I read a book in Introductory Sociology my second year of college entitled, The True Believer, by Eric Hoffer. He theorized that mass movements such as Fascism, Communism, and certain religious movements required adherents to glorify the past, devalue the present, and promise a glorious future. The tenants these movements had in common were blind certainty in what they believed, demonizing those who questioned their beliefs, and having an answer to everything.
I thought of this book when a friend of mine said fundamentalists and atheists share one thing in common: they have all the answers and are certain about them.
This has all reminded me of when I was a seminarian in New York City, and did a field work placement at The Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. It is a college totally devoted to the fashion industry. A fellow student and I started a chaplaincy to the school. We were officially unofficial. We had free rein of the place; the student activities department booked rooms for us, and publicized our events, but we were NOT the school chaplains. My fellow seminarian, Bill, found a notice of a Bible Study in the dorm for resident students (by far most students commuted to the school). Bill and I decided to join the study one evening in a student's room. We sat on the floor in a circle and two students, Ken and Pam, held forth. It was Bible Study according to Ken and Pam with no questioning their teaching or take on Biblical passages. Any debate was quickly dismissed as wrong thinking and not true to the faith. I caused problems for Ken and Pam because I did question, and knew that some of their interpretations were inaccurate and I believed dangerous. The two of them questioned Bill and me offering the Lord's Prayer for several weeks in a row at closing prayers. They told us that it says in The Gospel of Matthew that Jesus said to "pray LIKE this", not pray this. Christians were only to pray the Lord's Prayer, as written in the Bible, once in their lifetime. It really was an issue over spontaneous prayer versus rote prayer, and both can be without thought or right intention.
I thought Ken and Pam gave a bizarre interpretation of this Scripture passage, and I knew they would drive me crazy if I stayed in the group. I could not work within that framework. I did work with some of the other students in this group outside the Bible Study. Bill had more patience and stayed with the group a little longer.
This, though, is some of what Eric Hoffer and my friend were talking about. True believers have all the answers and God forbid there is any questioning. The reality is we live in a world of ambiguity. There are many shades of gray in things. I believe we walk between the poles of certainty and relativism. I know and believe in the love of God made real in Jesus of Nazareth. I have experienced it personally and in the community of Christ's church. But how that works for everyone I cannot say. All I can do is witness to what I know and be open to what others say and experience. I also believe that God's love can work though those who do not know or believe in Jesus. Sometimes I have found persons of no professed faith to make the love of God more real than those who profess to be Christians.
I do believe in the Summary of the Hebrew Law as Jesus gave us, "Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself." I am not a relativist, but sometimes how one lives out the Summary may vary from time to time. One of the ways that I think we show the love of God is not beating people over the heads with the Gospel and telling them they have to believe a certain way. I believe we do make real the love God by action. Jesus loved the prostitutes and tax collectors as they were. He did not say they had to change first. They changed by experiencing accepting Divine Love through Jesus.
There are not only radical fundamentalist in Christianity, but also in Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Atheism to name a few. I think they are all dangerous because they share the common thread that says that everyone must see the world and world events through their eyes. This leads, at the least, to vilification of non-believers to outright persecution and violence to those who share an opposite viewpoint. To me this is not loving God or loving our neighbor as God loves them and us.
Maybe if we all saw each other as made in the Image of God we would serve and love the way Jesus loved. We would not have to have our way dogmatically, but serve Divinely.
No comments:
Post a Comment