sfgary put up a diary the other day about Revelation (no s :-)
I commented - diagreeing with him - in a way that caught his eye. I made a comparison of claiming the name Christian to my continuing to claim the name American despite the misguided leadership we have. Since then we've had a great exchange of very affirming and positive emails.
Far too often those of us on each side of these debates make a number of assumptions and projections about who we're dealing with. What would happen if, instead of worrying about what we think the other party thinks - we focused more on what we believe and why - stated it plainly - sharing both our agreements and disagreements openly but with respect for the other?
Below the fold is my response to his email / diary. I welcome responses from all viewpoints - but I'd sincerely ask that you seriously consider the "what would happen" paragraph above before firing off a line or two. Especially those of you engaged in the tit for tat in sfgary's diary. Namaste.
The basic note I'm responding to is here if you want / need some context.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/5/10/181243/222 which, sadly - turned into a rather ugly scene in the comments. By comparison - our email exchange was very affirming for me - and I hope for both of us - despite our profound differences.
His basic question is why I claim the name Christian and a further exploration of my comparison to claiming the name American.
(snip some intro comments related to email)
I'm in KS and have never been out of the country, although I know many people from around the globe and communicate with them regularly - so I think I have SOME insight into what it takes to be an American overseas. I'm confident I'd claim my citizenship much as you do, and would expect and frankly agree with people's disdain for my nation's actions. I would expect them to hold me accountable for speaking out and working to change the errors.
You are right that my faith is chosen, but I think my nationality largely is too. Certainly, I was born American - but I was also born into a faith tradition and a social environment predisposed to Christianity. Just as I can (and have) moved between faith traditions, I could move away and even renounce my citizenship, I know several people who have (at least the move away part - don't know for sure on citizenship, my guess is most are dual citizens)
- so I see intentionally claiming both names as very similar. Your point that that is easy in my situation is probably true - although being an "out" Christian in lefty circles isn't exactly a picnic. I actually get challenged / attacked far more on that than I do my liberal and political views within the Church (granted I'm in a very progressive congegation - but I'm well to the "left" of most).
Your general argument is a difficult one for me - frankly because I've used the logic of it myself - specifically against "moderate" Republicans - I say "can't you see - you are empowering them...."
the difference - to me - is that I'm not voting Christian - my claiming the name does not give Falwell, Dobson, etc
any direct power. They get no money from me. I'm not a member of their denomination.
If I renounced my faith - or at least chose a different name - it would not directly affect them.
(note - one exception - should I ever be polled I would want to chose an identification that could not be aggregated in to seem to agree with them - if, for example, there was no way to clearly disagree with fundies - rather than saying Christian - I'd choose "other")
However - by claiming the name - the door is opened to my having conversations with others who claim the name and directly challenging the fundamentalist viewpoint. Without that shared label of "Christian" my views wouldn't have a nearly as good a chance to impact their thinking.
As a Christian - I'm working hard against the same people you so correctly despise - those who misuse the tradition for worldly power - and I'm doing so from a position of strength rather than as an outsider. I spend the bulk of my time in church and politics working for GLBT rights and challenging fundamentalist understandings of scripture. A lot more people like myself need to speak up - but we're making progress. If we just left - I don't think it would really change the far rights power - and might even increase it. If we can increase pluralism and undermine the fundie version of Christianity with our outspokeness - then we substantially weaken the far right's claim.
Much of their power comes from claiming to speak for all Christians (and by extension "people of faith"). The more of us who genuinely claim our faith traditions and speak out against their claims - the weaker they will be. Pluralism defeats fundamentalism and protects religious freedom.
In a way - I guess I'm saying we should be held responsible for what they are doing wrong. Those of us who claim this name MUST speak out against their abuse and overreach. That's not an unreasonable expectation on your part.
At the same time those like yourself who challenge us need to recognize that it's not the same thing as a political party - For example, I have no direct influence over the Southern Baptist despite sharing a faith tradition label... You have, in this note, recognized that with your "not you, but others" comments. I appreciate that.
