Comment » Of Time, Religion, and Intellect
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.
So said Martin Luther in the explanation to the third section of the Apostle’s Creed, as part of his small catechism. It epitomizes his belief that the Christian faith is not about what we do bringing us to God about about God coming down to us. It is also a major reason why I believe that it is possible to become both a thinking, rational human and still be able to have faith. Faith and rationality have seemed to have been at odds for millennia, especially when you consider the myriad stupid things people of faith have done or participated in over the course of human history. The Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials…the list goes on and on. Once the Christians were the persecuted; at times, the Church has been the persecutors. Nowadays, when fundamentalist Christians persecute and condemn people, the vast majority of people get angry (including other Christians; I give myself as an example); why, then, when Christians are persecuted because of the fundamentalist imbeciles is it considered acceptable?
I realize my distant ancestors may not have been particularly nice people. What does that have to do with me? Am I responsible, several hundred years ex post facto, for what they did? Am I guilty for their sins? In the words of the Apostle St. Paul, “Certainly not!” I may believe that, as Luther said, I cannot believe in my God by my own understanding, and I do believe that by human nature, I am sinful…but is that sin leftover guilt from my ancestors? God forbid it! They have received their reward or consequence for their actions; don’t hold me accountable for what I didn’t participate in.
The same is most certainly and equally true for the more vocal fundamentalists. Why should I as a Christian have to suffer ridicule on their behalf? Why must I take up their cross instead of my own? Why must I bear the burden of their great sins when I contend with my own? Yet the MO these days seems to be to bash all of Christianity as thoughtless and futile when only a handful of idiots are ruining things for the rest of us. I believe that this is not what God intended, folks, from either side. Christianity as Jesus taught it is about selflessness, not selfishness. And even if you don’t believe in God, it is only right morally that people should be held accountable for their own actions and not the actions of others.
I’ll admit before God and everyone, I have the dichotomized problem of both delegating out too much of my responsibilities when I can and for taking responsibility for things that go wrong, even when they are not my fault. But I cannot in any good conscience, even with my nature, take responsibility for those things that have happened long before I was born. Nor can I stand by and take the blame for the doings of other “People of God” who are hurting the Christian name; that is why I try to speak out about it as best I can!
There are atheists out there that I respect; my girlfriend, who is just as intelligent as I am, is one of them. She also respects me because I don’t talk down to her and I respect her choice of faith. She knows I’m not one of the idiots, and I know she’s not one either. But besides her, I also respect more famous atheists whom I’ve never met, like Penn Gillette. I’m okay with atheists; I make no plans to try and actively convert them, as long as they do similarly, and in the meantime, we can have solid, intelligent discussions about science, sports, and all things reasonable.
The only thing I ask of the world is this: DO NOT put me in the box with those self-righteous ignoramuses who claim to be wanting to fix the world but only want to make themselves look better. I know I’m not perfect, and I know I’m never going to be perfect, but I also know I’m secure enough in both my intelligence and my faith to know when something someone says ain’t right, be they Christian, atheist, or Pastafarian. (No offense, Pastafarians.) It ain’t right for Christians to glorify themselves, and it ain’t right for non-Christians to blame the majority of Christianity for the actions of a few idiots.
Intelligence and faith ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE! They are two different parts of human life. Spirit and flesh can co-exist. Just as there are people out there with alleged faith in Christ and no brains whatsoever, there can be people with faith in Christ and a good level head on their shoulders. We are all varied and unique; no combination of traits is impossible. Don’t discredit a possibility just because you don’t want it to be so. And that goes for all sides.
