Why Bother?

(long, boring navel-gazing to follow)

Many--if not most--of us bloviators on the right felt it happen after November 3, 2004: the classic mission-accomplished letdown. A portion of that number fought through it. Some broke free; others—like me—are still working on it.

I was beginning to notice that much of the issues seemed to be recurring, in theme, if not in facts.

• Outrageous comments by Democrat politicians on domestic subjects
• Pessimistic prognostication on international affairs by Democrats politicians
• Denigration of the US Armed Forces by members of the traditional media
• Seemingly tiny skirmishes of misinformation/ignorance/illogic being fought in corners of the internet like this one in the comments of a Citizen Smash post.
• The worst thing: woundingly (but not unexpectedly) shrill misrepresentations about Christianity—even from people I respect.
• Situations in which saying nothing is the best thing to do

At some point, after having to put out these fires over and over again, the temptation to give up becomes nearly overwhelming, and I was nearly overwhelmed by it. All the circular metaphors pop up to describe that feeling: on a merry-go-round, chasing one’s tail, etc. Aside from a few commitments I’ve made—to the Bear Flag League and to Pajamas Media (yes, I signed up)--I was thinking about scaling things way back, possibly quitting.

Then I got an email from a friend from whom I hadn’t heard in a while.

It was a fantastic one and a horrible one at the same time. The good news or rather, the Good News: my friend had been an atheist; now he’s a Christian and not a mere CINO. Think ex-smoker on the subject of cigarettes. That’s how passionate he is about Jesus Christ.

The bad news: not only does he hate my blog, but equates any political wrangling to cock-fighting or some other back-alley hobby. (He had enough sense of self-preservation not to equate it with a certain ancient profession, however.)

For so long I was fortunate. However, it was bound to happen sooner or later: someone I have known for a long time, cared about and whose opinion I respected would slam my efforts here. Hard. Worse, he made me feel guilty; as though—by engaging in this “cock-fighting” that I’m slighting my service to the Lord.

Yes, now I know that some of you are going to jump to my defense (and you guys are great), but don’t be like me: look before you leap. I laid into him; defending something that I was already having second thoughts about anyway. You know what that’s a symptom of, right? It’s a symptom of pride.

After my pride had subsided, however, I was forced to consider the futility of politics, power and arguing about the two, especially since I adhere to and have faith in the Power.

From that consideration stems this question: should devout Christians cool their heels until the Messiah returns? Should we all devote ourselves to prayer and contemplation until the Day? After all, according to scripture, world events, large- and small-scale, will only get worse and worse until then; and the name of Jesus Christ is starting to make more and more demons screech in protest. So why should I continue to beat my head against a brick wall when there is world outrage over the non-flushing of a Koran and five reported mishandlings of other Korans at the Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorists? You know the place: the dreaded gulag from which a prisoner leaves weighing more than when he entered? (The next time he visits Russia, President Bush ought to go visit Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s dacha; the president is obviously unclear on the gulag concept, but then so is Amnesty International.)

Meanwhile, no one with any political power wants to talk about Darfur in Sudan.*

Why get down in the mud? Why do anything? Heck, one might as well ask why anyone gets out of bed in the morning. After reading about the following, I wanted to close my door and never open it again.

As most of you know, I live in LA, the largest city in the most populous and most liberal state of the union. Yes, it’s the same city which contains Thomas Jefferson High School, the high school from which my great-aunt graduated some sixty-odd years ago, as did LA’s Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa much more recently. ‘Jeff’ has been in the news lately due to its black versus Latino race riots. It is during these types of events in which we get those ironies and those moments that make one want to move out into a wilderness; not just the riots but the fact that members of the Nation of Islam are considered the voices of reason. Or that some student suggests that blacks and browns shouldn’t be fighting each other because the whites are the real enemy.

That convent is sounding better and better all the time, but, conversely, it’s not.

To separate oneself from all the dross (and the good things) of this world is to break one of the commandments: to love your neighbor as yourself. Because that's what communication, debate, arguing, etc. is; a form of love. It's wanting to reach out to others and want to have them reach back.

It’s my belief that God put us—all of us—here for a reason and, for most of us, it isn’t just to hole ourselves up in prayer and contemplation and wait for the end times. Some of us have to get down in the mud and rassle with the hogs, when necessary. (Hey you, is that how you spell rassle?) Throwing up one’s hands is exactly what it sounds like: running from a fight.

