1st...Let me me start by saying I consider myself a christian in the Census questionaire sense of the word. Let me explain.When filling out census apps you have to list what faith you identify with...I choose Christian. Not because I feel that I have much in common with the Peters & Pauls, Martins(Luther and Luther King II), Creoflo Dollars, Tammy Fayes, Al Sharptons,. But as my father often said "You have everything to gain and nothing to lose by believing."
15 years ago I never would have even considered calling my self Christian. Ive used every argument. It borrows from older faiths...White mans religion....The conqueror's faith...crooked pastors and sexual deviant priests..etc..etc..But I lost my very 1st argument with my younger brother about religion .Mind you his being a devout atheist newly turned to faith in general I assumed he was easy pickings.
Me: How can you deny evolution?You wanted to be a paleontologist your whole life?
Chinua: True. But you also cant prove carbon dating its a guessing game blah blah blah (something scientific way beyond my pay grade) then he went on to tell me about an artificially aged chicken bone sent in to be carbon dated..they falsely proclaimed it hundreds of thousands of years old.True story.
Me:*begins to fidget*Oh.But what about evolution.You definitely cant deny that. Explain the neanderthal,cromag, mankind link.
Chinua:Oh you mean the missing link..its exactly that..there is no continual link between the species..Its the dif between chimps and men.why does it stop at chimps and jumps to humans in real time but no living examples of prehumans blah blah blah(something like this was said,I was too angry to listen)
(Let me point out at this juncture that I'm sure he was trying to make me mad. It was stereotypically Christian of him to remain so calm and and to be at peace during my ideological onslaught. Im sure inside he evilly grinned as he plotted to destroy my spiritual superiority.)
Me:*raises voice to a wholly unnecessary volume for a 2 bedroom condo*Well they used christianity to subjugate the African race..The bible defends slavery.etc..etc..
(At this point in a valiant last attempt to defend my inalienable rights to believe in nothing ((well at least believe in nothing that contradicts .....Me)) I glare at him daring him to refute it. I had always been able to threaten his will to bend my way.I figured it was best for him.)
Chinua: That is what man did..Not God.I follow the teachings of God through Christ.
It was at that moment I saw my little brother at peace with himself. I saw his conviction in what he believed. I saw how his faith changed him.
So i punched him.
Over the years I have believed in many things.The hard part has always been faith. Im never able to quite understand a God that intervenes at will or stands by why innocent Christians suffer.Sorry no amount of prosethelyzing will change that i dont think.I cant get past many historical innaccuracies in the Bible.I assume this is where faith comes in for most. it only casts doubts for me.Which in turns shatters my beliefs. Someone told me I need to pray harder. Someone said I havent been low enough in my life. Someone else told me I needed a prayer cloth annointed with holy oil.(for only $19.99).
But the thing i have noticed over the years is those who have faith around me.I mean true faith , not just Sunday faith prosper.The ones who quote scripture and live a Christian lifestyle. Who pray not just when they are sick or want that good job.My older brother Eric who I have watched struggle for years to make a better life for his family.He worked all kinds of jobs but always strived for something better (the thing I admired most about him).Then I saw faith pop into his life.On Facebook..In his conversations. He proclaimed that he no longer struggled to provide and put it in Gods hands...Hes now a full time employee at Chrysler hired during this recession.Chance?
You True Christians make it hard for the nonbeliever. Its easy to attact the Easter and Christmas Christians.Double easy for the jailhouse or drunken Christian to be vanquished in a few well articulated sentences.Big words and all. But I admire your resolve true believers who live how they talk.I admire your faith although I cant understand it. What I do understand is how it transformed your life. And that is reason enough to check off Christian during the 2020 census. Hopefully by then I will have enough faith.
Back to my fathers quote"You have everything to gain and nothing to lose by believing."
