I'm currently (among other things) reading Stars of David by Abigail Pogrebin. Even if you're not into Judaica, it's an interesting look at the vast spectrum of religious observance in America. One passage, from the piece about Leon Wieseltier, struck me:

"Generally in American Jewry, pride exists in inverse proportion to knowledge. So you will often find that the more learned or knowledgeable Jewish individuals are, the less strident and hoarse with self-admiration they tend to be. And the ones who know very little are looking for anti-Semites everywhere, because they need enmity to sustain their Jewishness...They think that the best way to express Jewishness is by fighting for it. And so in this way pride does the work of knowledge, sentimentality does the work of knowledge."

What I find so interesting is that this passage could be applied wholesale to American Christianity. It seems that a lot of people do more Bible-thumping than Bible reading. On one hand, it is sad when a person devotes so much of her or his life to a faith they know little about. On the other hand, it is absolutely infuriating to be preached at by someone whose knowledge of their faith comes from one of the latest "God Shows He Loves You By Making Your Life Comfortable and Prosperous" books. How hard is it to actually read the passages you use so wantonly?

Obviously, this is a major source of anger for me, and I am trying to practice some of the love and compassion that Jesus guy talks about. I don't claim to be a Bible scholar (far, far from it), but I make an attempt to read the Bible and read commentaries so I understand, at least in part, some of the amazingly complex and beautiful book upon which my faith rests. And if a person does that and leaves her or his heart open to new ideas and interpretations, I am honestly OK with most things they will use the Bible to support. I am much more comfortable with the most conservative person who has read and fought with the Bible and arrived at their position after much thought and prayer than I am with a much more liberal person who casually shrugs off Bible verses that contradict her or his positions.

I also had to chuckle at the pert of Mr. Wieseltier's quote about people defining their religion based on opposition. Especially this time of year, it seems that my more vocal brothers and sisters are up in arms over the "War on Christianity". Now, I fully understand that there are places in this world where practicing any religion other than that the sanctioned by the government will land a person in a lot of trouble. But doesn't it seem insulting to a person who practices her or his faith in the face of possible torture and execution to be up in arms about the "discrimination" of retailers saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"? And doesn't it strike anyone that the more accepting a country is of a multitude of religious expression, the better it is for everyone? How does religious tolerance hurt Christianity? And when did a religion have to be fought for in order to be valid?


I think I'm done soapboxing for now. I was just very excited to read a passage that so succinctly described the situation of and problems with American evangelism-style Christianity.