And, after considering what my military brethren in Iraq and Afghanistan have to wake up to every morning—assuming they get any sleep—it would be especially selfish and lazy not to defend their reputation here, even if I talk about nothing else.

My friend told me that it would make him happy for me to prove him wrong. Well, I can’t prove it. I only know that he is.

*I wrote this before President Bush talked about Darfur with South African President Thabo Mbeki this morning.

Comments

[ilyka]

I'm thinking, never mind Revelations--I'll know the end is here when you give up.

To separate oneself from all the dross (and the good things) of this world is to break one of the commandments: to love your neighbor as yourself. Because that's what communication, debate, arguing, etc. is; a form of love. It's wanting to reach out to others and want to have them reach back.

I need that reminder in my life again and again. Enough that maybe I'll print this out and tack it by the mirror.

Everyone should be this clear-headed and articulate when they're discouraged. What a world that would be.

[Michael]

Well, if you left I would miss you.

[teal marie]

I'm not a blogger but as a citizen I was disappointed in the aftermath of the November elections, too. Maybe because I had made up my mind to accept Kerry if I must and continue to be a patriot. I guess I expected other Democrats to return the favor by accepting Bush if elected. It only made them more anti-American. Made me sick! Took me awhile to work around it.
What you are doing here is a public service, Juliette. We can't afford to give up, let the second-guessing underminers bring us down. I admire your efforts, you are cool-headed and very strong in your convictions. If ever we needed cooler heads to prevail, its right now.
It's good to know that you examined your conscience and found it satisfactory, too. Way to set us all a good example!
I keep picturing you in Congress, with this blog your first step. You, my dear, have leadership written all over you. Scarey, huh?

[Ken Summers]

Do NOT do that to me again! I almost exploded an artery in what passes for my brain when I read the words "possibly quitting". And it was an artery I'm very fond of.

[Samantha]

I'm with Ken. The second I read "possibly quitting" I started composing a "don't you dare leave us!" email in my head. I'm so glad that I don't have to send it. I've got to go calm down now. This post has got me all worked up.

[baldilocks]

Okay, I changed the split. I wasn't feeling unloved or anything, but it's nice to be read. :-)

[Reese]

I'm with Teal Marie.

And I'll add that this is "free ice cream." It's up to you. Your status in the TTLB ecosystem is due to nearly pure market forces as a result of your writing (though the new picture might be a little bit of cheating).

I miss one of your fellow Californians, Stephen Den Beste. Not just his politicking, but also the articles about cell phone technology and the status of SoCal fires/earthquakes. (I used to live there).

Same for Lileks: "I wonder what the weather is like in Minnesota today?"

I miss "Sgt. Stryker" mainly because it was interesting to read about his daily Air Force ordeals with bureaucracy and marginal officers.

I missed NeptunusLex when he temporarily (thankful for the temporary qualifier) hung it up a few months ago and when he's "on assignment." He's apparently a fairly competent officer in "Sandy Eggo." (I used to live there.)

I'll be with many others and miss you too if you must stop. Maybe you'll just take a hiatus while you run for congress?

[Andy]

Thot-ful indeed. Your blogging has a certain 'savoir-faire'. Selfishly speaking, I hope you keep blogging, but if you feel your talents are better utilized elsewhere, then by all means 'vaya con Dios'.

Only thing I can say is some Christians struggle thru life never knowing what an impact they have made upon others. Even when they know that they're doing what they were called to do, they sometimes despair of banging their heads against the wall.

Have you ever read Thru Gates Of Splendor about the 5 missionaries that were killed by the Auca Indians? If you haven't, it's a must read. Do that and re-assess.

If you do run for politics, then run, baby, run, and put Maxine out of our misery. :D

[John LeBlanc]

I'm glad to hear your former atheist friend has accepted the sacrifice of Christ. As he grows, he'll learn. Just as the rest of us (hopefully) continually learn.

As for mixing Christianity with politics, I wrestled with that, too. I keep coming back to Ezekiel (his name means "God stregthens") 33:6:

"But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take [any] person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand."

For those who believe Christianity is being systematically attacked right along side the values that made this nation the greatest on the planet, it's encumbant upon them to "blow the trumpet" and let others know. What they do with that information is in there hands.

John

[Scott Ferguson]

Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. The best blogs publish a series of checkpoints to a life well-lived. Please keep at it, but don't make it the center of your world. You'll be happier.

[DarkStar]

*I wrote this before President Bush talked about Darfur

Talk is cheap. That's what happened with Clinton and Rwanda.

