Evangelicals Vs. Friendly Neighborhood Christians

Interesting take. It doesn't really seem to be the motivation of Dominionists to save your soul though. They really just want Dominion over everyone and everything. Their will to power, which of course is conveniently the will of a god as well. They're looking out for us as much as the snake oil salesman, or the used car dealer.

On the other hand, the passive Christian doesn't care and doesn't need to care. Why? They believe in a god that is indeed all loving and all forgiving. No matter who you are, no matter what you do; when you die you will be forgiven. Heaven? Forgiveness? These are all forgone conclusions. What isn't a forgone conclusion is your life on earth. That means, at a minimum, not taking action to make other people's lives more miserable. That means not being a self-center Dominionist; whether as an Evangelical Christian or a Muslim Extremist.

Unfortunately it's a no win for us non-religious types. The Dominionist will try to force their religion on us, a rape of will, a rape of religion. The passive Christian will sit back and fail to object. And sometimes failing to object is almost as bad as taking the action. Evil succeeds when good people do nothing.

The best Christian (or person of any religion or philosophy) is the one who opposes Dominionism at every turn. Preferring respect and community in this world, knowing they don't need to worry about your soul because it's already taken care of. Unfortunately those are a very rare breed, such as Mikey Weinstein (different religion but the point still stands) or Rev. Barry Lynn.

i agree with you.

Here's a question: would you rather be told what to do, or shown what to do?

My ex-boyfriend's parents are Seventh Day Adventists. This isn't a part of their lives, this is who they are. Everything they do relates to their religion. They truly live what they believe. However, in the nearly two years my ex and I were together, they never once asked me to go to church with them, read from the Bible, questioned my beliefs, or evangelized at all. Rather, they lived as they believed they were supposed to according to their religion. If asked why they did this or that, they said it was because that is what their religion dictated, or what the Lord would want them to do. They are two of the most loving, caring, giving, and happy people I have ever met. They didn't tell people that they should become Seventh Day Adventists, they showed them why they should.

Then there are the evangelicals I know who feel the need to preach to me, tell me what I'm doing wrong, and inform me that I may be going to Hell. I was raised Catholic and confirmed Lutheran. I've read the Bible, cover-to-cover, eleven times. I know the rituals, the hymns, and the dogma of the "modern" church. And, with all of this information, I am no longer a Christian. No matter what you tell me, that decision (which was not an easy one to make) will not change. And the obtrusive, offensive, and un-Christ-like methods used by so many of these ultra-religious groups drives me further from their organized religion. It isolates me more. But, to be honest, they probably don't really want me. As much as they try to get me to join their churches and to "bring me to God," they just want my name in their roster, they don't actually want me as a person. And God already knows where I stand, so why should I care what his self-proclaimed followers think of me?

Of course, I don't have children, but my sister and brother do, and neither of their families attend church, but that's not to say that they are being raised without morals, without a sense of spirituality, without a knowledge of "God." Maybe, just maybe, if people worried more about themselves, their families, their own actions, we'd see a much kinder and "godly" world.

Christ claimed the best way to save people was through acts, not words.

"Passive" Christians may not be "passive" in that context. Living a good life, being a good friend and neighbour and offering to help all seem to me to be "actively" Christian. Yelling, judging, preaching and claiming superiority to me is the opposite of Christian.

The Good Samaritan story to me always struck me as a truly Christian ideal. You're an atheist, or a Jew, or French, or Zimbabwean; it doesn't matter. You should do good to all, and hope through your acts others will appreciate it.

Now, many of these formerly Christian ideals are now commonly accepted norms so we forget how important they were once. But to me it's a good thing.

Fighting against the religious "think they're right" is not really a Christian's task. I loathe them and fight them, but that's because I want Christianity to be a healthy and reasonable choice (if you're not a Christian), not some forced, scare-tactic knee-jerk rape of the soul

Asking forgiveness and truly meaning it, means you actually live like Jesus. If you ask forgiveness and clearly don't mean it, you'll be rejecting his ideals, his beliefs and his attitude.

He rejected the "Christian state." He barely conceived of what a worldwide church would be. He just wanted us to love God and love our neighbour. Jesus didn't have an opinion on global warming, teen pregnancy or abortion because they were irrelevant, there are no "true Christian morals" in these fields, just extrapolated from other areas. He didn't want his face on money, and liked the idea of prayer in more solitary manners than in public.

