A/religious Discrimination Awareness

With the amount of atheist blogs I follow, I can’t help but be aware of the multiple ad campaigns going around right now for the areligious-reason groups. First there were bus campaigns in England with the following slogan:

Then came the billboards in America:

etc.

Then came the Christian vandalism of said atheist billboards:

along with many protests and lawsuits about the message on these billboards. This has resulted in some of them being taken down by the ad firms who give in to the sway of the protesters.

And I ask, how is this even Christian? How is this message hurting you and your belief? How is it that we cannot grasp that we live in a pluralist society where people are content with letting others have whatever faith they have?

The gospel was birthed in a pluralistic society, but Paul didn’t go around smashing the statues in Athens because they displayed heathen gods and “unknown” gods. He didn’t protest their existence. He simply proclaimed what “they knew as unknown,” and “When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” ³³At that, Paul left the Council. ³⁴A few men became followers of Paul and believed.” Thus, the message of the gospel must be, in some way, stronger than the simple message of faith and belief the other religions of the day had. How did they convince a group of non-Jewish people to turn from their culture’s most popular religions to follow the way of a Jewish rabbi with simply the story of a man who rose from the dead?

In what way have we lost the true center of Christianity when we make it about what you believe rather than how that action is birthed in what you believe? There is no greater display of your personal theology than how you act towards other people. Faith is not intellectual acknowledgment of historical or even semi-historical events as having occurred. It is not in the belief of the existence of a God-man or in his resurrection and eventual return as a historical event. It is found where hope and belief cause us to behave in such a way that these things might be true. We hope they are true. Where this hope goes wrong is when Christians focus on what God dislikes rather than what God loves, and if we are to call ourselves Christians, we must acknowledge the love of God for everyone.

In what way have we lost the true center of Christianity when we suppress in fear the messages of other religions and a-religions? Is the gospel about being the only voice heard? And what message does suppression send to any person who is an atheist other than what they already believed: That Christians are self-centered bigots bent on world domination or condemnation through being the one voice heard?

In a nation whose first right is “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Amazingly, free speech and free practice of religion are in the SAME sentence. Amazingly, this document was written by the very people conservative Christians hold high as banners of the True America and the “way it should be.”

If someone wishes to espouse their beliefs over a billboard, why protest? Christians would find it laughably ridiculous were Atheists to protest the advertisement of a church on a billboard. Besides, the South would become a barren wasteland of “YOUR MESSAGE HERE” billboards with the loss of religious advertising privileges. What would ever entertain me on road trips?

Bio: Josiah is a graduate of North Central University in Minneapolis, MN. His thirst for knowledge is only surpassed by his thirst for coffee. Thus, much free time is spent in the quest for the next fix.

Jesus and the Space Aliens

“They arrived in our greatest hour of need.

They gave us hope,

And in return,

We gave them our trust.”

The first thing I hope you notice when watching this promo is its HEAVY use of religious imagery and language. There are multiple references to the Visitors as “Saviors”. Tyler steps out aghast at the mothership and exclaims “My God!” There are healings. Talk of gratitude morphing into worship is heard. A crucifix falls off an altar. Messages of hope are being spread to all mankind and those in power do not like what they cannot control. The second thing I hope you sense is the fear these things generate in the religious leaders and conservative people.

Now, if one understands the plot of this series (due to it being a remake), the jaded perspective of man when it comes to things seeming “too good to be true”, and how pop culture ultimately spins things (main characters are not evil), one knows that nothing in this show is as good or perfect as it seems. However, what if it was? What if the messages of hope were what they claimed to be? What if these people truly could save us?

At the very least, the initial episodes of this show, revealing and developing the message of the Vs and the reaction of Earth’s population, could give us a wonderful lens into a first century Pharisaic perspective of Christ, in that, he did much the same thing. He upset the government and the religious system by giving people hope rooted in some sort of alternative form. The people who were myopically focused on who held power and control in the here and now, suddenly witnessed the gift of equality to those over whom power was held. It was not the revolution they were looking for. Because of this, it gained devotion from those who experienced the new equality and fear from those who watched their system be critiqued with an obvious authority they were helpless to stand against. All they were able to do was kill the man.

This plays on the common understanding that man has always believed the world could be a better place, he has simply been at a loss of what or how to change it. Suddenly, beings clothed in human bodies arrive on the scene and prominently declare messages of hope and peace; radically transforming the lives on this planet through “miraculous” healing and cultural advancement.

It reveals the development of fear in the systemic leaders, both political and religious, as a result of the development of hope in the masses. This fear is a result of the loss of control through the realignment of devotion.

The actions and message of the Vs reveal by stark contrast the failings of the religious system to spread the hope it claims. However, it seems they do so by giving hope for the present rather than a hope for the future. Also, it is spread to everyone. It is not a message solely for those deemed appropriate by the system.

This begs the following questions:

– In what way is our “blessed hope” one that is not simply a future, or what are the ramifications of the Gospel of new creation to the present world?

– In what way have we narrowed our message to those within our system versus a message to all? (Something most think is a result of lifestyle requirements, linked to the “Go and sin no more” statements of Christ.)

So, Jesus and the Space Aliens. Their stories start off much the same; with hope, devotion, worship, trust, redemption, and salvation. If we, as the church, are to be for the world what Christ was for Israel, where have we gone wrong? Where was our effectiveness lost?

Just something to think about.

“V” begins Nov. 3rd on ABC.

Bio: Josiah is a graduate of North Central University in Minneapolis, MN. His thirst for knowledge is only surpassed by his thirst for coffee. Thus, much free time is spent in the quest for the next fix.