P.S. I like your blog. I understand the let down feeling though.

[Mr. Bingley]

I don't recall anything in Scripture that tells us to passively wait for the Lord's return, Juliette. Indeed, it seems to me that we are to act as the expectant servants, for He may return at anytime. To me that means continuing to work and do what we can to better the world and spread His love in the best way that our fallen lives can manage. For some that may mean living a simple life of quiet example if that is your gift. For others it may mean pointing out and commenting on the injustices of others, while never losing sight of your own, for that is your gift, my dear. And it would be a great loss were your voice to be stilled on the basis of some intemperate words from an over-zealous recent convert. And I mean that kindly; a man who has just been saved from drowning is most likely to propose a ban on swimming.

At some point, and we are told specifically not to spend time worrying about the 'where' and 'when' aspect of it, we will be called from this world; until then we are are called to be of this world.

[ErikZ]

Whatever happened to "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing"?

You see the wrong and you step up and say "This is wrong." You see the same issues/problems come up because you're familiar with them.

Common misconceptions. Memes. They takes a long time to fix, but the tools you use to deal with them will only get better with time.

[The Anchoress]

Hey, Baldi, I have to tell you...I was feeling very much as you described. Sick of it all, fed up, tired of the constant battle against an increasingly unhinged other side that will twist and distort with seemingly boundless energy. I took most of Memorial Day weekend off because I just couldn't bear it any more. And I can name at least three other bloggers who are feeling the same way. WHY BOTHER?

In To Kill A Mockingbird, when Scout asked him why he bothered defending Tom Robinson, knowing he would lose the case, Atticus Finch said, "Just because we're licked a hundred times over doesn't mean we should not try..."

There is a time for prayer and contemplation, and a time for work. "To everything there is a season..." Or, think of the story of Mary and Martha. Martha was the worker, Mary the contemplative, both had value, both were doing important things that needed doing, each as they were called. We needn't shut ourselves up in monasteries and wait for the Second Coming (although a weekend would be nice!) and we needn't carry on like crazy people, either.

But I do think we need to stay engaged. Imagine what the world would be like if the conservative voices just fell back and decided to wait it out. Hey, I've got KIDS coming up in this world, I can't just do that! :-) And as you said, we have men and women dying to keep things going over here...we need to do our share.

Your friend is in the first flush of a conversion, and that is wonderful. But most of us who have been Christians for a while know that the first heat will eventually dim...that the trick is learning to manage and feed a steady burn of faith, instead of the flare-ups. While you are dealing with your pride (and we all are. I have been asking myself why I have a blog, when I don't really know very much...) don't forget that your friend is going to have to deal with his. Part of that is being exhibited in his fast and furious judgement of you. "Judge not, lest ye be judged!" :-)

Hey, not bad scripture quoting for a Catholic, eh? ;-) Cheer up, kiddo. God has a tendency to plant us where he wants us. What was it St. Basil said, "When you have become God's in the measure he desires, he himself will decide how to bestow you upon the world - unless he prefers, to thy greater advantage, to keep thee all to himself."

YOU are doing just fine! :-)

If you think that Jesus is coming back, and I mean LITERALLY coming back, than I question both your grasp on reality, and weather you're competent enough to vote.

[baldilocks]

Anonymous Coward: BFD.

Everyone Else: thanks for lifting my spirits.

[Pam in California]

Okay--this is my first visit as the result of a referral from Anchoress. After reading your blog let me tell you what I told her:
Please do NOT stop blogging. You have been inspirational in helping me return to church, I love your womanly wisdom and the depth of your faith. Plus you turned me on to a number of other Catholic blogs, I'm going to read about the House of Brede, I've forwarded info about abbeys you have posted--please, please do not stop blogging. You have a higher calling of which you may not be aware. I will be looking to you for inspiration and light. Please do NOT stop blogging. God Bless You! Hang in there!

[Pam in California]

PS Rummy talked about Darfur today--and how disappointed he is that no one in the MSM is reporting what is happening there--yet they obsess about Abu Ghraib and Gitmo. Keep the faith. People ARE paying attention.

[urthshu]

Ask your friend if the people who plead for Terri Schiavo's life were engaged in "cock-fighting" or witnessing for their faith or something else. The answer might be enlightening.

