I was recently told that a Catholic bishop said that it was “hard to be a Christian these days.” I agree with him, but with the added qualifier of “true.” It’s hard to be a true Christian these days.
What do I mean? Well, stepping aside from the whole issue of temptation—What? Oh, you don’t know what I mean? Then I’ll clarify it. Christians are supposed to refrain from certain activities, such as defiling the temple of God (smoking, drugs, gluttony, or drunkenness) and sexual immorality (sex outside of marriage). While these sins may have physical or emotional consequences, thus making many “moral people” wonder how anyone could ever wish to do them, it must be said that these things are, for a short time, enjoyable.
Maybe cocaine gives you an exhilarating rush (I wouldn’t know). Maybe drunkenness is actually fun (again, I wouldn’t know, but I doubt it). I’m sure that the rush of meeting someone new, connecting emotionally, and taking the next step (or three) might have its charm (I’m an Egyptian, I’ll leave it at that). Chowing on macaroni and cheese, a porterhouse, and three orders of Vietnamese soup (in one day) certainly has appeal, too! (What? Oh, it doesn’t? Sorry.) Point being that “Just saying NO!” isn’t as easy for us as it might seem. (I can just feel some readers out there thinking 'Well, YOU'RE the genius that decided to "be religious..")
But back to what I was saying about two hours ago.... the difficulty of “walking the walk” aside, it should be noted that “walking the straight and narrow” is made even more difficult by those who feel as though Christianity should be abolished. I was recently told that everyone in the world (which, I guess, means America. Opps, couldn’t resist..:) that followed Jesus should go live on a deserted island, so as not to contaminate everyone else with our alleged neuroses. (Didn’t they used to say that about people with AIDS?)
Seriously, though, you know what I’m talking about. You have to. Tolerance is preached everywhere. Being “politically correct,” whatever that is, is practically a requirement if you want to avoid a lawsuit. Being accepting of everyone, even Satanists and atheists and transsexual Buddhists, is the new norm. But what about the Christians? Why is it “cool” to protect everyone else but us? Did we do something to offend everyone? I didn’t realize that “God is love” and “thou shalt not kill” were getting on everyone’s nerves. Christianity is a religion based on love and peace. Don’t bring the Crusades into this, don’t mention cosmic killjoys and fire and brimstone, because it doesn’t mention any of those in the Bible. Just because people may have misinterpreted something and acted accordingly—or even gotten thousands of people to act “accordingly”—doesn’t mean that everyone agrees with the validity of the act. Furthermore, you don’t avoid airplanes JUST because one or two pilots have been total drunks, do you? (Well, maybe you do, but whatever.)
So, basically, I have quite a beef with the fact that “the tolerant people” are intolerant of us.
Another problem that people bring up in terms of “being a Christian” is the Catholic Church (kindly save your freak-out till the end of the article). For one, they apparently have more sexual offenders than the entire state of California. For another, they keep changing their stances on things such as birth control and being gay (which is kinda funny, since if you’re gay, you probably won’t ever need birth control).
This, by the way, doesn't mean that I'm bashing the Catholic faith, or even Catholics themselves. Rather, my problem is to do with the Church. The politics behind it, the way they've chosen to conduct themselves. They give the rest of us Christians a bad name.
Well, for anyone who’s been paying attention today, I want you to know that, not only does the Catholic Church (again, meaning the Pope and the hierarchy, NOT CATHOLICS themselves) NOT speak for all Christians, BUT, many Christians (and non-Christians) consider the Catholic Church to be a separate entity. Meaning, "Not Christian."
Why? For a number of reasons, but the one I’ve chosen to harp on is the very fact that they have changed what’s on their “allowed” list so many times. Christianity is all about unchanging moral absolutes, not “one day this, one day that.” Despite what the proponents of "modernity" would have us believe, the mark of greatness isn't "changing with the times," but staying unchanged DESPITE the changing times. (There's something to be said for a doctrine that not only got it right on the first try, BUT also can be applied to the modern day without having to actually change.)
Again, this has nothing to do with the Catholics--many of them are 100 times more devout than the people who conduct the mass. (What was that about absolute power corrupting absolutely..?)
At any rate, thus ends my argument as to why Christianity isn't always a walk in the park, and why I believe Catholicism has nothing to do with Christianity. By the way, I realize that Catholicism and Orthodoxy have many things in common, but my claim doesn’t extend to the Orthodox Church, since their teachings haven’t changed in about 2,000 years. But that’s another story for another day!
