Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Defending God (Please, Just Shut Up)

I had one discussion with my parents when I was a teen about the existence of God. It went something like this:
Me: I'm not sure... I mean... I don't know if... Sometimes I think God doesn't exist.

Father: YOU'RE WRONG! YOU'RE JUST WRONG! (repeat as needed)

Mother: (silence)
Let's just say it wasn't very helpful in my struggle with belief or the existence of God. Now comes Rep Monique Davis of Illinois. It seems that she and my Dad may have graduated from the same school of theological debate.

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/04/08/ill-rep-monique-davi.html

4 comments:

Steve B said...

AS much time as I spend the seeming free reign a lot of atheists get to spew their bile about "christo-fascists" and the like, it makes me rather ill to see someone who professes to be a Christian to take such a caustic tone. You totally lose credibility when you do that.

We, as Christians, can't very well claim to be aggrieved about the hostility towards our faith in modern jurisprudence, if people like this can't rise above their biases to try the case on its merits.

Twisted Christian said...

Did you actually read her comments? That kind of intolerance of other people's views, especially those you don't agree with, is exactly what people of faith should be rejecting loudly. We hate it when it comes toward us, so why should we defend it just because we might agree with the underlying sentiment? Remember the most important commandments? It's the same discrimination and that's what I decry in my original post... regardless of the source.

Granted, since then, he's shown his true colors and she's apologized, but it doesn't mean that my reaction to her intolerance brings my credibility into question. If it does, then I have to wonder about the nature of the credibility extended to me if it is tenuous enough to be quickly revoked when I question a fellow Christian's tolerance. Is our faith so weak that we can't allow other people to noisily disagree with our faith? If the expression of someone else's faith (or lack of it) is so much of a threat to mine, then I would suggest it wasn't very strong to begin with.

Modern hostility toward Christianity is dwarfed in comparison to the generations of institutionalized "Christian" hostility toward anyone that held a dissenting view. Both are wrong, but the solution isn't to force anyone to shut up and leave the room. We can only try the case on its merits if everyone is allowed to voice their opinions and we rise above the dissent on both sides to come to an equitable solution. That can't happen if people of faith in positions of power use emotional, irrational excuses to silence those who disagree with them. That's been going on for centuries and that is what many atheists are loudly complaining about. Her outburst is just another example of that and it only harms the pro-faith side of the argument in modern jurisprudence.

Steve B said...

Whoa, dude. I was speaking of the Judge in question, not you. I was agreeing with the sentiment of your post. And I completely agree with your above comments.

Wow. I really need to work on my presentation. Sorry.

Twisted Christian said...

Yikes! Did I ever overreact! These are important issues and I (obviously) feel very strongly about them, but I should have asked for clarification rather than assuming you were addressing me directly. I really need to learn how to keep my virtual ego in check.

Sorry. I completely misread your post and apologize for being so negative. I really need to take a pill before responding next time. Thanks for taking a moment to post back and let me know where I messed up. This is a huge opportunity for me to learn and get over myself.

Another thanks for being kind in your response.