Saturday, December 18, 2010

Disparaging Jerks: On purpose or accident?

Probably a jerk in all reality
Are the negative views expressed toward hypercritical judgment from both outside and within Christianity justified? Certainly, one will tell me to take the plank out of my own eye before I attempt to do anything with "Christianity's" speck, yet I feel that there is a larger issue that must be voiced.

As discussed in my last entry, I struggle quite often to allow my mind and my heartfelt spiritual beliefs mingle. This dangerous mindset seems rampant within the faith as an entirety, so much so that I unfortunately witness the good intentions of others become verbal thorns that lean toward an awfully judgmental mentality.

I choose, however, not to judge these people.

You heard right. I will not judge others for judging me, my Church family, my physical family, my friends, my enemies, homosexuals, coke addicts, the financially poor, the mean, the cruel, or even Adolf Hitler's tap-dancing zombie in the name of "God." I have no right to judge others, just as others lack the right to judge me. But the battle against the actual judgmental mindset is only half of the war. An enormous issue within Christianity today is not so much BEING judgmental, but also SOUNDING judgmental, even with good intentions.

Many of today's Christians live by only their basest beliefs in the Christian faith. They know only the "milk" and not the "meat" of their own belief system. To say something is "of the Devil" may sound offensive, but know that (most of the time) many who utter this phrase are not trying to inform you of just how damn-ned (read that as two syllables, makes the experience all the better) to Hell your soul is. Instead, many people are striving to show their care for others. Unfortunately, they have been so ingrained with the "fire and brimstone" mentality of modern Christianity that they have no other way to vocalize what they disagree with. What this is, my friends, is not hateful speech. It is instead pure ignorance.

Don't get me wrong! While ignorance isn't necessarily a good thing, it is not something to be confused with utter stupidity. Ignorance simply means that a person is aware only of one world-view. A cure for this is not hateful verbal abuse and endless hours of mindless arguing. Instead, kindly encourage those who may appear to be judgmental. Have them read a book, get to know the homeless, or share in the company of a homosexual! Sit them down, explain why you believe what you believe, and hear them out. You both just may learn something!

Luckily not damn-ned to Hell,
Troy

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