Wednesday, August 20, 2003

Real Christians

I'm way behind on this, but Kynn Bartlett at Shock & Awe had a long and thoughtful essay the other day:

More Stuff About Christians and Christianism

[Full disclosure: Kynn says some nice things about the "Rush" essay. But he carries the thinking to another level.]
Christianism is a theocratic form of Christianity which is anti-pluralistic, designed to impose conservative Christian beliefs on American society (and eventually the world) through the use of the political system (or sometimes outright force). Christianism is a domestic crusade designed to change the country from the inside into one in which (nominally) Christian beliefs are the guiding societal force.

This is the "culture wars" which we are engaged in. It is often presented as "secular vs. Christian," but that's patently false. The fundamentalists have managed to distort the public debate to the point that fundamentalist beliefs are identified in the media as "Christian" -- ignoring entirely the fact that there are large numbers of Christians who don't believe the same way as the conservatives.

I'm glad Kynn explores this issue, in depth, because it's one that animates me as well. I don't discuss the matter much in my analysis because it's clear, of course, that not everyone opposed to the fundamentalists is a Christian.

But the reality is that many of us are. And we are not only disgusted by what they do in the name of our faith, we are dedicated to stopping it.

Of course, as Kynn points out, we are not "real" Christians to these people. I for one am glad to let God decide that one, not some wattle-faced preacher.

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