NanceGreggs: For Christ's Sake - Literally

[babylonsister]

>
For Christ's Sake - Literally
By NanceGreggs, on November 29th, 2012

An Open Letter to Put-Upon Christians:

As we embark on the holiday season, I am already hearing the all-too-familiar comments about The War on Christmas – which, as most intelligent people know, has never existed, doesn’t exist now, and never will exist.

snip//

The truth is that I would welcome your keeping Christ in your everyday lives, not just at the time of celebrating His birth. But the words and teachings of The Nazarene seem to escape your notice on a daily basis, and following His example of caring for your fellow men has devolved into a spewing of useless rhetoric that serves no perceptible purpose other than to declare yourself to be a Christian while not bothering to act as one.

I would be more than interested in hearing about how your faith in Christ led you to volunteer at a homeless shelter, or the local soup kitchen. Can you not understand how skeptical I am of the depth of your faith when you instead use your time to rant against a local vendor selling Xmas trees, or the mall up the street decorating with Happy Holidays! banners?

I would be absolutely inspired by your selfless efforts to provide warm clothing to those in need, or to ensure that shelter is available to those who have no family or friends to rely on for the necessities of life. But when you start relegating people to being somehow undeserving of your compassion due to their religious beliefs or their political views, perhaps you can appreciate why I so quickly lose interest in your alleged devotion to following in the footsteps of He Who made no such distinctions.

You claim to be “persecuted” because your child can’t pray in the classroom, because you can’t proselytize in public forums, because you can’t post the Ten Commandments on the courthouse steps. You fail to recognize that if Muslims were permitted to post passages of the Qur’an in public places, you would be the first to complain. Why does your religion trump all others? Where is your adherence to being your brother’s keeper for its own sake, and not because your brother believes exactly as you do? I don’t remember Jesus saying, “Treat one another as you would be treated – except, of course, those who follow any faith other than faith in Me?”

Do you comprehend why I find your expressions of faith in Christ a tad less than genuine when you support politicians who decry food stamps, welfare benefits, and assistance to those in need as being a drain on your tax dollars? Do you ever stop to think that Jesus admonished His followers to care for the sick, the elderly and the down-and-out without regard to their politics, but only with regard to their obvious need?

more...

http://www.democratsforprogress.com/2012/11/29/for-christs-sake-literally/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. What a great rant, my dear Nance!

Every word is so well said.

Thank you.

K&R

[Raine]

2. TOTALLY on point! nt

[scmoore120]

3. Truth

[HillWilliam]

4. There are times when I wish

FB had a "Love" button.

Nance hit my sentiments exactly, far more eloquently than I could have put them.

[karmaqueen]

5. This is great! n/t

[Irishonly]

6. Nance Greggs was a major reason why I joined instead of being a lurker

The top 10 Conservative Idiots was the other. I miss both of them terribly. She is absolutely right again, as usual.

[freshwest]

7. Spot on, every word! Thanks, Nance!

[hrmjustin]

8. Interesting read.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

9. K&R nt

[tilsammans]

10. K & R!

As always, spot on.

[Bozita]

11. Might just be Nance's best piece ever!

[2naSalit]

12. Well said!!

And might I add that the founding fathers of our nation were absolutely against allowing the Christians to have the upper hand in the governing of this nation... thus there is language in our Constitution that strongly discourages anything but freedom of religion which also includes freedom from religion.

I don't subscribe to any organized religion after having four of them crammed down my throat in a family that constantly fought religious wars during my childhood and forced me to go to church nearly every day of the week for several years... until I rebelled. What gave me a big "heads up" was how they all denigrated each other since there can only be one true religion, according to each, which meant that they must all be mistaken... and I wasn't allowed to question anything, just blindly believe.

I don't condemn those who choose to believe in a religion or religious organization, just don't insist that I have to believe along with you... I prefer the religious to keep it for themselves and not insist, also, that it be the guiding force in my government and my personal life. I think it's a personal choice and should be kept private like a number of other personal choices.

[liberal_at_heart]

13. very well said