[Miguel]

I'm so glad you are not giving up! You (along with other bloggers) are a light on the hill for a lot of people, your readers. Please, don't give it up. The Lord will give you abundant Graces for what you are doing. I don't have a Bible in English, but it says something like: "Go thee and baptize all the nations, teaching them...etc., etc.". A clear command to GO and do something about the world and the people in the world. God bless you Baldi ;)

[Guy S.]

I haven't commented here...in at least a month of Sundays, heck...keeping both my oars in the water is a full time job, but that doesn't mean at least knowing you were out there somewhere fighting the good fight, wasn't worth some value. It's like knowing your fellow Soldiers, Sailors, Airman, or Marines, though you may never have met them, are going to take the battle to their selected adversary with the same vigour and intensity you will (or would), if you were in their shoes. Just knowing they are there helps to keep balance, focus, center...to ones own battles with the democratic windmills. As for your newly minted Christan friend....he reminds me of the new recruit fresh out of basic, heading for his first duty station. He's full of piss and vinegar, ready to take on the toughest challenge, climb the tallest tree, slay the biggest dragon...why he is going to make Audy Murphy look like a backward third grader in an advanced math class. A little time, perspective, and reality will temper his passion and his steel...hopefully for the good. Anyhow, take care...I have rambled on for far too long.

[Eric]

Why so gloomy? Discouraged!?
There seems to be what I guess could be called a "martyr" complex among right wing bloggers. Your blog entry is the most offensive example I've come across. Face the facts. Republicans and republican appointees are now in control of every branch of the US federal goverment. The Congress, the Senate, obviously the White House, CIA, FBI, EPA. Soon you will have a lock on the Supreme Court and then the fun can really begin. You should be a very happy camper. FOX is the most watched news channel. The last time I looked my cable network had three Evangelical Christian stations telling me i'm going to burn in hell. The Pope, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, James Dobson, the Left Behind dudes, Ann Coulter are featured on the cover of major news magazines. At least give us, non-Christian, left wing, French loving, gay marrying, Daily Show watching, tree huggers, and anti-war peaceniks, the respect of acknowleging the fact that you (or at least people who share your point of view) are IN POWER and quit acting like victims because of some bloger's "shrill misrepresentation of Christianity". Remember Rome was a Christian state when the empire fell....

You obviously care about the situation in Darfur.
The Bush administration as done NOTHING to stop the genocide in Darfur. Can you at least use your blog to attack the Bush administration on this one issue!? Bush and Cheney can make a few calls and have 82 billion in emergency funds directed towards the war in Iraq but they can't do anything accept make empty diplomatic gestures towards the Darfur situation. PLEASE at least recognize this one criminal failing of the Bush administration. As the days and weeks pass thousands more children will die in the desert and a whole society and culture will be destroyed by the Janjaweed if nothing is done.

[Eric]

Why so gloomy? Discouraged!?
There seems to be what I guess could be called a "martyr" complex among right wing bloggers. Your blog entry is the most offensive example I've come across. Face the facts. Republicans and republican appointees are now in control of every branch of the US federal goverment. The Congress, the Senate, obviously the White House, CIA, FBI, EPA. Soon you will have a lock on the Supreme Court and then the fun can really begin. You should be a very happy camper. FOX is the most watched news channel. The last time I looked my cable network had three Evangelical Christian stations telling me i'm going to burn in hell. The Pope, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, James Dobson, the Left Behind dudes, Ann Coulter are featured on the cover of major news magazines. At least give us, non-Christian, left wing, French loving, gay marrying, Daily Show watching, tree huggers, and anti-war peaceniks, the respect of acknowleging the fact that you (or at least people who share your point of view) are IN POWER and quit acting like victims because of some bloger's "shrill misrepresentation of Christianity". Remember Rome was a Christian state when the empire fell....

You obviously care about the situation in Darfur.
The Bush administration as done NOTHING to stop the genocide in Darfur. Can you at least use your blog to attack the Bush administration on this one issue!? Bush and Cheney can make a few calls and have 82 billion in emergency funds directed towards the war in Iraq but they can't do anything accept make empty diplomatic gestures towards the Darfur situation. PLEASE at least recognize this one criminal failing of the Bush administration. As the days and weeks pass thousands more children will die in the desert and a whole society and culture will be destroyed by the Janjaweed if nothing is done.

[JRI]

I notice that recruitment nubmers are down again this month. You could start encouraging people to put their money where their mouths are and tell them to enlist.

