When Christianity lost its groove

Last updated on: August 13, 2010 at 10:07 am by Dave Griffey

When Christianity lost its groove 2010-08-13T10:07:00-04:00 Dave Griffey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’ve been thinking over the last few months about how the world seems to assume that it is Christianity’s job to conform to every other belief and standard. This first hit me some years ago, when I was in a discussion with a Jewish friend over the evils of proselytizing. He informed me, rather emphatically, that it was wrong to convert people to your own religious beliefs. Then it dawned on me: wasn’t he tying to do the same thing? After all, has it been shown in the lab, accepted by the scientific community, shown with mathematical precision that trying to convert someone is wrong? Or is that merely his opinion, dare I say, his religious belief about proselytizing and converting?

Of course this was several years ago, back in the mid-90s. Back when much of liberalism was founded on the gospel of tolerance, diversity, respect, and open mindedness. In recent years, however, I began to rethink this little conversation with my friend, and realized that, even he didn’t realize it, the whole notion against ‘converting’ people was a sham. It was a hoax, a farce. It was a lie.

Fact is, humans have always, and will always, convert. They will make absolute truth claims, assume their beliefs are absolutely true, and demand nations, governments, institutions – and yes, religions – conform to those truths. To some extent they will attempt to convey these truths in the hopes of convincing and persuading others to change their minds and accept these truths. Eventually, as we are seeing in the post-liberal Left, there will come a time when tolerance for those who refuse to conform will lead to more ‘drastic’ measures.

The same is obviously true for religion. Christianity, a part of Western Culture, suffers from the Great Western Guilt. Assured of the narrative that ‘the West’ is to blame for everything, Christianity has backed off on making stands, against pointing fingers and saying that’s wrong, against looking at others and saying ‘you need to change.’ All while other religions, philosophies, and ideologies think nothing of looking at the Church and saying it’s wrong, dumb, evil, stupid, or anything else. Imams and atheists, Buddhists and Rabbis think nothing of sitting on a CNN panel describing the faults, flaws, and failings of Christianity throughout its history.

And all the while, most Christians still lumber along under the false pretense that we must be tolerant, that we must affirm anything and everything else, that we have no right to say we’re right, you’re wrong. We will not look at the other panelist and say, “Our values are the Truth values because they are founded upon the bedrock of Truth, the foundation of Eternal Divinity: God as revealed through Jesus Christ.” Some do, of course. But too many leaders feel the need to become all soft and cuddly. To avoid saying such things directly. They are just scared to point out the flaws in anything else (with the possible exception of radical secularism).

Point out the bad points of Jewish history? Forget it. Mention Islamic aggression and expansion throughout the previous thousand years? Don’t hold your breath. Explain that there are many bad things in Asian history, some of which actually tie to the religious beliefs of certain regions? Nope. Oh, their reps can trash, trash, and trash again the Church, its sins, its failings, its doctrines all they want. But all the while, the most respectable Christian leaders continue to be guided by that has-been of a teaching that watching the modern world should show was a lie all a long.

When confronted with diverse opinions at Athens, the Apostle Paul did NOT simply say this is one possible truth, and tell everyone else their truth was as good, or valid, as his. He did not trash his own tradition and stand idly by while others did the same. He did not use violence or aggression, as we should never do. I’m not advocating conversion at gunpoint here. I am saying it’s time for the Church to stand up, take a deep breath, and say ‘we’re right and you aren’t.’ Doesn’t mean we can’t coexist. Doesn’t mean we can’t discuss and debate. It means we hold these truths to be self-evident, and are sworn to uphold and protect them. It means when folks go on tirades about the evils of Christianity, challenge them. Throw it back at them. Discuss the caste system of India, the deplorable rights records of the Far-East, the modern conditions and rights abuses across the Islamic world, the brutality (by modern standards) of pre-Columbia American cultures, the mass slaughter of the secular 20th century and its terror states founded on, among other things, the eradication of religion. Don’t hold back or try to be a milquetoast anymore. It’s not working. People want truth. Real truth. Truth not afraid to be truth and proclaimed as truth. And if we who believe we hold the truth don’t take a stand, then others who we believe do not have the full truth will. And they will win.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 13, 2010

A sign Post-Moderns would need

Next Post

August 13, 2010 Friday the 13th Trumped by God

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Atheism Awesome things Bigotry for the hip American Blogging Books Catholic Catholic Teaching Catholics on the Internet Christian Persecution Christian Unity Christianity and America Christianity in the Post-Modern World Christianity in the world Culture of Death Culture of Life Current Events Decline and Fall of the Christian West Defending Liberty Fun Stuff Global Warming Good Causes Good News Gun Control Health Care History Holidays Homeschool Humor Important things Inspiring Stories Interesting Insights Interesting Stories Islam and the West Liberal "Tolerance" Liberal observations Life in a post-Christian world Memorial Movies Musings News Other Blogs Our Big Politically Correct Bother Politics Popular Culture Post Modern Values Prayers Pro Life Promoting LGBT Protecting Liberty Racism in the world today Scientism Social Observations Sports Strange Stories The Boys The Catholic Church and the Left The Decline and Fall of the American Dream The end of liberty The Faith and the Left The Faith and the Right The Family The Greatness of God The Internet The Leftist Juggernaut The LGBT Question The Media The Pope The post-liberal Left The Power of Propaganda Tributes Twilight of the American Experiment Uncategorized Uneducating Postmoderns When the Church is wrong Why learn from history when we can repeat it instead Wisdom in the Post Modern Age World Events

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who prophesied the fall of Babylon?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Daniel Ezekiel Isaiah Jeremiah