Thinking it through...

Well, it's been a while since my last blog. I have been extremely busy, but also, at a loss for w while now, of things to blog about. Recently I have been inspired, and hope to be blogging more in the recent future.

Several months ago, I stumbled across a blog called 'Stuff Christian Culture Likes' and it intrigued me. I have been by several times, and I have to say, most of the posts are fairly spot on, and some are humorous as well. All in all, it is one of my favorite blogs to visit, if for nothing else, just to see what's next. The latest post however didn't sit quite as well with me. Because I don't want you to hear my opinion without being able to form your own, you can read the most recent post here.

Now, there was nothing major that upset me, but I felt like more than in other posts, Christianity or Christian culture took a bit of an unfair beating and I would just like to express a few thoughts that I had. I would like to preface my thoughts by saying that I in no way feel that my opinion is flawless or without fault, it is however my opinion and I have spent some significant minutes formulating it through reading, research and thought. I would also like to say that I enjoy this particular blog and hold nothing against the author whatsoever. These are just thoughts, and I am as open to hearing yours as I hope you will be to hearing mine. Now, assuming you clicked the link above and read the post, I will continue.

The main thing I would like to express an issue with is the comment towards the beginning that says, ‘By and large, people in Christian culture also support the war in Iraq. The considerable loss of innocent life during war doesn't seem to strike them as any sort of inconsistency.’ The inconsistency being referred to is that of being anti-abortion, but being pro-war. The inference here is that by being anti-abortion, you are against “meaningless death” and if you are pro-war, you are somehow in support of meaningless death. There are many holes in this logic, some of which are obvious, and others that are no, but all of which I believe can be pointed out and shown to be just that. I am around Christians every day. I have liberal Christian friends as well as conservative Christian friends, and I love them all. I can honestly say, that I have never heard a single one say that they feel ‘OK’ about the death and tragedy that war brings. I also don’t know many that would actually say they are pro-war. Some may say they agreed with the reasoning behind the war, and personally, I would argue that point with them. Some would say they are pro-America, and if protecting our nation means we must go to war, then so be it. Again, I don’t know any that would say they are OK with the windfall that war inevitably brings and to say otherwise, I feel is a wrong judgment and gives and unfair slant to the entire post.

Stephanie is correct in saying that neither abortion nor war are very palatable topics. I also feel like ‘Christian culture’ could do a lot better at engaging those that have differing opinions from their own. The thing about Jesus is that He engaged everyone. He engaged the beggar, the blind man, the Pharisees, the lepers, the thieves, the drinkers, the fornicators, the prostitutes, and so on. Jesus engaged each one and their life was never the same after their encounter with Him. Jesus never once approved of wrong or sinful behavior, but He never once rejected a person no matter how sinful they were. This is how we need to be. We will always have differing opinions on things such as war and abortion, but it is imperative that we learn to listen and love one another and seek truth above all else.

There is so much more I could say, but I feel as though my thoughts are scattered enough that I will stop here. I would love to hear your thoughts…