Fear-based Christianity
Submitted by Mark on December 24 1999 at 18:38:54
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Fear not! I have been thinking a lot about fear lately. I am still often afraid to be friendly or loving toward boys for fear someone will realize my orientation. I am afraid to come out to anyone other than my pastor. We BLers are afraid to meet with each other in person. The public is afraid of BLers. They are afraid of our "internet pedophile rings" (such as CBF I suppose) and fear us meeting in person to encourage each other. Even mental health professionals and organizations (such as both APA's) are afraid of us. The American Psychiatric Association's so-called fact sheet on pedophilia promotes fear. The APA's are afraid to study scientifically the issue of minor-attracted adults. Congress and the American Psychological Association are afraid of the Rind study. One would hope the churches would be different. But most evangelical churches seem to be fear-based. A popular evangelistic "drama"--"Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames" attempts to scare people into becoming Christians. Is that a good motive for being Christian? At my school, students are scared into abstinence. In 7th grade Bible class they study the book "Don't Listen to your Loins". They are taught that God hates sexual immorality much more than any other type of sin because it is sin against one's own body which is God's temple, and because it interferes with procreation, where new souls are formed. The church is afraid of ungodly influences. It must protect itself. A book I saw in the local Christian bookstore last night is typical. It is called "The New Tolerance" by Josh McDowell. The cover warns the reader to be wary of the insidious philosophy of tolerance that endangers the American family and our children. Another book about the killings at schools such as Columbine scares us into believing that it is due to Satan worship which is pervasive in the public schools. Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council warn of the devious agenda of the inferior and morally corrupt homosexuals, feminists, pedophiles, new-agers, humanists, and liberals, who threaten to destroy our families and our nation. A science teacher at my school for morning devotions tells us about "the four world-views" he has learned about in Chuck Colson's latest book "How Now Should We Live?" According to him we must be careful that we have the correct world view--the only Christian one--and reject the godless teachings of the world--evolution for example. People like James Dobson and Chuck Colson state their case in such as way that to question them brands one as a dangerous heretic. These leaders are almost considered God. One must think like them. One becomes afraid to contradict them. The principal at my school says we have trouble finding good teachers because so many of the applicants have dangerous beliefs regarding the role of women in the church, creation/evolution, and homosexuality. The humanist teachings have even infiltrated the Christian colleges, he says. Hitler exploited people's fears, saying that Germany needed to be protected from the immoral Jews and homosexuals. 40 years ago racist churches scared their people into believing that blacks were morally inferior, less than human, and that integration would lead to moral decay. Philip Yancey's book "What's So Amazing About Grace?" points out how different the church is from Jesus who ministered grace to all the scarey people of his day: the lepers, the prostitutes, the adulterers, the tax-collectors, the Samaritans. He was condemned by the Pharisees for this. He was killed because of his scandalous gospel of grace for the "bad" people. Instead of following Jesus, the church seems to be an institution for the protection of human social structures and nations. But strong families and the protection of children is important. A stable society is important. Are these two goals--protecting society (especially children) and ministering to "sinners"--mutually exclusive? How can the immoral and those who have "dangerous ideas" be brought into the church when there are children present? Won't it contaminate the thinking of even the adults? What about the power of love to cast out all fear? Won't the truth (including that about BL) set us all (BLers and non-BLers alike) free? Don't the churches believe that? Mark |