I think the answer to that is, Yes. I have been living in a bubble. It’s been more like a cloister. But still it’s been a safe happy place. I’ve disturbed it lately. I’ve rippled the pond. I think this is a good thing, but I’m still more than a little sad by what I’ve found.
As a result of being sick earlier this month, sitting in my chair and extended hours of playing on my laptop I found some new blogs to read. I think I’ve said that before. I’ve spent quite a bit of time at a certain political blog with a definite bend to the left. Some things I agree with, others, not so much (as with everyone you meet). It can be sort of harsh at times, and hard to swallow. So small doses are often in order. As with our little community, there is a community of people who flock to this space and comment.
Here’s what is currently burdening me as I read this blog and the comments therein.
Because of my past church affiliation, I know a lot of people on the “right” both politically and religiously (if that’s a word). I know a lot of “fundamentalist” Christians. Almost to a person, they are gleeful that George Bush is in office. To them, he can do no wrong. It matters not that he lied to get us into this war in Iraq. Their words of explanation are many for that. For all of his perfidies and those of his associates, they have explanations or sometimes no explanation, for he can do no wrong they think. And I am stunned, for similar misbehavior on the part of other politicians of a different political party have brought forth streams of invective from these people; they have heaped tons of criticism and judgement for similar misdeeds from others of another party. But not for George Bush or his associates. Apparently his claims of salvation, of being Christian, are enough to buy their undying loyalty.
But it is far more damaging to the church to have these people in power. After reading this blog for a while, I read comments that range from “they prefer to live like children”, people in the church are accused of not wanting to take any responsibility for anything, we have a “get out of hell free card” that absolves us of wrong doing, we’ve been called stupid, facile, evil, commentary reminding us of what a “certain Jewish carpenter” might have said. The world knows these leaders are behaving like serious hypocrits and they are drawing the line out to the rest of us as well.
The problem is that I wonder sometimes if they might be right. I wonder if most of the churches, or the people in the churches might just be like George and his associates. Or Jerry and Pat and all the rest. They must be. Because no one is standing up and saying anything about it.
The only people saying anything about Jerry Falwell’s vile Take Back Christmas campaign are people in the world. And Christian’s flocking to his backside, Christian’s claiming a false sense of persecution.
No one stood up and said anything about Pat Robertson’s shocking “contract” on Venezuelan president Chavez last summer. That was anything but Christian. Christians everywhere should have loudly and summarily distanced themselves from Mr. Robertson and the “faith” he was peddling. That was not Jesus he was talking about, and we needed to be loud and clear about it.
I think we need to be more careful about who takes the national microphone and speaks for the Church. But then I think, who has control of that? I wonder who is standing in the wings with a big hook and allows people out on stage to take the mic? Who is it that lets Jerry out there but not Jim Wallis? Pat but not Tony Campolo? Who determined George Bush’s faith more palatable, more tangible than Bill Clinton’s?
My point is that we’ve got a lot to overcome if we’re going to speak so these people can hear us. And now we also have to overcome the burden of prevarication as well. Into a generation that is already mistrustful, these leaders are sowing more seeds of distrust from the church itself. And I find myself traversing the pendulum between anger and heartbreak.
