Several times a year I face this conversation. It comes from living in a diverse community with friends, colleagues, family and acquaintances who question Christianity – especially today with Donald Trump being the hero and the one “evangelical christians” glorify – all in the name of Jesus – or are they talking about ‘jesus’.
It came up when Roy Moore from Alabama was running for office and pushing out for all to see, hear and hopefully believe – his evangelical christianity. He used his form of this ‘christianity’ to claim he could not have done all the things folks claimed he did because he was a Christian. He believed in Christ. He loved Jesus – and on and on it goes. Problem with that was, I was raised a Christian all of my life and I didn’t recognize anything he said or did as being Christian – let lets put him in the ‘christian’ and ‘jesus’ religion. And so, I dispensed with that problem – yet again.
In the last undecided Congressional race, watching the people involved comment – the Republican chair talking to Chris Hayes on MSNBC claimed he did not believe Republican Mark Harris would be involved in the voter fraud scandal in North Carolina because he loved Jesus and wouldn’t do anything against that. Once again – he loved which one – Jesus or ‘jesus’?
It looks very much as though his choice was ‘jesus’. Jesus got pushed out the door so he couldn’t witness the scandal. He will be brought back in when all of that voter fraud stuff is over.
In these United States we have two religions which call themselves “Christian” – because they claim to be followers and believers in “Christ.” That has been true for generations – way back to slavery. How many slave owners went to Church on Sunday and professed Christ and promised to follow Christs’ teachings only to return home and beat their slaves for one reason or another feeling perfectly justified in the doing and seeing no conflict?
I’ve tried to make peace with this by putting the bad guy “evangelical christians” in small letters along with the “jesus” and “christ” they claim. But that is not quite satisfying. That still lets me get upset with all of those ‘christians’ professing their ‘jesus’ because it is too close to mine and I have to answer to others who don’t understand the differences. I have to justify my Christianity too many times because of them.
Having been raised in the A.M.E, the Congregational and Episcopal Churches all at the same time, with a heavy dose of Catholicism having lived in New Orleans and Downtown at that, I guess some conflict seems normal to me. (The Intellectuals and the Protestants lived Uptown – the Catholics, the artists, a conglomeration of everyone else lived Downtown).
The conflict between these two totally separate religions, which go by the same name, is way beyond normal and they certainly espouse totally opposite beliefs and theologies.
So maybe its time for a name change!
I remember Jimmy Carter’s dilemma when he started his campaign for President of the United States. It was noted and reported world wide, but after a time left in the dust.
James Carter was a very strong, believing ‘christian’. It defined his life, his work, his relationships and everything about his life.
Problem with that was the Church he attended and where he taught Sunday School and (I think) served as an usher was very segregated. That accorded with his then ‘christian’ religion, but not with the public’s thoughts about Christianity when they heard his religious beliefs discussed. If Blacks came at all to his Church they had to sit in the back row and mostly they clearly understood they were not welcome.
It was quite something in this country when James Carter realized and rejected that ‘christianity’ and left the Church in which he was raised because of its overt racism – common across the country in such ‘christian’ churches. He left one religion – or religious denomination – for another. He left ‘christianity’ and became a Christian.
Todays’ “evangelical christians’ are big supporters of Donald Trump – a sexual assaulter by his own admission. Interesting thing about that – so are many of the leaders of the ‘evangelical christians’. Some have been called out and their ‘sins’ exposed, but they are back in the fold doing the same things they did to get expelled and they are supported by the people and their money to whom they preach every Sunday. I could call them out by name, but there is not enough room on this computer to contain all of them.
All through United States history the claims that this is a ‘christian’ country have been made loud and clear and that declaration used to move aside, push out, treat abusively those who are among the “non-believers”, the atheists, those others who ‘jesus’ supposedly called ‘christians’ to convert. Many if not most of the abusive, hatred, pain, agony and more inflicted on the world has been done in the name of some religion. Today and yesterday it was done in the name of this ‘christianity’. White Privilege – White Nationalists – the KKK and all the others live by and proselytize their ‘christianity’ and use it to justify the evil they do and have done. That ‘christianity’ has maintained such beliefs and actions because it makes the doers feel as though they are on their gods side – on the side which makes them better than everyone else. And they define their god as one who supports and has defined and brought into being the beliefs they live by – a theology that only satan could love.
And most especially – have you noticed the class distinctions between these two religions? “Jesus and the Disinherited” runs through from the beginning until now of the Christian religion. Foul up everything with even the ability and justification to kill and not see that as a moral flaw of your religion runs through the other – with its striving of its members to be better than; more important than; wealthier than. Isn’t that the theology which allowed Trump to proclaim to the nation that they should support MbS because after all Saudi Arabia brought us wealth in our interactions with them and isn’t that what is most important? Dismembering a human being is nothing when compared to the acquisition of the kind of wealth the Kingdom could bring to the United States. A basic belief of this ‘christian’ religion after the one which claims they are ‘better than”.
Don’t you think it is time for a renaming ceremony? Time to clearly distinguish between these two religions? My Christianity certainly does not begin to be anything like that of Roy Moore’s. Et tu?
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