My Rant… A Christian Apology By Mia Tabib Disclaimer I want to thank you all in advance for reading this rant. I know very well that I will offend a great deal of people and in the process lose some Facebook friends. But if my words weren’t hitting at something real, I wouldn’t really be saying much of anything, now would I? So for those of you who are gracious enough to read this, I thank you, and welcome any and all healthy criticism, comments, and contentions you might have. For those of you who don’t know, I am a Christian. Although, to be honest with you, I don’t even know what that word means anymore. Literally it means “Like Christ”… but we all know that words are often embedded with nuances from conversational implicatures that are not literally embedded in the meaning of the word itself. The term “Christian”, I’m afraid, has become a victim of verbacide. “Verbacide, the murder of a word, happens in many ways… But the greatest cause of verbacide is the fact that most people are obviously far more anxious to express their approval and disapproval of things than to describe them.” (Lewis, 1967) The word “Christian” is not exempt from such an atrocity; it too has been a victim of verbacide. Just as language is used as a device for communication, meaning is an instrument for power. It is with this principle in mind that the reader must hold it paramount to traverse through the bog of nuances, and instead pursue a working definition of Christian amidst the semantic litter. In other words, whoever you are, I know at one point in your life you have been hurt by a Christian. How deeply and how painfully you have been hurt I do not know… but at one point in everyone’s life we will all question the existence of a God whose people act they way they do. I too have been hurt by Christians and yet I am still one. I am a Christian and I have hurt others. I don’t think anyone wants to admit that he/she is guilty of treating other people unkindly, but we all do. We all fail. If you can honestly look at your life, analyze your actions, and say that you have never wronged anyone or done anything unethical, immoral, or less than kind, then stop reading. This rant is not for you. Congratulations. You’re perfect. But for those of us who are realistic with ourselves, and for those of us who see that there is a problem, please keep reading. Dear Christians, we have a huge issue. It’s a problem that must be addressed. A problem that has infiltrated our doctrine, ambushed our truth, and sabotaged our testimonies. It is a cancer and it is eating our very hearts, souls, and minds. I see it every morning when I open my Facebook page. I see it in comments made here and there… passing glances, facial expressions, dirty looks, etc. It has to stop. It must end now. Today I watched a clip of a pastor bragging that he punched a child in the chest. He claimed to have converted a “smart aleck” youth by “punching him in the chest as hard as I could.” Pastor Eric Dammann physically abused this child and apparently converted him right then and there to Christ. Then there’s Pastor Sean Harris who recently was caught on camera giving a sermon instructing parents to “punch” their sons if there was any hint of feminine behavior. Harris said, “Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist.” These are just two examples of abusive behavior I happened to stumble across while watching news clips on Youtube. Go ahead… google it. Google racist preachers. You’ll find a plethora of examples of so-called “Christian leaders” who do terrible things, and say atrocious things in the name of my Savior. But it is not only Christians who have apparent issues with being decent… agnostics, atheists, and humanists are not exempt. Recently I saw a post on Facebook written by an atheist friend of mine not only belittling religion, but making hateful claims about Christ, Christians, and Christianity in general. This person’s sheer disgust with anyone who would dare believe in a god was so transparent…. And so cutting. It is this attitude exhibited from all sides (Christian, atheist, agnostic, Muslim, etc.) that eats away at the very core of what it means to be human. Given the recent terrorist attacks in Paris by radical Muslims, we are all aware of the power of hatred. It is the most infectious of diseases. Like a cancer, it seeks a host, and grows until there is nothing left. I have seen an “Us vs. Them” attitude exhibited by Christians. Though I have also seen this attitude from agnostics and atheists, I am choosing not to call them out, due to the fact that this essay is specifically pointing out a flaw that we as Christians must address, and address it NOW. Dear Christians, it is not an “Us vs. Them” world. Stop. Stop it now. We are mandated by Christ to love… unconditionally, freely, and without hesitation. Ignoring this mandate, you ignore a command from your King. Luke 6:35 states, “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” We are Christians. “Like Christ…” and what did Christ do? On the cross He cried out, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) If we are truly to be like Christ, then this is the example we must follow. We must give up our lives in service of God, our brothers and sisters, and humanity as a whole. The verses go on and on… Christ gives us a mandate to love one another. If we do not love, our salvation is called into question! “Whoever does not love, does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8) “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.