In fact, the vast majority of Christians don't scare, bother, annoy, or irk me. In fact, they're generally great people. If this sounds strangely backhanded, I honestly don't mean for it to be. Perhaps it is unfair that I pick on an entire belief system because a small handful of nutbars keep getting a national stage--I could also blame that on a market-driven infotainment system that generally finds putting nutjobs on screen to spew crap gets better ratings than an actual reasoned discussion of faith (sad but true, and I'd rather be watching the Sci Fi Channel, anyway). Perhaps it is my own rather unpleasant history with the faith that makes me get a bit of a thrill from being mildly provocative (not sure who I'm provoking, but a guy can dream).
Anyway, my point is that this guy scares the crap out of me. And he works out of my hometown. And I sure hope he does not represent the mainstream of Christian (or any) thought.
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3 comments:
Who set the bar on cleverness? Did you set it yourself? You need to get up on a chair the next time you set that.
Dave, as a Christian, I can say that you don't annoy me, either, even though we ultimately have vastly different conceptions of the universe. I appreciate your thoughtfully bringing up topics that are important to you -- though I'm sad to say that I don't find you all that provocative.
And as a Christian, I lament with you the various people who grab all the attention with their perverted version of my faith -- including Mr. Hagee -- though obviously for entirely different reasons. Does he represent the mainstream? Hard to say. There are several core mistakes I think he and his ilk have made in understanding the Bible, though. Regardless, just because he's popular doesn't mean he's right. (In a similar fashion, do Bush et al. represent the mainstream of conservatism? Some would say yes, some no.)
I'm curious, though, about your "rather unpleasant history" with Christianity.
Eh, maybe "provocative" is the wrong word. Mostly this blog is cathartic--I get all the things that bug me in the news off of my chest. I end up spending more time on background research than on crafting a well-reasoned argument, I admit.
Perhaps at some point I'll blog some about the "unpleasant history."
As for "cleverness," I have no idea who set the bar. I'm just trying to keep the discourse civil, by comparison to much of online dialogue. Also, maybe it's just early and the coffee hasn't kicked in, but I have no idea what the "chair" comment is about.
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