All these things Jesus taught and that the Christian Right have either forgotten, ignored or abandoned. A "Christian" world would be one of love, acceptance, tolerance, friendship and justice (and every religion, like any ideology when perfectly acted upon, probably would be the same). Jesus didn't force himself on the Romans, he lived his life as he believed and encouraged others to do the same.

Jesus' life and the modern Christianity of the USA are so far divorced in my mindset, I can't truly reconcile them.

Everyone makes their own choices, and I have made my own as well. I know that I sure as hell am not perfect, so what room do I have to criticize others for their choices?

You'll have to forgive me for using the quote, but there's a passage in the Bible stating: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." I know I'm not without sin, and I'd bet good money most of the hyper-religious people are the same, despite what they say...but that is awfully hypocritical and judgemental for me to say. Hi, kettle, my name is Pot!

Another typically quoted but oft ignored teaching that right-wing Christians hate.

Sinners shouldn't denounce sinners so much for sinning; they should encourage sinners to act like Christ (and not cast the first stone)

The active Christian is doing a better job. (This is not all cases - some so called christians and christians are activley witnessing without considering the interest of the well being of the person they are witnessing to. This is bad witnessing. Witnessing must be done activley because it is an essential part of being a christian. This may not mean that the person is not a christian but witnessing is some evidence that a person is truly a christian.)
Well I must say this is not the first time that I have heard an atheist say that they understand Christianity. Sadly you get it more than most Christians today. Just because people say they are Christians does not make them one. The way I proclaim Christianity is this, I like Gay marriage as much as Homosexuals like scripture. Now since some of them and others proclaiming to be Christians don't like what scripture says they propagate a lie and tell you that Jesus is alright with homosexuality. Well they should choose another religion that supports that instead of trying to change the scriptures that were around since any of us were even seed. It is like saying I don't like newtons idea on gravity so I will say that it does not exist. Well try jumping off a building. Maybe that's a little bit exaggerated an example but you get the idea. See the attack is on scripture and most so called Christians today are concerned with weather God will make their life better or worse. This is not the point of Christianity and some of those who do not believe truly get caught in the cross fire.
I want to make it absolutely clear that I cannot push my ideals as a christian on others. Even if you cannot get legally married I cannot stop the Ideal. No christian can. We are not called to stop by force but speak out what we know to be the truth. This means that if in a country like the USA I have a right to vote gay marriage away then I must do so. I have plenty of gay Friends that understand this. The same goes with any other ideal. You could outlaw Christianity but the only people you will encourage not to be Cristian's are those who were not Christians. I think that people have this idea that people are not responsible for their ideals and that they need permission to execute them. News flash you will hold to your ideals with or without the permission of Christians and will do so in defiance of the face of God himself. So do not be angry with all Christians just the ones that don't practice. By the way if you want the best tool against poor christian behavior go to the scriptures. I have a Muslim acquaintance that corrects me in regard to my bad habit of smoking and because of that I am on my way to recovery.You also can use the scriptures to hold a true christian accountable.
Disclaimer - Doing so may cause conviction, repentance and conversion. There is no guarantee that the result will be the same in all participants. Some will fake conversion so that they may remove this inoculation from the body. Those inoculated with the actual inoculation have nothing to fear but beware the placebo inoculation.
If you are a non believer in Christ I hope that you could come to know Christ but I also hope that there are Christians that are revealing to you the truth. We are sinful and need to have intervention to pay the price for that sin whatever it may be. Jesus payed that price and if we are convicted of our sin and turn away from that sin and to Christ that he will use us in our grateful state for his Glory. This is true selflessness that we would sacrifice not for ourselves but for God who has already done so for us. Pay it Forward and feed the hungry, cloth the poor and love the loveless. This is the result of believing Christians live it.

Who is taking the more admirable road?

1) The idle Christian who has his own beliefs and respects others rights to maintain theirs.
2) The aggressive evangelical who uses every tool at his disposal to spread the word of god.

Lead bias in the question. I think there are things both admirable and detestable in both positions. 

I tend to take an agnostic view to my Christianity. I dont know whats out there 100% for sure, so I am not harpy. People live with their own desicions. I dont consider myself an "idle" Christian if I respect others rights to maintain their views. I feel like I lead my life in a way that will draw people to God/Christ then so be it.

