Spurred by a blog comment

One of the purposes of my reading blogs is to give me an idea of what people think. Sometimes I find that a paragraph, a sentence, or even just a phrase gives me something interesting to think about.

In this particular case, the comment mentioned how some Christians feel that only religious- or spiritually-based approaches to address certain behaviors is appropriate, and believes it is tied to the idea that to the idea that redemption comes from God alone.

Christianity and Politics

One of the things I've increasingly noticed of late is the way that so many people assume that you cannot possibly be both Christian and centrist-to-left politically. This seems to be particularly true when it comes to online comments on news stories, blog posts, and other "new media". I find it uncomfortable to participate in many moderate-to-left blog comments because of that perception. (I'm very unlikely to participate in the more conservative ones; I've yet to find a really conservative blogger I can tolerate.)

I'm not sure what else I want to say here. I could make a list of things that not all Christians believe, and get into why some of them do support some of the more moderate or liberal views, such as keeping abortion legal (even if possibly with restrictions), same-sex marriage equality, ceasing to use torture under any circumstances, health care reform, and probably half a dozen other things. I could point to my theories on how evolution and creation can maybe be reconciled, and note that I'm not alone in feeling that way... or point out that there are scientists who do have a faith, some of whom are Christian. I could note that some Christians wince at Young Earth Creationists. I could show examples of interfaith discussions, ones that show respect for non-Christian beliefs and not incidentally serve as statements that not all Christians are knee-jerkingly against Muslims.

I don't know if it would do any good. The far-right Christians (and the outright wingnuts who are also Christian) have some pretty loud voices. And right now, political arguments in the U.S. are running pretty hot, with a lot of people who are fed up or scared or just plain hostile to anyone who doesn't agree with them 100%. I'm not sure anyone's really listening much right now, and that's kinda scary, and really saddening.

Acceptance

In December, I wrote in support of an evangelical church that welcomes gays as they feel homosexuality is a God-given trait like any other. I noted that if sexual orientation isn't a choice, that's the only logical conclusion.

I had a comment (!) noting that even if it were a choice, it wouldn't make gays any less of God's children. The last few days I've been thinking about that, which probably means I should write more on the topic.

First of all, I agree completely. Even if homosexuality was a choice, and even if one thinks it's a sin, that doesn't matter; everyone sins, but that doesn't make them any less of God's creation.

The point I was trying to make is that there are people who do believe sexual attraction isn't a choice and yet still have trouble accepting openly or actively gay members in their churches... and that makes very little sense to me. Seeing someone like Reverend Tidd make the logical conclusion is a welcome change from that attitude, and I really wish more people would follow it.

What bothers me most about it is that churches single out gays for this treatment. Even if one truly believes that homosexual behavior is a sin, why is it the one and only one that can bar someone from membership in the church or the Christian community? As I've said before, no one seems to bar adulterers from their churches (and sometimes not even from their pulpits). No one quizzes anyone on if they've ever coveted, or stolen, or failed to honor their parents, and churches never turn anyone away on the basis of committing those sins—sins that, unlike homosexuality, are actually mentioned in the 10 Commandments, which most Christians believe to be an important part of their faith.

So when I see a Christian church with a more welcoming attitude, I think it's a wonderful thing... and a church that goes beyond simply "welcoming" to actually "accepting", even more so. We could do with some more accepting and less judging in this world.

Insert Title Here

I haven't been doing much writing of any kind, but I've still got a few things in the "to be posted" folder, so I probably should post one of them. *rummages through folder* Ahh, here we go: the perfect post for right before I go read the latest critical post over on slacktivist.