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Passion and tolerance

Maybe it’s just the cold medicine — I am feeling a little wired — but I am thinking of starting a second blog, one which would be more specialized than this one.

The new blog would have a theme to it: the theme would be how we, as Christians and as citizens, balance passion for our own beliefs against the need for tolerance of other beliefs.

As our society become increasingly fractious, I’ve noticed two trends of thought that bother me, for different reasons.

One such thought is a universalism which seems to imply — sometimes without stating it directly — that all religious are equally valid, and it doesn’t really matter which one you believe as long as you’re sincere. I enjoyed the movie “Secondhand Lions,” but I’m afraid I saw a hint of this in Robert Duvall’s challenge to Haley Joel Osment to believe something, almost without regard for whether or not that something is true.

I believe this approach cheapens religion. The major world religions may share a few ethical concepts, but they make dramatically different claims about the nature of the universe and the purpose of humanity. They contradict each other; if all are equally valid, then none of them is valid.

A TV commentator who I normally like and enjoy — in fact, he’s one of my favorites — made me very angry this week when he delivered an editorial of sorts criticizing a former co-worker for an interview given by that co-worker. The co-worker, and the interviewee, said some ham-handed things about religion, to be sure, but the crux of the commentator’s complaints about his co-worker seemed to be little more than that the co-worker had claimed that he worshipped the one true God and that people who didn’t worship that God would face the consequences.

I believe that I worship the one true God. If I did not believe that, there would have been no point in my going to church this morning. I believe it is appropriate, even necessary, for me to share my faith with others. At the same time, I am a human being. It is possible that I, in my humanity, have misinterpreted or misunderstood the truth. That is not God’s fault; it’s mine, and that humility requires that I treat those around me with respect. It requires that my attempts to convince others of the truth be conducted with a balance of passion and tolerance.

That brings me to a second problem. The Bible requires us to be passionate, and the Bible cautions us that we will sometimes be in opposition to society around us. But too many Christians live in a state of holy paranoia, focusing on the wrong things at the wrong times. The recent furor about the so-called “War on Christmas” is a classic example. Christmas is one of our best opportunities to share our faith with others. Christmas often brings out the best in the church — hospitality and charity are at their most focused and visible. But this year, too many Christians made the church seem like the purveyors of bad news rather than the heralds of good news.

Christmas, as a religious holiday, will survive as long as we, the church, want it to, regardless of how Wal-Mart greets its customers. As I posted here before, Christians used to say they wanted Christmas to be less commercial. If that’s true, why should we care what any retail business does? If the secular world wants to avoid offending people by saying “Happy Holidays,” that doesn’t prevent us from celebrating Christmas.

And, by the way, not even Christians are united on the issue of Christmas. Here in my own rural county there are one or two Churches of Christ that eschew the flashy holiday of Christmas because they consider it un-Biblical.

The trouble is, it’s much, much easier to try to boycott something than to
try to share Christ in a positive manner. I get so furious at all of these trumped-up petition drives that get passed around the Internet, often based on wrong information. Don’t even get me started on the Pepsi / Dr. Pepper “Pledge of Allegiance” controversy. When we respond to garbage like this, we make ourselves and our cause look foolish and squander credibility that we need for more serious issues. And there are too many so-called Christian organizations fanning the flame of discontent for their own self-serving reasons, because it helps them sell books or bring in viewers and donations.

Christ said that we as Christians would be at odds with popular culture and that he had come, not to bring peace, but to bring a sword. But I don’t believe that means that we are here to pick fights or spend all our time complaining. Christ did not waste his time focused on the Roman government, as oppressive as it was; he spent his time focused on his message.

I believe that Christians are called to dance on the picket fence between apathy and intolerance. I believe we are to be in this world, with all that implies, but not of it. I believe our best destiny is to share Christ with others in a positive, loving way. I believe Christians should influence the arts not with boycotts but through our own creative expression.

At the same time, I believe we must be fearless and unapologetic in proclaiming the truth.

I don’t know if I have enough to say to maintain a web site on these and other related issues. A lot would depend on how quickly I could promote it and whether others would be willing to join in the conversation.

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