At by the way we try to let folks know a couple days ahead of time what we'll be focusing on at bread for your journey, our weekly Thursday night gatherings. Considering that it's now 1am on Thursday morning, this post is about two days late. Compared to my previous entry, which was about two weeks late, hopefully I'm getting a little better. That aside, I have a lot of thoughts this morning, but as usual, I want to preface them with a quote:
Rufus: He still digs humanity, but it bothers Him to see the shit that gets carried out in His name - wars, bigotry, televangelism. But especially the factioning of all the religions. He said humanity took a good idea and, like always, built a belief structure on it.
Bethany: Having beliefs isn't good?
Rufus: I think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier. Life should be malleable and progressive; working from idea to idea permits that. Beliefs anchor you to certain points and limit growth; new ideas can't generate. Life becomes stagnant.
- Dogma
The movie Dogma came out in 1999, and back then as a 13 year old rebelling against all organized religion, I thought it was great. Now in 2009, as a 23 year old who's thinking about going to Lutheran seminar in the next few years, I think it's even better. While Dogma is meant to be a satire of Catholic belief, it really asks some pretty powerful questions about organized religion as a whole. For more info on the movie click here.
All you really need to know though is that Chris Rock plays Rufus, the 13th apostle of Christ (now a sort of angel) that was left out of the Bible because he was black. Bethany is the heroine of the comedy, and is the last descendant of Joseph and Mary. In the dialogue quoted above, Bethany asks Rufus about what God thinks of the state of humanity, and Rufus responds that while He still loves us, He's disappointed in how much trouble believing in him has caused...
While I myself certainly don't think belief is a bad thing, Rufus does have a point here. It's hard to argue that horrible things like the Spanish Inquisition, 9/11, the Crusades, etc. weren't at least a partial result of folks arguing over who God was, instead of just rejoicing in the simple common belief of His existence. I don't have many 'diehard' Christian friends actually... most of the folks I know believe in a higher power, and are willing to explore it, but frankly they're turned away by what is perceived to be the confining aspects of organized religion.
Many of this blog's readers though (I would assume) do at least marginally believe in an organized Christian faith with some laws and non-negotiables... so where does this leave us? In my mind, it leaves us with a real conundrum, as evidenced by different parts of the Bible passage for this evening:
Ephesians 4:31-32: Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you (The Message).
Interestingly enough, this verse was proceeded by what in my mind is a somewhat conflicting statement:
Ephesians 4:26-27: Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don't use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don't stay angry. Don't go to bed angry. Don't give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life (The Message).
How is it that God expects us to be gentle and understanding of one-another (and thus open to one another), right after telling us it's okay to be angry at each other, if even for a short time?
Is there ever a time as Christians that we should stand up and angrily argue for what we believe?
While I don't see Christians angrily argue too often, I do commonly see Christians argue for their beliefs in a zealous way. Is that even wrong though if we truly do have a specific belief in a Christian God? Should we budge on our beliefs and be 'malleable' as Rufus suggests we do in Dogma, or should we always hold our ground?
Manifested nationally, this question touches on many aspects of the liberal/ conservative "culture war" prevalent in American society. Locally, it's our mission at by the way to provide a community where we can openly explore our faith... What happens then if someone with stricter views comes through our doors or posts on our blogs? Is it possible to be open-minded about ideas that aren't open-minded themselves?
A close friend of mine Kristen once told me that I was "close-minded about being open-minded." Do you think you're like that? Do you think by the way is like that? Do you think you're the exact opposite, and does what I wrote here today trouble you? There's a lot of questions, and we'd all love to hear some of your answers...
Stop by the Crowne Plaza tonight @ 7:00 PM in Nashua, and let's start the conversation.
God's peace,
Dustin
PS: I like leaving these blogs with a meditative song that has to do with the topic. Here's a good one I think:
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