I realized I was making that comparison as I read a post by Rachel Held Evans. For those of you who do not know, she is a blogger, speaker, and author who is very ecumenical and tends to focus on women's rights in the Christian Faith. In the post, she was taking a group called The Gospel Coalition to task for posting a misogynistic article.
As I read Rachel's post, I found myself growing restless. Though I agree with her stance on women's rights in society; I found her religious appeals distracting. My mind kept translating it like this:
Misogynist Male: The Bowl of Flowers had told me that women are to be subservient to men!
Rachel: No, the Bowl of Flowers wants us to live in equality!
See my problem? I can't get around that the two of them are arguing about what a Bowl of Flowers/unseen, non-speaking god intends for their lives. So, though I am sympathetic to Rachel and the issues she often focuses on, I discover that I am becoming less compelled by arguments like hers. I visit the blogs of liberal Christianity less frequently. I watch as people argue over the intentions of the Bowl of Flowers... and I find myself shrugging and leaving the room.
I'm not sure I care anymore.
7 comments:
funny, though I still consider myself a believer, even on the Christian side of the agnostic fence, I'm right there with you. I go all glassy-eyed when even Christians I still highly respect start talking about "God's will" or what God wants, how scripture is really saying thus-and-such, etc. Even if I agree with their ultimate conclusions in practical terms, I still have that inner-commentary replying "you don't know what the hell God wants and he ain't tell you jack shit!"
Sadly our apathy (I share your feelings in regards to the "Bowl of flowers") will be seen by both sides as either a heretic in need of repentance or as a misogynist. Refusing to pick a side is picking a side (our names get written in the naughty list of both sides). Instead of bickering over the desires of a bowl of flowers (we can still keep the flowers on the table, they smell nice) we should find out what we can do for each other. Sure, I would accept input from a talking bowl of flowers (hey, it talks! All comments are welcomed) but what does a bowl of flowers have to do with human interactions in society?
I don't bother to even acknowledge the "bowl of flowers" whenever visiting liberal Christian blogs (which has also been less frequent for me as well). Whenever they are mentioned I merely mention how sweet they smell and move on.
Sigh, I felt the same way reading the same Rachel Held Evans post. I read the critical portions of the post relatively carefully, and quickly skim over the "bowl of flowers" portions. Exactly like you said, I don't care, and don't find a point in translating anymore.
Yeah, I see them both just trying to get "god" on the side they want. How much more effective dialogue could be if we simply argued for what we believe to be right based on its merits. The dark comedy angle is that the article she was complaining about loses all traction if the "god" card cannot be played.
For me anyway, God is an unnecessary middle man. I am a thoughtful, rational human being and I am capable of coming to reasonable conclusions without parsing everything through God, the Bible, a particular religion.
Atheism allows me to be fully human and I am grateful that I have come to this place in my life. I feel, yes feel, f-r-e-e.
Bruce
Looking back, I realize that this started for me, long before I acknowledged my strong doubts about Christianity. If I saw a blog post or a comment quoting Bible verses, I would skip over the Bible verses to see what they were trying to argue. Both sides were throwing Bible verses at each other, and I just got sick of reading the same ol' arguments.
You know, I'm finding myself right there with you. It kinda surprises me, but it just doesn't interest me anymore...
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