Sunday, April 07, 2019
Sunday Reflection: Defining the faith of others
I rarely venture into religious debates-- I have my hands full with my faith imperative to work on criminal law. But I wander in there enough to see one dynamic that is really unfortunate.
Both sides in religious debates within Christianity too often seem to define the other side as not being Christian. Conservatives claim that those who differ with them on LGBT issues, for example, aren't really Christian; some even argue that Democrats aren't Christians. On the flip side, progressives (and even moderates) will claim that conservatives have left the faith.
It is one thing to argue that the other side is running contrary to an interpretation of the Bible or a church doctrine, or even to point out hypocrisy on the other side. It is another to say that the opponent is not a follower of Christ.
Christianity has been plagued by schism over a wide variety of issues over the centuries, and many of them seem silly from the modern perspective. And yet... we still treat difference of opinion as sin. Is there love in that?
Both sides in religious debates within Christianity too often seem to define the other side as not being Christian. Conservatives claim that those who differ with them on LGBT issues, for example, aren't really Christian; some even argue that Democrats aren't Christians. On the flip side, progressives (and even moderates) will claim that conservatives have left the faith.
It is one thing to argue that the other side is running contrary to an interpretation of the Bible or a church doctrine, or even to point out hypocrisy on the other side. It is another to say that the opponent is not a follower of Christ.
Christianity has been plagued by schism over a wide variety of issues over the centuries, and many of them seem silly from the modern perspective. And yet... we still treat difference of opinion as sin. Is there love in that?