So - in the end - I think we agree on the "whining Christians" - we SHOULD criticize the far right - religion can no longer be "off the table" and except from criticism - but in doing so - we can be respectful of people like myself who are working to change the power structure. We can avoid the broad brush that pushes people away from our party without compromising on our core principles.
Like I said - I've struggled with this decision - let me tell you how I got to where I am.
I was baptised lutheran, raised episcopalian after my parents divorce. As a teen, my "rebellion" was to turn to my mother's families Catholicism - and I went through a very fundie like stage. In time - a variety of things led to my leaving the Catholic traditon - some of it was maturing, some of it was the courage of a friend who came "out" to me - and some of it was encounters with other traditions and dissenting voices in the Church (most importantly a Native American drum ceremony and the Liberation Theology and Sanctuary movmments.
While I continue to love much of the tradition - I decided to reject the label of Catholicism. I then went through some wild swings - from determined attempts at agnosticism, participation in a Unitarian fellowship - more agnosticism - and eventually joining the UMC - then drifting away out - then finding my current congregation and (at long last) becoming politically active again about 6 or 7 years ago. We not only don't ask you to check your brain at the door, we demand that you use it. We are active in a variety of social justice issues and regularly contribute to challenging the community and working to counter the far right on issues like GLBT rights, evolution, etc.
It is, frankly, my faith and my participation in this supportive and challenging community that gives me the strength and determination to do more than just selfishly get my own, it's how I keep going despite days like Nov 3rd.
Another story of how I think I'm making a difference by claiming the name.
A couple years ago I met a new co-worker. I did not know she had discussed me with other co-workers who knew of my church involvement and had mentioned it to her, so I was very much taken aback when the first words she said to me were "Are You a Christian?" I stammered and mumbled something about being born into it.
I did a lot of thinking - I decided it was important that I say Yes to that sort of question (or at least "I think I am" ) AND directly challenge the common perception of what that means. I talked with her - I explained why I'd stammered and what my discomfort was. We subsequently had a lot of good discussions in which I challenged her fundamentalist views on a variety of topics - in particular gay rights.
She gave me fundie stuff to read - in return I gave her stuff from Soulforce, etc. I didn't think we were making much progress - but a few months ago - she introduced me to a friend of hers from church - it turns out they had been having similar discussions themselves - the had doubts - and it had come to a head when the co-worker, who was adopted, had found out her birth mother was a lesbian.
Our conversations helped convince both of them that leaving fundamentalism did not mean denying their faith - which they both held deeply important. They and their spouses have both now left the church they were attending and joined another much more mainstream congregation - where my co-worker has even helped found a sunday school class that is working with "More Light" Presbyterians. (a GLBT advocacy group).
I wonder - if I had not had those conversations - if I'd said "no" and closed of the religious talk - would they still be contributing to the best known fundie preacher in town instead? How much easier would it have been for them to decide the preacher was right and simply reject her birth mother....
I think we're all better off this way - and it stems directly from my willingness to claim the name - which opened the door.
I respect that others do not claim the name. I am sincere in my embrace of pluralism. I would hope that others who value freedom would - as ridiculous as they feel my view are, respect my right to follow this path. I look around what I percieve as God's creation and I see a universe and a natural order that clearly celebrates and embraces diversity. I question how anyone can claim to have a lock on truth - and why there need be one way of believing any more than there need be one way of being a tree.
We, as a nation, must embrace pluralism - and that specifically includes agnostics, atheist, and non-mainstream traditions. I think that my public acknowledgment of my faith - and my challenge of fundamentalism - is helping accomplish that. I think that being silent about my beliefs would empower the far right. To many of us did that for too long - which is part of how we got in this mess.
Lastly - without really wanting to start a new theme - I'd submit that "religion" is not the only cause of evil and division in the world. Nationalism, Corporatism, etc - any human institution - is just as capable of being misused. If we snapped our fingers and got rid of all the churches and mosque - we humans would just fight over something else. So while religion has certainly been misused and served as the base of power for evil - I don't believe it is the cause of that evil. Those who would abuse power and control others would simply find other means. They have before...
Namaste