Tuesday, August 24, 2010

"Christians"

I use the quotes advisedly. And in anger. I read the headline in today's New York Times in disbelief. A Washington DC judge, it seems, has overturned the executive order, issued early in Obama's term, that allowed the scientific use of embryonic stem cells that George W. Bush had prohibited. The judge acted on a case brought principally by a "Christian" adoption agency on behalf of embryos. Now thousands upon thousands of already living human beings are forced to relinquish the hope that stem cell offered for the treatment of their diseases and disabilities; and hundreds of already advanced scientific research programs will be halted.

I was brought up a Christian, and do not recognize what is practiced and preached today in this country in the name of Christ to be anything close to what I was taught as a youngster. I do not believe that my father, an Anglican minister, would have recognized it either. From the literal-minded, intelligence-defying "creationism" to the angry, blinkered dogmatism that promotes this kind of perverse, unyielding, fanatical opposition to stem cell research, these people show as little mercy and as little civilized common sense as the Taliban.

What kind of God do they worship, that inspires such woeful, pitiless ignorance?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I, like you, was brought up Christian & feel that the current representation of this faith has been publicly overrun by factions not even closely resembling its origins.

The man, Jesus, was a teacher of spiritual truth. The Christ is a spiritual power not bound by religion. The various names for this power within different traditions all reveal the same Spirit.

There are certainly practicing Christians who understand this. It's just that the voices that cut through the most, in the physical, seem to be the ones that insist on their way as the one & only "right" way.

Keep speaking your truth! The power of Spirit will carry your voice.

Anonymous said...

I just ordered your book, by the way. Looking forward to receiving & reading it!

Peter Clothier said...

Thanks for the good words, Kim--and for ordering the book! Let me know what you think...

Anonymous said...

It is a nightmare. I think fair- and open-minded Christians need to grab their religion back from the crazy fanatics. Their influence on our public sphere and politics is becoming unbearable.

As an atheist, I find this stuff totally abhorrent on so many levels.

Vyvyan said...

I was speaking with a Southern Baptist preacher last week and he told me that he believes American Christianity is giving Christianity a bad name. I think he hit the nail on the head. I heard a saying years ago - one can call onself a Christian, but it is far better to be called a Christian by others, an indication that one's actions are in line with the doctrine.

Vyvyan said...

Peter, I also am ordering your book. Thank you.

Peter Clothier said...

A nice distinction, Vyvyan! And thanks for ordering the book...

Richard said...

I have to agree with you Peter and also with you, Vyvyan. What I'm seeing seems to me to be a hatefulness disguised as a faith. I don't believe anyone could really call it Christian.

There seem to be few audible moderate voices, the extremists are being allowed to go unchallenged. There is a similar issue to this in the UK with Islam, and the lesson seems to be that only the moderates in the faiths can answer these hardliners effectively.

DEANBERRY said...

"If these Americans and those like them ever fully understand just how much of their suffering — and the suffering we ("jews" - the founders of communism) have inflicted on others — is properly laid on the doorsteps of Israel and its advocates in America, they will sweep aside those in politics, the press and the pulpits alike whose lies and disloyalty brought this about and concealed it from them. They may well leave Israel looking like Carthage after the Romans finished with it. It will be Israel’s own great fault."

- Dr Alan Zabrosky, Jewish former Director of Studies at the US Army War College

https://wikispooks.com/wiki/9/11:Israel_did_it