipated sequel to 2014’s “God’s Not Dead.”

As I wrote in my review of that horrid film, “God’s Not Dead” was a narrative fantasy of conservative evangelical projection. Non-Christians were bad. Academics and universities were bad. But atheists were especially bad. And good Christians have to rise up to defend their faith when they are confronted with a philosophy professor who seems more interested in science than philosophy (I have to agree there – that would definitely go on my student evaluation).

It’s hard to imagine a story even more divorced from reality than “God’s Not Dead” — hard, that is, until one sees the new trailer for “God’s Not Dead 2”:

https://youtu.be/Fq6lG4GeEMI

First off, what’s with the lame title? Most sequels nowadays don’t just go with numbers. Why not the obvious “God’s Still Not Dead” with maybe an editing caret adding “still”? Or better yet – “God’s Not Deader” or maybe “God’s Not Dead – Not Dead Harder”?

Whatever the title, the sequel appears to be connected to the first film only by way of sharing a (purely) fictional universe. But this time, the hero is a school teacher in a plot so impossible it should really be classed as speculative… [Read more…] about God Still Wishes He Were Dead: A Scene-By-Scene Analysis of the God's Not Dead 2 Trailer

A Progressive Baptism on the Banks of the Chicago River

by Christian Chiakulas in Christian Spirituality

Recently, on an almost unreasonably beautiful November day, I baptized my daughter in the Chicago River. Certain elements of my extended family had been nagging me throughout my daughter’s first year on planet Earth to do so, despite my lack of a formal denomination, “In case anything happens.”

What they meant could not be clearer. They were afraid that if some terrible accident befell my daughter and she passed away, she would be consigned to hell or purgatory because of her lack of baptism.

Growing up and into my teens I had thought of baptism as a sort of insurance policy; babies are too young to accept Jesus as their savior, so baptism is a way to do it for them – just in case.

I no longer think of baptism this way, mostly because I refuse to accept the notion of a God who would damn babies to hell (or purgatory) because they never had the chance for an old man to sprinkle water over their head. Consequently I did not plan at first to even bother with baptizing my daughter.

But still, something about it nagged at me. One of the things we can be most sure of about Jesus is that he was baptized by John before the beginning of his own ministry. If it was good enough for Jesus, who am I to argue?

Of course, all the doctrine about hell and purgatory is post-Biblical, post-Jesus. What did baptism actually mean to Jesus, to John?

Mark (the earliest gospel) says, almost at the very beginning of his story, “John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism… [Read more…] about A Progressive Baptism on the Banks of the Chicago River

Jesus-Deniers Still Don’t Get It

by Don M. Burrows in Christian Issues

Despite what New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman calls a “cottage industry” promoting the claim that Jesus of Nazareth never existed, the existence of a guy by that name in first century Palestine who was crucified by the Romans remains a matter of historical consensus among ancient historians and philologists.

That is a fact. The consensus remains, because no evidence has surfaced to make the academy question the existence of Jesus any more than the many other minor figures of ancient history, despite the fact that like many of those other figures of history, Jesus’ biographers ascribed to him quasi-divine status and asserted that he performed a host of miracles.

Why does the mention of miracles and divine intervention fail to give us pause with respect to Jesus? Because the existence of the supernatural is taken for granted in antiquity, so source material lacking any mention of it at all is in fact quite scarce.

True, there are a few famous skeptics among the ancients, like the Greek elegist Xenophanes (sixth century BCE), the Latin poet Lucretius (first century BCE), and the Greek satirist Lucian (second century CE), but they are far from the majority, even among the educated elite who give us the written material from that epoch. Even outside of written sources, the art, architecture, and archaeology of the ancients (especially the sheer number of defixiones, or magical curse tablets) point to a world in which the supernatural was an everyday part of… [Read more…] about Jesus-Deniers Still Don’t Get It

Why I Pray

by in Christian Spirituality

I pray. I pray a lot, my first words upon waking as my feet touch down on the gray wool carpet. If I forget, I lift them up again, in a do-over of gratitude. Thank you. Thank you, God. At 50, I take no day for granted. Then I stumble into the hushed temple of morning where I worship alone, in silence, while my husband and two teens sleep, more devoted to the gods of the midnight hours.

Sometimes I pray while the hot water flows over earthy grounds in that first communion with coffee each day, my prayers held up like a shield against worry for my son and his math test, (let him do well); for my daughter in her evening soccer game, (keep her safe); for my husband’s therapy client whose name I can’t know, only that she didn’t want to live yesterday, on an autumn day as glorious as God.

