FOLLOW UP ON “Commercials (Part One- The Serious Look)”
Have we made our bed and are now having to lie in it?
First things first, tv shows always celebrate 100 episodes as a huge milestone. Well, I am celebrating post #11. What? That doesn't seem impressive to you? Well, I finally have written enough entries to have more than will fit on my sidebar (10)! So, start the celebrations!
Okay, on to more serious stuff. Since writing the previous entry, I came across another article dealing with Christmas vs. Holiday. This one event is a little over the top with the “freedom of religion” thinking. If one way is taught or included, so should all (including Christianity- which is seen as the whipping boy of faiths).
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/82005a.asp
Can I go out on a limb here and make a statement that I have no way of proving? It's just my thoughts, so take it with a grain of salt. If you’ll let me, keep reading. If not, click on over to the next blog and be done with me.
I see this as a possible consequence of our faith being the only antagonizingly exclusive faith. For 2000 years Christians have said, rightly in my opinion, that “Jesus is the only way to life after death.” Yes, others say they are right, but Christians evangelize like no other faith practice. For too long, we’ve gotten caught up on language and claimed ourselves to be the only “religion.” Now, is it possible that others don’t see witchcraft, Judaism, and other faith practices as “religions” but just as ways of living (as if that's a bad thing). So, in people’s minds, it’s okay to be worried about Christmas (because that may force Christianity - a religion - on others), but not about bringing a Holiday witch (which is just a different way of living- not a religion)……….. If so, then maybe we’ve been successful in teaching people that Christianity is the only religion [congratulations… there’s a man with one hand clapping somewhere]!
Maybe, this is the bed we’ve made and now we’re having to lie in it. It’s not pleasant, but maybe it will wake us (ME INCLUDED) up to the fact that we’re not living in a bubble, but in a planet with others of different faith practices. How do we interact with them without giving up a part of our faith tradition (evangelism)? I haven’t figured that out totally yet, but I think it has something to do with not being a hard-nosed prick about our faith.
Help me navigate this tough road by leaving some comments below.
1 comment:
The problem with the so-called War on Christmas (something that I see as a way for John Gibson to sell books and cable news networks -expecially Fox News - to drive up ratings) is that there are two separate and distinct entities at play, but most people seem to lump them togehter.
First of all, there's government issues involving the separation of church and state. I have no issues at all with school's having Winter Break and winter programs. I know I had friends in school who were Jewish or Muslim and there's no need for the government to exclude those religions from their winter celebrations. Also, while the majority may decide who serves in government, the US Constitution was written to protect the rights of the minority (in this case, non-Christians) from the majority who may seek to take those rights away.
The second aspect of the "War on Christmas" is that of retail and business wishing people "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" rather than Merry Christmas. Again, I, personally, don't see where this is a big deal. It's not as though "happy holidays" excludes Christmas from the list, but instead, includes Haunakkah (sp?) and Kwanza and other holidays. It wasn't that long ago that there were some Christians urging people to avoid stores that said Merry Christmas because they thought it was a marketing ploy to attract Christians to their store intead of a sincere wish for a merry Christmas.
To answer your question, it's not a Christian's job to convert people, but to present the information to non-Christians and allow them to make an informed decision.
Mike Huling said Sunday that if we live our lives in such a way that the joy of Christmas shows in our actions, the whole debate of Merry Christmas becomes inconsequential.
(On a somewhat related note, the "War on Christmas" is no different than Christians "War on Halloween" where now we have "Fall Festivals" instead of Halloween.)
To me, the fact that Christians are caught up in the semantics of how people celebrate Jesus' birth rather than figuring out ways to help the poor and fighting injustice in their neighborhoods and around the world reflects poorly on the faith as a whole.
Sorry for the rant.
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