…” (1 John 3) Christians would do well to call all our actions into question. You think Muslims are the only ones that have terrorists? HA! Terrorism comes from hate… Hate begins as a slow fade… a whisper, a grudge, a little seed of resentment that grows into a weed of terror. We are all capable of being terrorists. I am guilty of acts of terror (calm down NSA—I know you’re reading this. I’m not a terrorist…). I am guilty of saying hurtful things, mean things… anyone who knows me knows that sometimes my passion for knowledge comes across as intellectual elitism. I know I have acted unethically. And it comes in a whisper… so subtle you hardly notice that it’s hate. But it is. It’s there… and that’s the seed for terrorism. We must not fall prey to the romanticized illusions of violence for religious ends. It seems as though it is in mankind’s nature to take something monstrous and attempt to glamourize it, creating a beautiful façade, while ignoring the Pandora’s Box waiting to be unleashed. In Greek mythology, Medusa was a hideous monster, a temptress, with snakes as her hair. So evil, in fact, was her gaze, that a simple glance into her eyes would turn any mortal into stone. Yet poets, authors, and artists have romanticized such a monster, seemingly denying the terror she represents. The Poet Shelley states in the last line of his poem, “On The Medusa”: “Tis the tempestuous loveliness of terror; For from the serpents gleams a brazen glare Kindled by that inextricable error, Which makes a thrilling vapour of the air, Become an ever-shifting mirror, Of all the beauty and the terror there…” Shelley’s association with the sheer terror of Medusa and her “loveliness” is not a mistake. He is articulating a phenomenon exhibited by all: the subtle, but real, equation of beauty and terror. One must not fall into the trap of assuming that simply because the end result might be moral, ethical, and righteous on all accounts, ergo the means are justified. No—the means must not be the source for justifying the end. It is with this mentality that the acceptance of all forms of terror could potentially be acceptable. One must not be intoxicated with the thrill “kindled by that inextricable error”. I am in no way making the claim that delineating between self-defense and religious statements is easy. On the contrary, one of the most challenging fields is ethics: the study of right versus wrong. There is no easy chart that lucidly separates an action done in self-defense and an action done for a gain other than defending that which is honest, true, and just. One must, however, accept this struggle, and not fall prey to the idea of simply clumping all violent actions as acts of terror. One must recognize that just because we as Christians have been persecuted and scorned does NOT give us liberty to treat other humans in the same manner. In this sense, it is very possible that Christians might inadvertently become “terrorists” of sorts. “The terrorist (we are told) is the only one who really cares; he is a totally committed fighter for freedom and justice… the good Samaritan distributing poison, St. Francis with the bomb. Such a beautification of the terrorist is grotesque.” Laquer, 2011) One must not equate this position with a commitment to nonviolence and apathetic ignorance to evil. One must seek to ascertain the heart of the issue. Horse thieves in Latin America claimed ideological and political foundations for their thievery as a safeguard against being hanged for their crimes. They justified their wrong actions as a type of “self-defense.” As Christians we do not have this liberty of repaying wrong for wrong, or evil for evil. If someone slaps you, you freaking turn the other cheek. If someone spits in your face, give them the other one. If someone hates you for being a Christian, bake them brownies. We are called to love…. A real and genuine love. We are called to treat everyone with respect, forgiveness, and dignity. This is not a suggestion, but a commandment. I am guilty of not keeping this mandate more than anyone. I have failed, I have fallen… and I will continue to make mistakes. But I have Christ. And He is quick to convict those who look to Him for truth, correction, and growth. It is up to Christians to likewise gently correct one another. We must keep one another in check. We shouldn’t be timid, but speak truth in love. One must not fall into the ethical quagmire of agreeing that hateful words are an ethically sound option. We are called to love. And any Christian that would argue against that assertion is merely being seduced by the gaze of Medusa. In this case, however, it is their consciences that have turned to stone. This is definitely a censored rant… it was much more scathing. But then I decided I should take my own advice, and lovingly condemn hatred, as opposed to hatefully condemning. I urge all Christians reading this to choose their words more carefully, hug more warmly, give graciously, smile more… and if someone disagrees with your ideology/beliefs? Fine. Bake them brownies. Someone hates you because you’re a Christian? Perfect. Buy them a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant. Someone posts disparaging comments on your Facebook? Awesome. Send them hearts. I’ve had it. I’m done with the us vs. them mentality. To all my friends, please do not hesitate to correct me if my conduct is anything less than kind. Because I will most assuredly not hold back if I see hatred from you. It is not just Muslims that descend into the clutches of terrorism. Oftentimes the real terrorist is the person staring back at you in the mirror. Evil is so much more potent the more subtle it is. So, to the world, apologies for any unkind, unloving Christian with whom you have interacted. I assure you, it is not indicative of us as a whole. Please forgive us, we know not what we do. And feel free to correct us if you feel we have been seduced by Medusa.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 08:49:34 +0000
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