Mine's Better Than Your's Is

It's a rare two-post day for me. Such are the contents of my brain . . .They are looking for an exit and the blog thus benefits.

I am turning again to faith and Christianity, and a topic that constantly burns my biscuits . . .The Holier than Thou Club (otherwise known as the HTTC).

I have been a target of the membership of the HTTC, and I, at one dark and misguided time, was a member of the HTTC. Either way, it S-U-C-K-S!

Last fall there was a ballot measure here in California known as Proposition 8. For those who don't reside here, or don't have access to CNN, Proposition 8 was the equality in marriage proposal which would have legalized marriage for all couples, regardless of gender. In otherwords, the Gay Marriage initiative.

I support all forms of marriage for all couples, no matter what genders, faiths, ethnicities, or backrounds. Everyone in love should be able to make a committment before God and their friends and families, and that committment should always be respected and treated legally and equally. I even believe in single-gender parental units . . .Surely, the HTTC will have me in the seventh level of H-E-L-L for that one.

Some neighbors and former (you will see why) friends of ours are founding members of the local HTTC. Of course, not one person can judge them for what they may have done in their pasts, but they are free and open to judge others, all the while using their tattered and well read Bibles as sheilds.

When the female half of the HTTCer couple saw on my Facebook page that I supported voting "No" Proposition 8 (it is a little backwards, but the short 'splanation is that a "No" vote meant I was for Gay Marriage), she took it upon herself to question my faith, my connection to God, and my adherence to the "true" Christian Bible. Wow, I did not know I had such a powerful person in my midst. . .maybe I should have genuflected more.

Of course, female HTTCer forgot that passage about loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, and she just glazed over the do unto others section. And all those passages in the Bible about Jesus loving and forgiving those who no one else would deign to make eye contact with . . .Well, those are just the filler sections.

Nope, she was right, I was wrong, and one of us was the lesser Christian for it (there is a dispute in my mind over who has that dubious distinction, but rest assured there is no confusion from her side).

Anyway, back to the story. When I attempted to point out the seemingly two-facedness of her belief, well, let's just say it did not go over well. To this day, she has never spoken to me again. She even went so far as to de-friend me on Facebook (I know, big loss there). She won't let her kids visit with my husband and I like they used to, and everytime I see her outside, I get a Stinky Skunk-Eyed Sneer. My lesser faith made me a lesser person in her eyes, and therefore I was no longer, and still am no longer, worthy of any sort of acknowledgement or friendship.

What is it about faith, and specifically the Christian faith (it may happen in other religions, but I am sticking to what I know) that makes people feel worthy of judging others? I mean really, it is not like we are given a golden wand when we give our hearts to God. . . just the opposite.

In giving our hearts, we confess that we are sinners, fallible human forms, who seek and need the love and forgiveness that only God, through the gift of Christ Jesus, can give. We are not the judge, we are the convicted. I don't know why so many people choose to forget this little cornerstone of the Christian Faith.

Maybe they just can't see through their own self-rightousness.

Being a Believer vs. Being Religious

Today I was at a funeral for a dear family friend, and the minister made a point to distinguish the fact that while the departed was not a religious man, he was a believer. And that got me thinking.

My childhood was spent in constant church attendance. Only contagiousness or travel kept us out of the Sanctuary on Sunday at 8 a.m. (8:30 eventually, but either way you cut it, early). There was no choice . . .I would be in church, or face the dreaded silent treatment.

All those years in the third pew on the right were spent in, what appeared to be, revernt devotion. Truth be told, half the time I never knew what was going on, and the other half the time we were either singing or going through the liturgical motions (I was raised in the ELCA Lutheran Church . . .otherwise known as Catholic Lite). We had one of those very learned ministers who liked to fill the sermons with original greek words and traditional hebrew history. Yeah, that is really going to hold the attention of a teenager at O'Early Thirty on a Sunday Morning.

As I got older, I started to stray from the Sunday Sancuary tradition. College was my real downfall, primarily due to activities from the previous Saturday evening, night and late night (I was in a sorority, and I liked beer . . .any questions?).

However, even though I was no longer in the Sanctuary on a regular basis, those earlier lessons stuck with me. I may not have been a church goer, but I was and still am a Jesus follower and God lover. It's who I am.

My parents still don't understand how I can be true to my beliefs without showing up in the third pew on the right every Sunday. For them, there is no trueness of faith without the pew. But for me, I kind of look at it like I look at work . . .Just because I go to the office every day, it doesn't make me a lawyer. Only knowldge, experience and practice can make me a lawyer.

The same is true of my belief in God. Going to church does not make me any more convinced of my faith. Knowledge, experience, practice and trust are what make my faith, and my beliefs real. As the minister at today's service said . . .God doesn't care what is in your backround, He only wants to know what is in your heart.

I lost my heart to God a long time ago, and it was not in the third pew on the right.