Standing up to be counted

[julesjones]

For many years I said little about religion online, not least because I am Northern Irish and Let's Not Go There. But four years ago, I felt the need to stand up and be counted in a culture war that crosses denominations. I posted an essay condemning those who preach hatred in Christ's name. It struck a chord with other liberal Christians, then and since. And recently it has inspired the concept of a day for liberal Christians to post in rebuttal of hate.

The first draft of that essay was written in incandescent fury, and it shows. I am not ashamed of this -- sometimes anger really is the most appropriate response. But it must never become the default response. As I said in that essay, self-righteous hatred is a drug. This is not just a metaphor -- the endorphin rush of anger can be addictive, leading people to seek out more opportunities to feel angry. This is ultimately a destructive path, however tempting it may be.

Thus the Bearing Witness community. We have come together in fellowship to discuss our interpretation of Christianity -- not to attack others of different views, but to show by example that we too believe.

We believe a number of things,and not necessarily the same things. But one thing we all believe is this -- the greatest commandment is love.

The community is available on both Dreamwidth and Livejournal, and each site has an rss feed of the other, as they are not exact mirrors.

http://community.livejournal.com/bearing_witness/profile (LJ community)
http://syndicated.livejournal.com/bearingwitness/profile (feed to LJ of DW community)
http://bearing-witness.dreamwidth.org/profile (DW community)
http://bearing-witness-feed.dreamwidth.org/profile (feed to DW of LJ comm)

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

-- Matthew 25:37-40

Standing up to be counted

[julesjones]

For many years I said little about religion online, not least because I am Northern Irish and Let's Not Go There. But four years ago, I felt the need to stand up and be counted in a culture war that crosses denominations. I posted an essay condemning those who preach hatred in Christ's name. It struck a chord with other liberal Christians, then and since. And recently it has inspired the concept of a day for liberal Christians to post in rebuttal of hate.

The first draft of that essay was written in incandescent fury, and it shows. I am not ashamed of this -- sometimes anger really is the most appropriate response. But it must never become the default response. As I said in that essay, self-righteous hatred is a drug. This is not just a metaphor -- the endorphin rush of anger can be addictive, leading people to seek out more opportunities to feel angry. This is ultimately a destructive path, however tempting it may be.

Thus the Bearing Witness community. We have come together in fellowship to discuss our interpretation of Christianity -- not to attack others of different views, but to show by example that we too believe.

We believe a number of things,and not necessarily the same things. But one thing we all believe is this -- the greatest commandment is love.

The community is available on both Dreamwidth and Livejournal, and each site has an rss feed of the other, as they are not exact mirrors.

http://community.livejournal.com/bearing_witness/profile (LJ community)
http://syndicated.livejournal.com/bearingwitness/profile (feed to LJ of DW community)
http://bearing-witness.dreamwidth.org/profile (DW community)
http://bearing-witness-feed.dreamwidth.org/profile (feed to DW of LJ comm)

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

-- Matthew 25:37-40

Some useful reading material #1

[julesjones]

Things I believe by Teresa Nielson Hayden, a meditation on the Nicene Creed for Easter 2004. To give you an idea of the flavour: "I believe in the God of the Burgess Shale, Who not only made creation stranger than we know, but stranger than we could ever imagine." Read the comments thread as well. I particularly commend to you comment #27.

The Slacktivist blog by Fred Clark discusses religion from a liberal Christian perspective. It's particularly notable for the ongoing dissection of the theology in the Left Behind books, by someone with heavyweight theology training.

The Universal Church Triumphant of the Apathetic Agnostic has a joking title, but a serious mission. While the discussion on the site is from an explicitly agnostic viewpoint and occasionally forgets that not all Christians are fundamentalists, they have much material on over-literal or selective use of the Bible that will be of interest to liberal Christians.

Some useful reading material #1

[julesjones]

Things I believe by Teresa Nielson Hayden, a meditation on the Nicene Creed for Easter 2004. To give you an idea of the flavour: "I believe in the God of the Burgess Shale, Who not only made creation stranger than we know, but stranger than we could ever imagine." Read the comments thread as well. I particularly commend to you comment #27.

The Slacktivist blog by Fred Clark discusses religion from a liberal Christian perspective. It's particularly notable for the ongoing dissection of the theology in the Left Behind books, by someone with heavyweight theology training.

The Universal Church Triumphant of the Apathetic Agnostic has a joking title, but a serious mission. While the discussion on the site is from an explicitly agnostic viewpoint and occasionally forgets that not all Christians are fundamentalists, they have much material on over-literal or selective use of the Bible that will be of interest to liberal Christians.