Loving Your Neighbor

There's some great dialogue underway at the TPM Cafe that ought to be of interest to anyone with a historical connection to the bible or other trappings of Christianity and thus inclined towards compassion, tolerance, and other Christ-like feelings wholly out of step with those in power these days.

Annie Lamott, a writer I admire, gets the ball rolling with this confessional:

Culture, Sort of

My boyfriend, who is South African, pronounces Christians 'Christy-ins', and he usually says the word with a hint—or more—of contempt. It sounds repellant to my ears, and it also gets at the truth of what Christianity tends to look like these days. I am not sure I am going to call myself a Christian for awhile, although I need to talk to Ed Kilgore about this first.

I used to think it was necessary for religious liberals and progressives who follow Christ's teachings to align ourselves with Jesus, who 100% of the time, has always heard and drawn close to the suffering of the poor. But with every passing day, calling yourself a Christian makes it sound as if you have anything in common with the Right wing's imperialistic corporate Christianity. It makes them sound more legitimate, instead of the Christy-ins whom they have shown themselves to be. They are doing hideous things in the name of Jesus. They seem absolutely clueless about the fact that God is not a white American male, and is independent of American foreign policy. Everything they say is couched in language that makes them sound like they are right in the heart of Jesus, when they are doing [what] is called, to use the theological term, ‘fucking the poor.’ So I think for the time being, I would like to be referred to as The Artist Who Formerly Called Herself a Christian. If anyone asks, I will explain that I do love Uncle Jesus, and I live for my church, and other churches that, like the early Christians, celebrate mystery and diversity, and believe that we are here to take care of our brothers and sisters.

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The aforementioned Mr. Kilgore then weighs in:

Broken Communion

I know I've been posting a lot, but it's Sunday, and Annie Lamott's powerful confession that's she half-ashamed to be identified as a Christian these days is eminently worthy of comment.

She's got her finger on something that's terribly real for a lot of Christians on both sides of the cultural and political wars here and around the world: You look at those on the other side and think: Can these people possibly be Christians? And if so, who am I?

I've struggled with this myself, much as Annie has. I can barely comprehend the views of "Bible-based" evangelical Protestants who somehow think the primary message of Scripture in our time is to ban abortion, proscribe homosexuality, put women back "in their place," support state-sponsored religious displays, and identify with the foreign policy of the United States as carried out by George W. Bush. And Christian Right leaders have made it abundantly clear they think people like me and Annie are infidels and poseurs of the highest order.

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There's more to both posts, as well as commentary, all worth reading. You won't find this sort of thing in your corporate-run media, that's for sure.