Believing in Believing

In the last post, I shared a brief snippet from God's Debris. I purposely didn't add very much in the way of my personal analysis because I simply wanted to provide you with the opportunity to read it without taking any other opinion except your own into account. Now that several hours have passed and many of you have indeed read it, this entry is my analysis.

Before I get started, I do wish to point out why I focus on Christianity in my many critiques as opposed to other religious traditions. The reason is quite simple; I grew up in the Presbyterian Church and so Christianity is the religion I know the most about. That said, the points I will make below most assuredly apply across the board to include adherents of the other monotheistic religions and, possibly, non-monotheistic religions as well.

When the character Avatar states, “Four billion people say they believe in God, but few genuinely believe. If people believed in God, they would live every minute of their lives in support of that belief", my reaction every time is Right On!

The Christian Church is founded upon the rock of this being called Jesus Christ, yet I've never met one adherent who even minimally tries to pattern their life after the supposed master! One would think if people truly believed this human was the son of the almighty God, they would lead lives that followed his path.

Take some of the following widely held beliefs of Jesus to heart. We know he was a carpenter by trade, yet I know of no mention in the new testament of Jesus ever building or repairing anything. Evidently, he had no actual occupation other than trying to save the world.

Because he had no occupation and didn't appear to accept any form of monetary honorarium, he had no money. He also seemed to have few belongings except for the clothes on his back, his purse or satchel and, maybe, a good walking staff. He had no residence of his own either.

He never married and, by most indications, never had an intimate sexual relationship with anyone. Not surprisingly then, he had no offspring.

When he set off to go preaching -- since he had no money of his own -- he relied on the kindness and hospitality of strangers. In many respects, he was a true vagabond. He also wasn't very particular about whom he kept company with as there are several reports of his hanging out with tax collectors, prostitutes and lepers -- the outcasts of his society.

Many of his chosen disciples followed these same patterns. They walked away from their jobs and families to follow him and he sent them out to preach under the same terms as himself.

There is one other aspect of the man called Jesus I want to draw your attention to. He was apolitical. He has been quoted as stating something like render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what is God's. When people of his day beseeched him to lead an armed revolution against the Roman occupiers, he didn't bite. His purpose wasn't to change government, but to change hearts.

Now, compare your everyday Christian to the man each says they idolize.

Most of them have jobs that occupy a great deal of their time and energy, many to the point that they neglect their families and themselves. Most of them accept money for their work and many hoard it to a vulgar extreme. They own possessions out the wazoo and they're always looking to buy more and more of them.

The vast majority are married or in a serious relationship or have engaged in sexual relationships. Christians tend to have children; some Christians have A LOT of children.

Most Christians don't tend to set off on a trip without making prior arrangement for lodging and food. The ones who hoard money stay in opulent surroundings that cater to their every whim and they have some eye-popping whims!

A great many Christians live in segregated communities -- some in gated communities -- away from whatever portion of the community they deem undesirable. Many of them will cross to the other side of the street if they even think they might come into contact with a vagabond!

And, in recent years, many sectors of Christendom have become obsessed with politics. They rail for and against political candidates from the pulpit. They pour millions of dollars into political campaigns and think tanks. A great number of them seem more concerned with changing government than changing hearts.

In essence, the lives of so-called believers and the life of their savior are as different as night and day. There is almost no semblance whatsoever of symmetry between them.

This leads me to surmise that most Christians merely believe in the act of believing without believing in the actual substance of their so-called belief. If it is otherwise, then why do they lead lives so in opposition to their hallowed role model?