You know, it must be weird to be a Christian in America nowadays, because they're a very rare breed. There are probably less Christians in America than there are in Iran these days, don't you think?
\nOh, there are a ton of Christianists, mind you. Millions and millions of those. But those aren't Christians. Most evangelicals aren't Christians, most Catholics aren't Christians. Most Mormons aren't.
\nYou know how I know that, despite being an atheist? Because I was raised Christian. My great-grandfather was a Methodist lay preacher and he died when I was fourteen; I grew up listening to his sermons in the tiny Methodist church in Tioga, Texas and went with him to church at the slightly larger Methodist church in Pilot Point after he and my great-grandmother (who played church organ) moved there. I went even after I lost my own faith over the period between being nine and eleven (thanks Douglas Adams and Richard Dawkins!) out of respect. And though I think the last time I set foot in a Christian church other than weddings and funerals and journalism was when I went into St. Patrick's in San Francisco tripping balls on acid for one very early morning mass thirty years ago - don't worry, I was respectful and didn't do anything weird - I have spent my life looking for God in their book and everyone else's and everywhere I thought he might be found.
\nThe central message of Jesus Christ was that he came to earth to create a new covenant with mankind, based upon love rather than obedience. It's that simple. God wants you to love and take care of your fellow humans. (And Him, of course.) End of list. He wants you to live right and act right according to his instructions, but that is less important than love. Love is Christ's main precept.
\nIf someone said \"I'm a devout Muslim\" but they refused to submit to Allah, would they be a devout Muslim then? A Jew who violated their covenant with Yahweh, a devout Jew? Hindus who willingly turn their back on the dharma, Buddhists who wage war out of greed or anger or lust - are these truly devout believers in their faiths or philosophies?
\nNo? Then why in the hell do we tolerate millions of people willfully and constantly defying the teachings and doctrine of Christ every day and having the gall to call themselves Christians?
\nIt's all right there in Matthew, Chapter 7, verses 1 - 5, unambiguous:
\n\n\n\"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
\n“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.\"
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That is not the commentary of Paul or the apocalypse of John: that is Christ himself speaking directly, quoted from his Sermon on the Mount. That's a DM from God to mankind and His message is absolutely clear: do not judge your fellow man.
\nHere's another bit from that same sermon, Matthew 5:43-48:
\n\n\n“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.\"
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Again: this is unambiguous, subtle as a brick to the face and direct from the Man himself: love everyone. Love your neighbor, but also love your enemy. Why would God reward you for loving those who love you? There is nothing in that. Love those who hate you.
\nAnd let's look at James 4:11-12:
\n\n\n\"Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?\"
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And again, Matthew 7, verses 21 - 23:
\n\n\n“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’\"
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So Christ is pretty clear about who is and who isn't Christian, and it's not just people who say they are: it is those who do His Father's will, which he states very clearly. His will is love, not hate: tolerance, not judgment. Despise the sin, but always - always - love the sinner.
\nSo Karen here in this screenshot - that's literally her name, I'm not being rude - is not a Christian. She is a Christianist - one who adopts the appearance of Christianity while in fact doing the precise opposite of what Jesus says. Any church who turns away or is not kind and charitable to anyone is not a Christian church; in fact, to Christ's eyes, it is profane. Anyone who uses the Old Testament as an excuse to condemn or be cruel to anyone is not a Christian, because the entire point of Christ's sacrifice upon the cross is that he was essentially paying for the sins of all mankind in order to write a new covenant with God. By ignoring that sacrifice you are profaning Christ's name when you scatter it in with your cruelties and judgements.
\nMy great-grandfather was a Christian. When his grandson's partner was dying of AIDS, my great-grandfather held him as he died in my great-grandfather's bed. Dolly Parton was a Christian. Jay Bakker, the son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, is a Christian - I once saw him go into a church he was invited to speak at and tell them that if they did not love and shelter queer and trans people and nonbelievers, they were not doing the will of God. Christians bring peace, not the sword, because they know they are not Christ; they do not judge, they reach out only with open hands, and they do it whenever the opportunity to be of service to God - by being of service to His creations - is given to them.
\nThe way is not easy. In Matthew 7, Christ also says \"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.\" This is the same thing that Yama says to Nachiketa in the Katha Upanishad: \"Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path, so the wise say - hard to tread and difficult to cross.\"
\nIt is a universal wisdom that the path of goodness is not an easy one to tread. It is not easy to love your neighbor or your enemy as you love your family or yourself, but only a fool will tell you faith is easy.
\nAnd if you cannot find this within yourself, how can you call yourself a Christian? Because you are baptized or born again? That sounds like a participation trophy to me. God doesn't give a shit if you jumped in some river. God cares about the river in your heart: who you allow to from it and bathe in it, especially in times of great drought, when all the waters of other men's hearts have dried up.
\nI don't have to be a Christian myself to know and understand this, and I guarantee you that any and every true Christian - not Christianists like most Americans, but true Christians - will tell you exactly the same.
\nBut if you believe in Christ and claim to devote yourself to Him, and then do the exact opposite of what He tells you to do... well, if I truly believed in Christ and His infinite power, I would be very, very wary of using his name by using it to commit the sins of hate. I think they call that blasphemy, and I'm pretty sure I have a good idea of how Christ feels about it. He was pretty clear on that point too.
\nI do not call myself a Christian because I don't believe in God. I don't have faith in any supernatural beings I can't see. But in the same way I take instruction from the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads and the Tao Te Ching and the Sufis and the teachings of Guatama Buddha, I take instruction from Christ. I don't have to believe he was the son of God or God or even a real person; I take instruction from Steve Rogers too, and I don't believe he's real. They don't have to be real to be right.
\nAnd if I can understand what Christ meant when he spoke, and try to follow his teachings even without believing in his supernatural power, how on earth can anyone who does believe not do the same, and still call themselves a Christian?
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\nOh, there are a ton of Christianists, mind you. Millions and millions of those. But those aren't Christians. Most evangelicals aren't Christians, most Catholics aren't Christians. Most Mormons aren't.
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