-

[Ken Summers]

BTW, Juliette, whenever you get to feeling you're tilting at windmills, I highly recommend keeping this quote in mind:

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

[Peggy]

Some people are very goal-oriented and it's hard when you want to see results for your efforts and there are none. But John 4:37 says some sow and some reap. You can't always know how effectively or how much you have sown. Not here anyway. Just go through every day doing what comes your way to do. I don't post much, but I read you every day.

[Rory]

By all means, don't bother. Really, you've done enough already. Let us heathens handle neglected domestic issues like the uninsured and poverty. You sit tight, Jesus is just running a little late.

[wayne]

Dear Juliette, its hard this world into which we poor our work, our voices crying out for what is usually right (and occasionally what is wrong). We give the world our thoughts hoping somehow that we can give a push towards changing an ever chaotic and often evil world.

You are one of the pioneers of a new way, where every soul truly can have a voice if they so desire. As a Christian you send your thoughts into the ether much as you say your prayers. Your prayers are for the ears of the Lord. Your Blog is prayers for the ears of man.

We need you Juliette. Both those who merely read (for touching their minds) and those of us who blog (for inspiration and encouragement). We all feel as you do the frustration, the weariness, the rage, and the futility. We also feel the hope when we reach each other and the strength that comes for the words of those who are gifted here like you.

I know sometimes it seems futile, but every so often one of us does change the world. You have done so for many bloggers. Look at "Captains Quarters". He has shaken the Canadian government to the point of collapse. If you want to call him a blogger, Drudge effectively ended the Presidency of Bill Clinton. We are important! YOU ARE IMPORTANT!! YOU ARE NEEDED!!

And, as a Christian you should know that your gift as a blogger is a gift from God that He gave you for the benefit of others, a Blessing (that is occasionally a curse!!) No one ever said being a Prophet was easy and you are one of the new Prophets for the modern age. The Lord is with you Juliette and we are all Blessed by Him in having you here. God Bless You!!! Your Friend, Wayne

[eddiehaskel]

I am always amazed at how the most vocal Christians never seem to incorporate Christ's message. Didn't someone say, "You shall know us by our works."

Christ never cared about membership in a club or politics. In fact he was explicit in saying "Render unto Caeser . . ." His message was too simple for that and thus posed the most difficult task for those who believe in him: Do good and be good. And above all love your neighbor, and especially your enemy.

All this talk, all of this political posturing, all of it is antithetical to these simple teachings.

But you know, I forgive you for it.
But that's all I can do. I won't tell you to repent to Christ or to give more to your church or to picket at some embryo clinic. What I will entreat you and your readers to do is bo actually respond to the challenge Christ made (and not the challenge as seen by Paul or any of the myriad popes, apostles, preacher etc. who have come and gone since then): Be good, do good. But don't ever think that baptism was a one way ticket to heaven and all you have to do is say I'm sorry every time you expose the hate, the resentment, the exlcusionary attitudes, the bigotry, etc.

Talk is cheap.

Actions speak louder than words.

[Ken Summers]

To Rory's comment, it need only be noted that "poverty" in this country means only one TV. I don't think Jesus ever considered insurance.

One might also note a comment from an aspiring immigrant: "I want to live in a country where the poor people are fat!"

[Ith]

Ilyka nailed way up in the first comment, so what she said :) Just so you know, I think of you often and wonder how things are going. You have my phone number, and I'm here if you ever need me to be.

[President Lindsay]

