So, This Is Christmas?
By: Joshua Chamberlain
Posted: December 21, 2011
Well, the holiday season is upon us! Time, once again, to bring our two most time-honored American traditions down from the attic and display them proudly on our lawns. That’s right, it’s Irony & Bigotry season!
Two questions always pop into my head as I read the daily stream of Facebook posts proclaiming things like, “I celebrate Christmas. Don’t like it? Then get out!” emblazoned across a waving American flag.
1. Why do “Real” Christians feel the need to use the annual celebration of the birth of their Lord and Savior (a Lord and Savior who, incidentally, preached of peace, acceptance, and love) to hate other people?
2. Have people lost track of what irony is?
I will take these one at a time.
#1: I have no idea. Stupidity?
#2: Yes
Belief in a singular Christian god is, by no means, a bad thing. Belief in anything, in and of itself, does not make one a bad person. It does not make any sense, in my mind, to determine the worth of another human being based on what that person believes.
If you ask me if using that belief as a means and a reason to hate other people makes one a bad person, however, my answer would be a resounding yes. If that makes me a bit judgy, so be it. I don’t hate the “Real” Christians for doing it, I just have to laugh at the irony of the situation.
In the end, it all comes down to a sort of group mentality. Everyone wants to find a sense of acceptance, a sense of purpose. For many Christians, certainly many of the most vocal ones, Christianity has ceased to be about guidance and love. Lamentably, it is not about learning how to be a good, accepting person. Further, the most vocal and visible churches are not about inclusion at all. They are about exclusion.
An example:
When was the last time you heard an evangelical go on TV and say, “I am a Christian and I will love my neighbor even though he happens to believe something else.”
I’m guessing never.
When was the last time you heard an evangelical go on TV and say, “I’m burning a book a bunch of people find sacred because I hate this other group of people and all they believe in.”
I’m guessing it was this guy, and you heard it this year. There is even a Facebook Page.
Anyone who has ever gotten teased or bullied by a group of people in middle or high school understands how this works. A group provides protection and security. The group, as a whole, wants to seem strong. Rather than just being secure in their friendship, the group instead lashes out at another person or group. In essence, Group A tries to make its candle burn brighter by snuffing out the candle of Group B. That is bullying: one entity making another entity look bad so it will look good in comparison.
So tell me: how is this different?
In the end, why do “real” Christians feel the need to say “Get out!” to people who want their own beliefs recognized as real and legitimate? I would argue that, much like the middle school bully, it comes from a profound sense of insecurity. Unlike the middle school bully, however, who just wants to compensate for a lack of penis growth, the “real” Christians want to compensate because they have based their entire identity on this one belief. Who do they think they are, Jesus?
Oh, yeah. About that.
The “real” Christians do all this without even a hint of irony.
Here is a guy, Jesus, who dedicated his life to loving others. He, by definition, would not have burned a book out of hate.
Here is a guy who was willing to sit down and eat dinner with a group of guys even though he knew one of them would betray him. He, by definition, would not say “Get out!”
I fear that “real” Christianity has lost its way. The best plan, in my mind, is to laugh at the irony of it all and keep trying to be a good person. If you catch yourself trying to justify hatred for another person by using your religion as an excuse, you are probably off base a little bit.
Does saying that make me the same as Jesus? I hope so. Hopefully Santa will notice.
Two questions always pop into my head as I read the daily stream of Facebook posts proclaiming things like, “I celebrate Christmas. Don’t like it? Then get out!” emblazoned across a waving American flag.
1. Why do “Real” Christians feel the need to use the annual celebration of the birth of their Lord and Savior (a Lord and Savior who, incidentally, preached of peace, acceptance, and love) to hate other people?
2. Have people lost track of what irony is?
I will take these one at a time.
#1: I have no idea. Stupidity?
#2: Yes
Belief in a singular Christian god is, by no means, a bad thing. Belief in anything, in and of itself, does not make one a bad person. It does not make any sense, in my mind, to determine the worth of another human being based on what that person believes.
If you ask me if using that belief as a means and a reason to hate other people makes one a bad person, however, my answer would be a resounding yes. If that makes me a bit judgy, so be it. I don’t hate the “Real” Christians for doing it, I just have to laugh at the irony of the situation.
In the end, it all comes down to a sort of group mentality. Everyone wants to find a sense of acceptance, a sense of purpose. For many Christians, certainly many of the most vocal ones, Christianity has ceased to be about guidance and love. Lamentably, it is not about learning how to be a good, accepting person. Further, the most vocal and visible churches are not about inclusion at all. They are about exclusion.
An example:
When was the last time you heard an evangelical go on TV and say, “I am a Christian and I will love my neighbor even though he happens to believe something else.”
I’m guessing never.
When was the last time you heard an evangelical go on TV and say, “I’m burning a book a bunch of people find sacred because I hate this other group of people and all they believe in.”
I’m guessing it was this guy, and you heard it this year. There is even a Facebook Page.
Anyone who has ever gotten teased or bullied by a group of people in middle or high school understands how this works. A group provides protection and security. The group, as a whole, wants to seem strong. Rather than just being secure in their friendship, the group instead lashes out at another person or group. In essence, Group A tries to make its candle burn brighter by snuffing out the candle of Group B. That is bullying: one entity making another entity look bad so it will look good in comparison.
So tell me: how is this different?
In the end, why do “real” Christians feel the need to say “Get out!” to people who want their own beliefs recognized as real and legitimate? I would argue that, much like the middle school bully, it comes from a profound sense of insecurity. Unlike the middle school bully, however, who just wants to compensate for a lack of penis growth, the “real” Christians want to compensate because they have based their entire identity on this one belief. Who do they think they are, Jesus?
Oh, yeah. About that.
The “real” Christians do all this without even a hint of irony.
Here is a guy, Jesus, who dedicated his life to loving others. He, by definition, would not have burned a book out of hate.
Here is a guy who was willing to sit down and eat dinner with a group of guys even though he knew one of them would betray him. He, by definition, would not say “Get out!”
I fear that “real” Christianity has lost its way. The best plan, in my mind, is to laugh at the irony of it all and keep trying to be a good person. If you catch yourself trying to justify hatred for another person by using your religion as an excuse, you are probably off base a little bit.
Does saying that make me the same as Jesus? I hope so. Hopefully Santa will notice.