A Bit of My Life » Being a True Christian

Being a True Christian

Let me start off by saying that I am a dyed-in-the-wool atheist, and former pagan. Some would say that I am the least qualified person in the world to comment on Christianity. They may even be right.

I have run into a number of Christians over my short life. I even worked with some when we were on an Interfaith council together in University, most notably the Roman Catholic priest at my former alma mater, York University. Unfortunately I forget his name, but he was probably the coolest priest I have ever met.

Being an atheist does not mean that I don’t respect people who have a belief system of any kind. In fact, I’m a bit jealous of those who do have a concrete faith in something, and I wish I could have that sort of faith as well. However, my exposure to religion, as can be read in the Wicca and Paganism section of this blog, left a bad taste in my mouth for organized religion of any kind. Once you get burned, you don’t tend to get too close to the fire again.

I have recently met a person with a family that profess themselves to be “true Christians” to the nth degree; they donate tons of money to their church, they donate tons of money to their church, and they donate tons of money to their church. Did I mention that they donate tons of money to their church? Will Google derank my blog after they see this paragraph? I hope not – I am trying to make a point after all.

Not only do they (get ready for it) donate tons of money to their church, they have the added righteousness of disowning their family who do not toe the line religiously. Guess they missed this little verse in Luke 15:11. But hey, the Bible’s a big book, right? Maybe they missed it?

All sarcasm aside, last time I checked Christianity was supposed to be about forgiveness, not self-righteousness. Another example I recently learned of “Christian behavior” was a friend’s aunt who had refused to show up at her grandmother’s funeral because she was Catholic – a sect that her Christian aunt didn’t subscribe too.

The truest Christians I have ever met don’t talk about their beliefs, unless asked to. If asked to, you’d better be prepared, because they open up like a fountain being turned on. This is how people of all faiths who are polite tend to act.

This brings me to wonder how Christians can police their own errant members. Maybe it’s up to members of each congregation or parish to “call bullshit” when they see it happening. More importantly, I think more priests should be preaching about how self-righteousness in one’s beliefs isn’t tantamount to godliness; in fact it runs counter to the whole belief system.

Everyone has a story about a Christian friend or relative who has done something decidedly un-Christian in the name of the religion. What’s yours? Feel free to leave a comment.

Posted: July 14th, 2008 under Anarchy.
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