misnomer

(note:  this one took some time to ferment and develop so it’s been roughly 7 days between the writing of it and the posting of it.)

Dear Friends,

There’s so much evil going on in the world, a blog seems so silly.  I had a wonderful teaching experience this week that I wanted to share.  I had the rare opportunity to give a crash course in sculpture to a non-major and after thinking about it more, I think there’s something profound to be mined from it.  Something about pedagogical theory and how I’m using it intentionally to create a specific environment for learning.

Sadly, you’re going to have to wait a bit for that one because between me beginning to process those thoughts on Friday and me getting to have a moment in front of a computer now (Saturday evening) some things have happened to distract me.  Yesterday, when our “representatives” had the opportunity to stop funding this obvious violation of constitutional rights and basic human rights going on in the streets of our cities, several of those goofballs flipped and pushed the total number of votes for funding over the top.  They had the power to end it and they chose not to do that.  Then, another protester was shot and killed.  An American citizen.  And none of us can forget that before that, they did that thing with the 5 year old kid.  

I have come to expect government to be evil.  It’s not a pleasant thought to sit with, but it’s an honest thought based on years of observation.  What I’m having a tougher time with is the general and specific support of political evil by those who label themselves as “Christian”.  To be a little more specific, I’m mostly talking about those who label themselves as Evangelical Christian, the brand of Christianity I grew up in.

I’m not talking about the politicians who will court their local churches and quote Bible verses during election season.  These chumps will do and say literally anything to be elected/reelected. No, I’m talking about your aunts, uncles, friends and acquaintances who are very active in their local church but have fallen victim to false teachings about their religion.  The ones who’ve been tricked into believing their religion can be mixed with their politics.

False teaching sounds harsh, I know.  You see, I’ve read the Bible a few times and studied it for many years as a regular churchgoer and I know the text has a lot of bad things to say about false teachers and false prophets.  I was just always made to believe those were the people outside the church.  Not the pastors.  Not the Sunday School teachers.  Not our relatives.

Driving around my small Southern town, I know to expect to see an American flag sticker and maybe a couple of gun stickers on the back of a vehicle sporting a cross or some other Christian symbol.  There may not be anything wrong with that in principle.  I’m not a fan of stereotypes and I don’t mind telling you that I like my freedom, I own guns and I follow the teachings of Jesus.  All those things and more can be wrapped in one complicated human.  That knowledge prevents me from being too judgmental of stickers on cars until I see the Christian symbols mixed with the political stickers.  For clarity, I don’t care which flavor of politics you prefer.  Left, right, donkey or elephant, none of it mixes well with Jesus.

In my church upbringing, I sat in a sanctuary listening to a pastor explaining the Bible to me while he (yes, it was always a he) was flanked by two flags, one with stars and stripes and one with a cross.  At Vacation Bible School, I carried one of those flags when I was well behaved and held it proudly as we recited the pledge of allegiance to the American flag, the Christian flag and the Bible.  (It has come to my attention that this may be a much more specific personal experience than I thought.  If you’re curious about these pledges, I’d be happy to discuss.  I still remember them.)  We had big “outreach” events on the 4th of July, complete with fireworks and we got a lot of not-so-subtle instructions on how a Christian should vote every couple of years around October.  America was always on stage in the church.  

We were taught that we lived in a “Christian Nation” built on “Christian Principles” so it seemed normal to have so much “Murica” mixed into our religion.  Our men’s groups would have “wild game dinners” that focused on camouflage, gun rights and hunting.  We were constantly reminded that we needed to stand against the killing of unborn babies and I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that we were encouraged to vote for anyone who ran on the “pro-life” ticket, no matter how terrible or unqualified they were.  I’m using past tense here and these experiences date back to my childhood, but I assure you that all of these things and more are still going on in the Evangelical Church to this day.

But somehow, that escalated into being encouraged to vote for the “lesser of two evils” even when that “lesser” was actually a convicted felon who in a recorded TV interview told the interviewer that he had never in his life done anything that he needed to ask forgiveness for.  In light of what we know he’s done now, that seems particularly not in line with at least one of the Ten Commandments.

And many of these “Christians” won’t admit they messed up.  With so many human rights violations happening on a daily basis, many Christian pastors are still not standing up in their pulpits and pointing out the contradictions between the teachings of Jesus and the works of the evil people they helped put in power.  They continue to support a power structure and political leaders who embody taking away the rights of anyone who doesn’t choose to live like Christians think you should live.    

The Jesus they say they love, the Jesus who was brown, who illegally crossed borders as an immigrant, who was wanted by the political and religious authorities, who broke religious laws, who cared for the poor and the sick and who loved everyone, no matter what they did or believed would likely not be welcome in their million dollar megachurches.  And even if they allowed him inside, I can’t help but think he would be bewildered by their in-house coffee shops, the pastor’s book sales in the lobby and the constant requests for money.  Remember that time when Jesus flipped those tables in the Temple?  Good times.

The American Evangelical Christian church is not growing.  Your local pastor may show you numbers that indicate otherwise, but I’ll ask you to really look at the data closely.  The church that’s gaining members is largely gaining them from other churches in decline.  The Christians are simply moving around within their established subculture when they get angry or bored.  That bump in attendance at your church is less evidence that the church is growing and more evidence that the pastor across town just made some people mad.  

The teachings of Jesus were called “gospel” or literally translated, good news.  That good news in a broader view is that all humans are loved by God.  All humans.  Keep in mind that “Christians” didn’t even exist when this good news was first announced.

The group that is currently abducting, attacking and killing people in the street has been using Bible verses in their job marketing ads.  They’re using right-wing religious media to advertise to young Christian men.  People are arguing online and Christians are attempting to defend the senseless violence as a holy purge.  People with Bible verses posted in their bios are wishing death and harm on people who have different opinions than them.  People, who like them, were created in the image of the God they say they love.

Hatred, bigotry and corruption.  Not exactly good news.

Listen, this is not easy for me to write.  I was raised to believe I was supposed to love my neighbor AND my enemy.  That I was supposed to care for the those less fortunate than me.  That I was supposed to seek peace and that my life was supposed to be a visual representation of the good news.  Now I’m watching those spiritual beliefs be hijacked by a political party and used as a weapon.  If that sentence makes you uncomfortable, I encourage you to research how the anti-abortion issue was injected into Evangelical Churches a few decades ago in a calculated effort to get Christians to vote.  I’m watching the church who told me to love my neighbor in Sunday School, worship a criminal who makes fun of mentally challenged people, insults women and brags about assault.  When I tell people I’m a Christian, I have to follow up with “but not THAT kind of Christian”.  Simultaneously, I’m watching Christians I used to respect double down on cruelty.  They say those people shouldn’t have come here illegally, so they deserve it.  They say the protesters should have stayed home so they deserve it.  And my new favorite, they say he shouldn’t have been carrying a gun.  Oh the irony as they carry their concealed weapons to church every Sunday morning.  

I guess those “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelets were just decoration.  What about grace?  What about mercy?  What about love?  I’m ready to see the people who say they follow the teachings of Jesus start acting like Jesus.  And if they don’t want to do that, I’m ready for them to start calling themselves what they really are:  Capitalists.