I've never visited this site before, saw it linked from Salon's right/left blog page. Though I am not a Christian (raised Catholic, including seminary, much religious exploration), I of course have Christian friends and most of my family are what you would probably classify as born again/fundamentalist (I don't know if I'm offending anyone by that linkage, I'm not that familiar with the nuances of Christian categories).
That said, I find your writing, Juliette, to seem reflective of a warm and caring person. Reading your article and the comments, though, most from your admirers, I find myself reflecting on why the right and left (and I'm definitely on the left) have become so polarized and intolerant of each other as to be practically in warring camps.
I've given it a lot of thought, too, since my parents and half my siblings (well, 3 out of 5 actually) are Christian, and our family was always quite close. I see that family situation as somewhat of a microcosm of the larger religio/political conflict, so I thought I'd just float some observations here in the interest of a dialogue with the "opposite side."
We still talk to each other and treat each other with civility and even love, but in recent years the list of things on which we're diametrically opposed has grown exponentially. Before it was just religious belief, and though the beliefs of a couple of us conflicted with those of the majority, aside from a certain sadness and disappointment on the part of the Christian side of the family (and a belief that eventually we'd see the light), disagreements in other areas, such as politics, were no big deal and engendered more kidding than argument.
But the religious side of the family began to identify their politics with their religion, to the point where now it seems to be carried to the point of a Christobushian cultism. As an example: my parents used to have a reasonable and open-minded respect for science in general. Now they're not only flaming creationists, but they go so far as to deny that they ever believed anything else. Another example: they used to be quite tolerant, if dismissive, of gay people. Now they believe in the ridiculous myth of gay recruitment (all those evil gay people who want to recruit our children into their evil ranks) and thus have become stridently antigay.
Even my Catholic brother is outside their sphere now, since the rest of the family (except for my other lost brother) became born again Christians and look upon regular Catholics as deluded half-Christians. My mother, who loves us all dearly, speaks in unguarded moments of my Catholic brother and me as "you people." And he is hardly a flaming liberal.
Christianity is, I think you might even agree, pretty much absolutist. I mean, you believe in it or you don't, right? Your behavior and degree of zeal might vary, but it's a belief, a faith that you either believe in or you don't. When this absolutism is commingled in an unholy alliance with politics, the two become inextricable and the politics becomes as absolutist as the religion. And an unholy alliance is what it is. Who would ever have imagined that the greedy plutocrats would make common cause with the religious, with those who used to channel their activist impulses into the betterment of the least of their brethren? Unless you've really drunk the Bush cult's Kool Aid, how can you ignore the manifold ways in which they trample the poor and uplift the rich? Oh, I know they talk about compassionate conservatism and say all the nice touchy feely stuff, but if you look at funding cutbacks and actual results—the numbers and actions, not the hype and promises—it's clear that the interests of the greedy and cruel are ascendent in terms of policy. For all the manufactured outrage at the godless left, I see considerably more concern for the full range of humanity from the left than from the right.
A bit more on this point, if I may: I have siblings deeply involved with missionary organizations. Many of them do tremendous work and pour their lives into helping others. Yet there's always that hidden catch, the linkage of helping with converting. As an example, there was a mission compound my brother lived and worked at for many years in west Africa. A very poor country desperately short of hospital facilities, their compound was home to the best of what the country had to offer in that regard. Two brothers, successful businessmen in that country, had heart trouble which the doctors at that hospital were able to address (bypasses, I think). In gratitude, they offered to build and pay for the staff of an entire new wing of the hospital, which in such a country would have represented a substantial increase in their medical care potential. The brothers were turned down! Why? Because the mission didn't have enough translators available to be able to proselytize to the amount of new patients they'd be receiving in the new wing. So thousands of patients who would have been helped or, literally, saved (physical lives, not souls) ended up out of luck because they wouldn't have been able to be preached to as they lay on their hospital beds.
Me, I'll take a secular humanist working in a charitable NGO any day over a Christian doing the same work. There are those of us who truly care about our fellow human beings even with no ulterior motives. And there are those agonstics and even atheists (gasp!) among you who are good and honest and highly ethical and kind and friendly without any hint of a belief that they might roast in hell if they're not. It is an all too commonly accepted belief among Christians that people need religion in order to be good. That is simply untrue.
Christianity has become more and more circumscribed, it seems, over the past few decades. A tight little comfy paradigm of mutually reinforcing beliefs with plenty of social support. That's all well and good, people should be free to believe what they want to. But how you managed to let the likes of Dick Cheney and Tom Delay into that little fortress is beyond me. Christianity, far from expressing its best, has become terribly polluted by the politics of the right. How else could a good person like you, Juliette, so breezily dismiss documented cases of torture (including many deaths by torture) with a joke about gaining weight at Gitmo? Especially because if you've paid any attention at all you'd know full well that many many prisoners in Gitmo and Abu Graib and other such places are innocent, many of them having been sold to the Americans by unscrupulous Pakistanis and Afghans.
There were, I believe, a couple of reasons why the Founding Fathers promoted a separation of church and state. One of them, perhaps, was to prevent the pollution of religion itself. When politics takes on religion's absolutism in a noxious blend, there may be hell to pay. If you want to buy the package of Christianity, have at it. But buying the full package from a politician is a recipe for, well, for the type of ideological warfare that you yourself are lamenting here.