And as for "Aggressive" Christians, I dont think it admirable to hound anybody. I get just as peeved when my athiest friends wont let up on how stupid it is I believe in God with no proof other than faith.

I guess if I had to pick I would say I admire the 1st more than the second, but I feel if I am living my life as an example than I am not idle, just considerate.

 And If motivation in being agressive is from a position of being judgmental without tolerance then I wouldnt admire that, but if it is from a position of ginuwine concern than there is room for admiration there as well.

The aggressive evangelical is definately worse.

At the very least, when they're not actively "saving" others, they are also not actively "sitting in judgement" of others as well.

I have a Christian friend with whom I have lively debates.

We discussed the topic of gay marriage last time, and I would argue logic and he would quote scripture and we were getting nowhere.

The only thing that gave him true pause was when I asked him point blank, "Does it feel good to deny someone else the same right that you have? Does it really feel good?"

He thought about that for a few moments, and dug another Bible passage out of his brain and we were back to square one. Oh well, I guess there's just no saving some people.

When I see a group of people in a cult, from the smallest wacko ranch, to the biggest religeons in the world, all I see is a majority being controlled by a few. That has always angered me, seeing people controlled. Let's face it, individuals are smart, mobs are stupid, controlled mobs are stupid and potentially dangerous.

The real truth is: No one currently alive on Earth can say with absolute certainty (yes FAITH, but NOT certainty) can tell you what happens to you after you die. We have to wait for the Zombie Apocalypse before we can ask these questions. I just hope that the Zombies have retained their power of speech, and we can keep them off the subject of brains for 5 minutes.

Anyway, I'm an Agnostic if you haven't already figured that out. And no, I'm not the scaredy cat Agnostic who believes something "just in case". I've asked myself the tough questions and the answer I got was "I don't know. But that's ok."

For those who would exploit the fears of the unknown in others for a grab at power or money, you are wrong! That is the one thing that is crystal clear.

Anyway, great article. I never really thought of the debate from that angle, but I know if the passive Christians join the ranks of the aggressive ones, freedom as we know it, will die.

Cheers,

T.

AP, I'm very intrigued by your article and am impressed to see you able to explore this point of view. As you can probably tell by the comments and the voting results, it is hard for a nonchristian to conceptualize something like this, but I applaud your attempt to see it through a christian's eyes.

I will attempt to briefly boil down my viewpoint on this.

There is a line that christians constantly try walk. This is a line of moderation, and falling onto either side of this line can lead to opposite extremes.

The first extreme can be seen as the "Passive Christian". This christian tends to have the mindset of "Everything is in God's hands." This mindset usually leads to passiveness because the person feels that God will take care of everything, and that God does not need or require the person to do anything. This in turn leads to a christian having a lack of positive impact on those around them.

The second extreme can be seen as the "Aggressive Christian". This christian tends to have the mindset of "Nothing will get done unless I do something about it." This extreme usually leads to a christian trying to do everything they can to "convince" and even force people to believe in Jesus. This in turn tends push many people away and leaves a bad taste and opinion in peoples minds. This also tends to lead to legalism, something that Jesus was strongly against.

The line in between these extremes, I feel, is a balanced approach that incorporates different aspects from each extreme and applies them when appropriate. Sometimes it is appropriate to share your faith with someone or talk with them about Jesus, but other times it is best to leave them be.

AP: if you don’t mind, may I extrapolate on what I would do if it were I in the situation of the neighbor you talked about?

It sounds to me, as you have shown in your previous posts, that you understand the message of Jesus. I imagine you heard from someone or read somewhere, or maybe you read one of the first four books of the new testament. Regardless, you seem to have been shown the truth, and if it were I as your neighbor, what more can I say or do to convince you?

Do I choose the extreme of “Aggressive Christian” and risk pissing you off? Do I risk putting you on the defensive and giving you more of a reason to not accept the message of Jesus? Or do I choose the extreme of “Passive Christian” and just live my life as best I can, doing the small stuff like taking care of what I own and respecting and loving my wife, but never approaching the subject of Jesus with you.

I would choose the middle ground, but with an emphasis on being “Passive”, letting my actions speak louder than my words. Does this truly mean that I am “Passive” in my faith or in my concern over your soul? If passivity is measured by how vocal someone is, it might, but actions can speak loudly as well.