War on Christmas

In the United States there is a controversy raging over whether or not there is a conscious attempt being made by some to suppress Christianity. There is a war on Christianity. There is not a war on Christianity. Progressives and /or liberals insist that Christian claims of cultural persecution are merely paranoia. Conservative Christians point out the banning of public religious displays, the silencing and even shunning of Christian voices on university campuses, and the fact that Christians are rarely portrayed in a positive light in the popular media.

There is currently a legal challenge from the Madison, Wisconsin based Freedom from Religion Foundation against a public nativity scene on town property in tiny Rainbow City, Alabama (2010 census population 9602). The two locations are separated by 825 miles (1328 kilometers). The foundation seems to think that any public display of religion is dangerous and threatening. They call their challenge part of the "critical work to promote non-theism and defend the constitutional separation between religion and government." They charge that the views of the religious are being imposed on others who do not share those views. They fail to understand or to acknowledge that what they themselves are doing is the imposition of their own values upon others.

A Google Search of "War on Christianity"on 14 December 2014 pulled up 11,300,000 results.   A Google Search of "War on Christmas"on 14 December 2014 pulled up 149,000,000 results. Those who deny that a war is ongoing are often very derisive. Listen to these quotes from various internet sites:

"... the claims of religious persecution are laughable."
"... the intellectually atrophied..."
"... undereducated, white, rural, gun carrying, fat."

What do you think?

White Shoe Polish on a Rear Windshield

If you live in the United States you have probably seen an automobile where the owner has taken a white shoe polish dispenser and written a slogan on the glass of the rear window.  Usually the message is something like “Just married,” or a phrase encouraging the local high school football team to win that week’s game.

Yesterday, I saw a car like that, with a slogan in large white block letters, “I love Jesus! XOXO ☮.”  Although I was pleased that someone was not afraid or ashamed to acknowledge Jesus, this disturbed me.

I know that the two teenaged boys in the car were probably sincere and were just expressing the vibrant enthusiasm of young new believers.  My objection was that they were doing it in a shallow way which opened them and the faith up to ridicule.  We must always be careful not to send unintended messages to unbelievers.

The XOXO is a modern cell phone texting abbreviation for “hugs and kisses.”  Yes, the Church is the Bride of Christ, but XOXO is not exactly what is meant by that.  Romance is fine, even silly romance, but the marriage of the Church and Christ the Bridegroom is not all bunny rabbits, bubbles, and flowers.

The Peace Symbol ☮ was popularized among the 1960’s counter-culture which was opposed to United States involvement in the Vietnam War.  Regardless of their feelings about the war, many Christians were highly offended by the symbol.

The Peace Symbol, the symbol for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, appears to be an inverted cross with the cross-arms broken and drooping downward ☮.  The symbol was soon adopted as a generic anti-war logo. The anti-war activists always insisted that the symbol was not intended as an insult to Christianity though many Christians were not so sure.  The 1960’s counter-culture was also associated with the concept of “free love” (interpretation: promiscuous sexuality) and advocated the unrestricted use of illegal psychotropic drugs.

Obituary of Kenneth Edwin Cherry

Kenneth Edwin Cherry age 83 of Homewood, Alabama (USA) passed away Saturday, October 6, 2012.  Mr. Cherry was a member of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church.  He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War.  He was buried October 9 in Elmwood Cemetery where military honors were rendered by the U.S. Air Force.

Book Comment: How Would Jesus Vote?

How Would Jesus Vote? A Christian Perspective on the Issues (2008) by D James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe is premised on the following insight, quoted from the book: ""We will give an account for every aspect of our lives, including how we vote.  May the Lord give us wisdom to obey Him in this as well as in all areas of our lives."

Dr. Kennedy was a conservative evangelical who was often involved in political controversies and was closely associated with what is known in America as the Christian Right.  In How Would Jesus Vote?, Kennedy discusses abortion, embryonic stem cell research, suicide, euthanasia, the death penalty, just war theory, public education, economics, health-care, environmental change, immigration, racism, marriage, and judicial activism.  This is not a scripture-heavy book but is firmly based on a Christian world view.

He quotes his friend, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, who said, "Without a vibrant and vital Christianity, America is doomed, and without America, the West is doomed. ... you must replace your timidity with nerve and your diffidence with daring and determination."

Dr. Kennedy calls on us to think before we vote.  He doesn't actually say it but what he is calling for is that we think with the Mind of Christ before we vote.

Film Comment: Forbidden Games

The 1952 French film, Forbidden Games (Les jeux interdits) , won numerous best film awards including a 1952 special foreign film Academy Award and a Golden Lion best actress award for the five-year old Brigitte Fossey .  Some of the published comments describe the film as "childhood innocence corrupted," "the horrors of war through the eyes of children," "children using their powers of fantasy and denial to deal with death in wartime."  It is a film which is both funny, creepy, horrifying, and incredibly sad.  The children are real children, not little adults.

Paulette (Brigitte Fossey) really is the center of the film.  Film critic Roger Ebert says of her, "Fossey's face becomes a mirror that refuses to reflect what she must see and feel."  And it is her eyes that house the mirror.

The plot of the film: a young girl is orphaned in a Nazi air attack on civilians fleeing from Paris and is taken in by a ten-year old boy and his family.  The boy helps Paulette secretly bury her dog, which died along with her parents in the air raid.  Worried that the dog is alone in the ground, the children begin to bury other dead animals and they create a secret cemetery, stealing crosses to place on each grave.  They build an elaborate fantasy world around the cemetery.  The fantasy world will, of course, eventually come crashing down.

In this film, as with most others I view, I appreciate and understand the artistry and intentions of the filmmakers.  I also see things which may or may not have originally been intended; specifically, I see things through a Christian lens.

The main thing which I see in this film is how all the adults failed the children.  The Nazis callously killed adults and children alike with their air raids.  The adults who pulled Paulette onto their wagon were so intent on their escape that they failed to restrain or go after Paulette when she jumped off the wagon to retrieve her dead dog.  The kindly and basically well-meaning peasant family who took Paulette in were so wrapped up in their sometimes silly adult dealings that they basically ignored the children because they were "just" children.  The priest is more interested in catechisms and confessions and correct ritual than in understanding the children.  The government officials who come for Paulette want to make sure their papers are properly completed.  The kind nun at the train station tells Paulette to quietly sit on a bench and then leaves her alone.  None of the adults, except for the Nazis, are "bad people."  They just fail to actually see the children.   Sometimes you have to take a crayon, get down on the floor, and color with a child.

Book Comment: If the Church Were Christian

Gully, Philip, If the Church Were Christian. A chapter-by-chapter response.

The propositions put forth by Pastor Gulley are:

1. Jesus would be a model for living rather than an object of worship.

2. Affirming our potential would be more important than condemning our brokenness.

3. Reconciliation would be valued over judgement.

4. Gracious behavior would be more important than right belief.

5. Inviting questions would be valued more than supplying answers.

6. Encouraging personal exploration would be more important than communal uniformity.

7. Meeting needs would be more important than maintaining institutions.

8. Peace would be more important than power.

9. It would be more about love and less about sex.

10. This life would be more important than the afterlife.

This will take a while.  More to follow.