[msp]

i've felt similarly. and this is coming from someone whose politics may fall differently from time to time than yours.

we must remember that as christians we have a dual citizenship and more importantly, our first citizenship is more than just a nation, but a family. and often it's the case that we let the rat race of our second citizenship overshadow the importance and loyalty to our first. of course, we feel that what we do is all in the name of our first kingdom, the kingdom of God, yet it's so terribly easy for us to think we know what the lord wants and yet miss the point. you ever have one of those moments of humbling clarity where you have to wonder if we really are representing the lord?

it's not like any of the political parties give us a clear christian choice. (if we could agree on what a clear christian choice even is.) many would argue that i'm wrong about that, but uh... perhaps they should take a step back. or perhaps i should take a step closer?

basically, i feel all institutions of man, even the chruch, are flawed on some level. useless? heavens no! but imperfect.

hence, should i put all this effort into supporting certain causes? should i risk hurting the family that matters most, the family of god, through the division we have over our second citizenship?

we are called to love our enemies, and yet can barely stand to speak to our own brothers and sisters.

continuing dialog is crucial, but we all probably could use a little more caution, a little more respect... more humility, contemplation, and prayer can never hurt us right?!

peace be with you... but don't stop talking! (and i'm a liberal telling you this!)
m.

[baldilocks]

Wow, real live obnoxious persons! I don't get many of those around here--I run a tight ship--so welcome.

Your words exhorting me to stop blogging are having the opposite effect, so I thank you. ;-)

[President Lindsay]

Oh, and one more thing: You lament particularly the "woundingly (but not unexpectedly) shrill misrepresentations about Christianity." I've seen similar complaints of victimhood by Christians all over, too numerous to count. All this while Christians have a louder voice and more political power than at any time since, arguably, 1776. If there are shrill attacks, it's because the politicochristians (or would that be Christopoliticians?) are trying to force their beliefs on everybody. Want to feel like a victim? Try being an atheist in the current political climate. Or don't atheists matter?
Oh, you needn't bother to answer that rhetorical question. I can remember the attitude toward avowed atheists from back in my Catholic days. Sort of like lepers, only they don't deserve pity. Lost souls. Once in awhile one, like your friend, can be hooked (was he your friend before he got hooked?).
No, perhaps I'm being unfair here. I know some Christians who do have atheist friends, though in such cases usually they're at a loss to understand why such a good person, who leads such a Christian life, could be an atheist. Often, besides the bewilderment, there's some pity there.
Don't bother. We don't need your pity. But please, all you Christian victims out there, quit your moaning about being the poor beleagured minority just because you haven't yet managed to create a full-blown theocracy. You have no idea how ridiculous it sounds to a real minority.

[baldilocks]

Lindsay: the line about Gitmo prisoners gaining weight wasn't a joke. It was the truth. And what does gaining weight have to do with whether some are innocent or not?

If you're going to use my comments section as free blog space, please try to make sense.

[baldilocks]

One more thing Lindsay, I couldn't care less how what I say sounds to someone whose drops long lines of stereotypical feces into someone else's blog.

This Christian isn't above saying "bugger off" to Christian or other when it's deserved.

From one minority to another, with love.

[The Liberal Avenger]

What is it that you conservatives are working towards? Is it something that you can articulate? Is it WORLD domination or just NATIONAL domination?

Why do you hate liberals so much?

[Linda F]

There's a post I read a long time ago, on Mrs. du Toit's site, I believe, in which she asks herself the same question. Her answer is that, although only a small percentage are going to "get" the message, they're the reason you put up with all the other stuff. They're Gideon's 300 - the few who, because of you, will not lose heart. The few who, will carry the message to the next generation.

Maybe these selected ones are always a tiny minority of the group. It's a funny bunch; they're self-selected, get more aggravation for their efforts than it seems worth, and often feel isolated and alone. They stick when others would quit and slog on. They are the reason that civilization continues - just as the monks preserved ancient books and manuscripts in the Dark Ages. Each scribe could have said "Why bother? I'm only a single person. How much could the copying of a few manuscripts, which almost nobody can read (or would want to), possibly make a difference?"

But it did. As do you.

[Jefferson]

I think that rational and enlightened people could take Christians more seriously if they were to concentrate on the philosophy of their faith, rather than the myths that are attached to it.

Here's what I'd like to know:

Are the truths from the sermon on the mount, that blessed are the peacemakers, would they any less true if Jesus never did walk on water or give eyesight to the blind?

If it were to turn out that Jesus never was resurrected, would that somehow invalidate the nobility of do unto others?

Are the words of Jesus that feeble that you need fairy stories and magic tricks to make them more palatable?

