Thoughts and Prayers: The Religion Thread

Explain hypocrites then, who seemingly care not for whomever they harm.

 

I said people have moral codes. I didn’t say they always - or even consistently - kept them. Certainly the most “moral” in Jesus’ day, as an example, were the biggest hypocrites.

Generally, I find people can’t hold firm to their moral codes - from wherever they derive - with 100% consistency. I don’t think our human condition allows us to. But that’s me.

 

This is a good, interesting question, one with, probably, different answers in different cases. My feeling is that, mostly, a life of truly good, active Christian faith actually does take some serious commitment, some work, and some effort on the part of those really trying to live it out. And a lot of people can't or won't put that forth. It's too demanding, of either their time, or their personal space.

I see/feel it, even in myself, and I do my best to live in faith. God is a very real thing, a presence, in my life, and I pray about everything -- seriously, everything -- from the the big things, right down to the littlest things, seemingly all the time. Doing so comes naturally and easily to me, even if others may not know I'm doing it. But I also know I struggle to "listen and follow," as my pastor/church encourages us to do, and be, willingly and happily, actively involved with other people. I have to make a point of stepping out, and joining in for missions and group activities because my loner tendencies make me prefer to keep to myself. In other words, I have to pointedly make the time, make the commitment, and make the effort to allow something or someone else into my space, my time and my life.

For most people, it's just easier not to have to do that, especially if it's supposed to be on a regular, even constant, basis.

And I totally get that. There but for the grace of God goes me. I don't always listen and follow, and my commitment to attending church waxes and wanes at times. But I'm always aware and conscious of when it's happening, and I always come back, and I always know that I will come back.

For, if I'm to live in good faith, I have to try to follow the promptings of God and the Holy Spirit. And yes, I do hear them and get them. In fact, the more I listen and follow, the more I hear them, and the more I get them. It really is a true principle of the thing.

 

I would attribute the rise in “none” in America to two things:

1. American society is informed enough by Christian values that the as-defined-by-secularists “good things” from the faith are simply co-opted and claimed as their own.

2. The American church has done a poor job of being “the church,” choosing instead to embed itself in political nation building. It is, in short, not much of a “holy nation” as defined in 1 Peter. It’s more of a vaguely moral club to which people belong, and the costs of being associated with it now begin to outweigh the benefits.

 

My spiritual uplifting today came by being on the water as the sun came up.
Most people don't get it, but those who do, do.
It can't be explained unless you've been there.

 

Totally get it.

 

And why are there more “nones” than there used to be? Maybe it’s because people see alleged Christians like Jerry Falwell claim that Jesus would be packing heat and waging wars if he were alive today.

 

Maybe, but I really think a prime reason/cause is more to do with a general sense of complacency, laziness, lack of direction and malaise -- that sort of thing. Another factor in the issue is a more prevalent desire, even a need, nowadays, for proof, before belief/faith will even be practiced. And those two concepts, by nature, are at odds.

Jerry Falwell is hardly the only Christian in the world -- self-proclaimed or otherwise.

The vast, vast majority of Christians are people who would never say or believe such a claim as Falwell's, and most of them also can be held up as examples of what's good and right and decent -- about humanity, the faith, and the world. They are good reflections of Christ, or certainly, they are trying to be. "Christian" is not synonymous with crime, abuse or being power-hungry, no matter how much this board makes it out to be, and even if there are, in fact, some examples of such.

Because those engaging in such are not Christians, no matter what they say. They cannot be doing so, and be following Christ.

 

That's true. They are not. They despise the Jesus who speaks of loving thy neighbor because they think that guy is "feminized."
Here's the problem. They account for 28% of the electorate, which makes them the plurality religious group or close to it. In terms of public embrace of politics, they're clearly out front.
As an exercise, check out Twitter accounts of people whose self-descriptions include "Christian" prominently. Not "Catholic" or "Methodist" but "Christian." Then check out their tweets and followers. I think you'll find that a large chunk of those who principally describe themselves as "Christians" are pseudo-Christian Trumpist klansmen.
But by being so open about the term, they may scare off those who might otherwise be curious. Their outsized share of cultural cache and political power gives off a vibe that says -- as they do -- that the only way to be a true Christian is to believe precisely as they do. That's toxic.

 

There are plenty of evangelicals who:

A. Vote Democratic

B. Think Falwell is a loon, or, more to the point don’t think of him at all.

40 million people are not all “the same.” Why would you think they are?

 

Here’s one reason:

Religious Group Voting and the 2020 Election

The AP VoteCast survey shows that 81% of White evangelical Protestant voters went for Trump this year, compared with 18% who voted for Biden. The Edison exit polls estimate that 76% of White evangelicals voted for Trump, 24% for Biden.
That klan ain’t exactly ideologically diverse.

 

I'm not trying to be obtuse, and maybe reading through all 127 pages would clarify it... but for those of us who are just joining in to this thread... what qualifies here as an evangelical vs. just, Christian?