I push the plunger on the French press, the resistance of water as familiar as my own around religion. Then I turn to look out the kitchen window at the silhouette of the tamarack tree, branches joined in the sky in a perpetual stance of prayer. I hold myself in stillness, in the fading vapors of my wishes turned words turned breath again before it goes, where? Where does it go, this improvised poetry of spirit that asks nothing of me, beyond belief?

Growing up, my sister and I were taught belief through the weekly mass, mostly tedious except when we stood and solemnly spoke, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” Words so easy that I felt a flicker of belonging to that… [Read more…] about Why I Pray

Three Reasons Why We Don't Pray the Sinner's Prayer With Our Children

by Cindy Brandt in Christian Issues

Praying the prayer to ask Jesus into their hearts with children is the seminal moment in evangelical families. It is believed to be the moment they are saved into securing eternity in heaven, and a commitment to follow Jesus for the rest of their lives. It is a significant and momentous event, one worthy of celebrating. And yet, even though my husband and I are both Jesus-following Christians raised with evangelical backgrounds, we have decided to not pray the sinner’s prayer with our two kids. Here are three reasons why:

1. Children are children before they are sinners.

One of the more harmful teachings of fundamentalist families is to interpret children’s normal behavior as sin. For example, toddlers test boundaries because of the curiosity wired in them — it is a necessary developmental stage to establish their growing identity. And yet, I have seen Christian parents define normal toddler defiance as evidence of sin inherent in children. I believe this is driven by the desire to get children to a place of recognizing a need for the saving grace of Jesus as quickly as possible. Define the problem → provide the solution.

I think this has potential to do much damage to children’s psyches by denying their natural, human inclinations and judging that behavior as sinful. It becomes difficult for children to listen to their own intuition and God-given conscience because they have been taught to be self-abasing and self-denying.

I believe in sin and its… [Read more…] about Three Reasons Why We Don't Pray the Sinner's Prayer With Our Children

God or Country?

by in Current Events

I live on Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), I am a United States war veteran, and I am one of the people who contacted the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) about the “God Bless Our Troops” sign situated here on base.

When I first arrived at the base this past summer I noticed how beautiful and serene it is here. I was also overjoyed to meet some of the finest, most caring, and most giving individuals one could ever hope to come in contact with. I signed my boy up for soccer and now coach his football team.

I also, however, noticed a problem when I arrived at MCBH: a giant sign erected on the base that seemed to me to be entirely unconstitutional. I passed this sign every day. It was unavoidable — the road to the athletic field and the health clinic goes right by it.

The sign states, in no uncertain terms, that this base, which is supposed to be entirely neutral regarding religion, does in fact hold one deity above all others. This was unacceptable to me and so, in August, I contacted the MRFF to investigate whether or not the sign violated the Constitution of the United States. Their reply, in very plain words, explained that it did.

When I joined the United States Navy I took an oath to uphold the Constitution. This majestic product of the Enlightenment, was, and still very much is, an important part of my life. When I was honorably discharged, I did not renounce my oath, which is what makes this situation all the more heart wrenching for me. To see one of the… [Read more…] about God or Country?

The Narrow-Mindedness of Anti-Muslim Christians

by in Islam

View image | gettyimages.com

A couple of days ago we shared on our Facebook page this quote from Rev. John C. Dorhauer, the General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ:
“I want to say as clearly as I can, and in no uncertain terms, that the United Church of Christ stands in full solidarity with people of the Muslim faith. Their contribution to religion, to peace, to humanity, and to the goodness of all is to be celebrated. The United Church of Christ deplores the narrow-mindedness that fails to see this and seeks instead to engender fear, hatred, and anxiety.” — from Urgent Call for UCC Response to Anti-Muslim Rallies
That quote generated responses ranging from enthusiastic support to accusations of heresy. One particular exchange between a Facebook commenter and an Unfundamentalist Christian admin is a perfect illustration of the obstinate narrow-mindedness that Rev. Dorhauer referenced. I’ve transcribed the dialogue below or you can view a screenshot of the exchange.
Commenter: Gee, last time I checked, Christ never chopped anyone’s head off for not believing in Him, and as I read the Koran, I see it tells it’s followers to do just that, and to do unspeakable things to humans, and animals. Nowhere does God, that is YAHWEH, not Allah by the way, say to ever do any such thing. you cannot reconcile the Bible and the koran, Islam and Christianity, there is no reconciliation between the two. You are an Apostate preacher of heresy.… [Read more…] about The Narrow-Mindedness of Anti-Muslim Christians