I believe, and I know because I see it throughout history and every day, that the truths that help all humankind, weather they are related to us from Jesus, or Moses or Buddha or Zoroaster or Mohamed or Lao Tse, are valid IN AND OF THEMSELVES, not because of some third-rate conjuring.

I seriously doubt that people would have said, “You know Moses, I would have gone along with that whole ‘thou shall not kill’ thing, but you better show me some bread falling out of the sky to back it up.”

“Yeah-yeah Mr. Buddha, ‘all life is suffering,’ we get it. But if you were to make great armies appear, we’d believe it even more.”

Would the truths spoken by King or Gandhi or Mandela be more potent if accompanied by levitations or communing with the dead?

Is your faith that weak that you need rumors of parlor tricks to help prop it up?

If there is power in words and beliefs, it will not need window dressing and circus stunts, the words will stand on their own.

[President Lindsay]

Juliette,

Stereotypical feces? I was seriously trying to have a reasonable dialog with you as someone from outside your Christian circle, to attempt as best I could to point out what some nonChristians feel. Clearly you're not interested in a reasoned dialog with a nonperson like me. Sorry to have taken up so much of your blogspace, but aren't comments sections supposed to be for comment? If you've got a limit on words you should say so.
I see that you "run a tight ship." It reminds me of Bush's "town hall meetings," where everyone is prescreened to make sure they'll agree with him. But please, don't gloss over your bitter rejection with "welcome" and "with love." That is the worst sort of hypocrisy.
Clearly first impressions can be misleading. I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt despite your joking about torture victims (and come on, you really didn't understand my point there? Think about it). You know those things I said about how you seem to be a warm and caring person? I guess I have to take them back. Not much of that sentiment for an atheist like me. Poor me! See how persecuted I am?
Enjoy your closed little world, Juliette. I'll see you on the battlefield.
Bugger off indeed. No wonder nonchristians get fed up.

[David Blue]

Looking around your world, does it seem to you like it's a big problem, that intelligent, pleasant people of faith are way too visible?

There's no need for you to fix anything that isn't broken.

[The Liberal Avenger]

"Blessed are the peacemakers..."

Why doesn't the current Christian-Conservative celebration of war strike you as hypocritical?

[Jon]

No, intelligent, pleasant people of faith are not way too visible, nor are they ever the problem.

The problem is unintelligent and violent people of faith.

THAT'S the problem.

[sleepwalker]

Please don't quit. Take a break if you need it, but I rely on you for a calm, clear, reasoned comment on daily happenings. I usually just lurk, but I'm out here; and, there are probably lots more fans who don't comment.

Thanks for all your hard work.

[baldilocks]

Avenger:Is it WORLD domination or just NATIONAL domination? Why do you hate liberals so much?

First question: neither.

Second question: I don't hate liberals.

Now, two questions for you, with the second only being answerable if the first answer is 'yes.'

1) Are you (personally) capable of asking a question that doesn't contain a false dichotomy, a straw man or any other logical fallacy in it?

2) If the answer to number one is yes, would you please ask one? It would be a refreshing change of pace to the type of oppositional viewpoint I'm seeing here. If not, forget I asked.

[JT]

I'm glad you're sticking it out, I'd miss you if I couldn't read you anymore.

I'm new to blogging, so I haven't had the experience yet of a friend disapproving heartily of my decision to do it. I suppose it's only a matter of time.

You're right about our being put here for a reason. God has a plan for all of us; your friend doesn't have any way of knowing what He intends for you. You, I think, have a bead on it. So, I'm sorry he upset you, but I'm relieved you're not quitting.

Thanks.

[Tanya]

I think the Dominionists like Dobson et al would beg to differ with you (in private of course) about weather they would like to dominate Amrica as a nation.

Also, there are strong overtones of world domination amongst many of these people as well.

Given the power they wield in the current administration (many private meetings for Dobson & Fallwell etc, so far none for the Dali Lama or non-Christians), their use unabashed use of scare tacktics and outright lieing, I think it is perfectly reasonable to worry about how much power and control they currently have, and could consolidate in the future.

[Marty]

Dax...

Keep the faith...

Odo

[Paul Jané]

Don't let the bullshit get to you, Juliette, you'd be sorely missed if you left, so I'm glad that you're going to keep up the good work.

(Especially if the alternative is for you to wait for Jeebus to show up... You know that I think the world of you, but come on, hon...)