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June 14, 2003 This August it will be one year since I received a master's degree in Library and Information Studies. I can safely say that the time I spent in grad school was one of the most rewarding periods of my life but make no mistake about it I'm glad I'm out. I have more free time. I can read recreationally again and it's a whole lot easier to avoid atheists. Now I'm not saying that a great deal of the non-believers I met at grad-school weren't amiable. The time I was there was largely enjoyable and most of the people I met there were very pleasant. I'm also not saying that people don't have the right not to worship, which is the mantra for atheists everywhere. I'm saying that people do have the right to worship if they so choose and as one of those people who do it gets very tiring to be lumped in with all matter of hypocrites and crazed zealots. That's right friends I am a Christian and I don't now nor have I ever tried to push my lifestyle on anyone else. In my dealings with atheists it seems to me that it's they who want to push theirs down your throat. Don't have prayers in public. Don't have any religious expressions in public. Don't have “under God” in the pledge of allegiance and if you even think of mentioning God within ten miles of a public school you will be shot the following dawn. "Christian's just need to get over it." I heard more times than I can count when I was in grad school and I wanted to say: "Why do we have to get over it?" I know that many of you are wondering why I didn't say something but the fact of the matter is that I'm not by nature confrontational and am not very eloquent so I don't argue well. It's not a fact that I revel in but I mostly just sat there and rolled my eyes. The few times that I did say something I was blown off so I just sat there and listened to how evil Christianity is, but again why is the Christian the one who has to get over it? If you don't want to pray at a football game, or any other place for that matter, don't, nobody's making you, but I don't think that you need to be ruining things for other people. Also if you see a religious reference on a billboard or marquee, or at Christmas if you see a manger scene out in public just put your head down and walk real fast so you won't be infected with something. It sort of baffles me that the majority of the criticism towards Christians comes from people who are supposed to be so intelligent and open-minded, then they turn right around and lump all Christians together with the bad seeds because of their religious beliefs. These are also the people who don't want to see any religious references because somebody might find it offensive but pitch a fit anytime a religious person finds offense with a movie, book or prime- time T.V. show because of excessive sex and/or violence. Another argument that I always hear is that there have been horrible things done in the name of Christianity. I won't disagree with you there and I'm not saying that there aren’t any Christian's who fit the stereotype. It's just that there are even more who don't and if you stack the good things that have been done in the name of Christianity up against the bad then there would be a great deal more. Great contributions have been made to the well being of people around the world in the name of Christianity. Also if you think that the world is a vile and despicable place now, imagine what it would be like without the values that Christianity had brought to the world; a lot of which it seems that even the most ardent atheist should agree with. If you want evidence that all Christians aren't bible-thumping hypocrites, then I can use my own church as an example. I won't tell you the name or the location because if I let everybody know how good it is they’ll all want to go there and we'll run out of pew space. I'm not saying that we're perfect, what's the old adage; “Christian's aren't perfect we're just forgiven.” I think that the good thing is that there are so many people that I go to church with who walk the walk as well as talk the talk. After hurricane Floyd went though North Carolina several members went down to work on houses and the whole church raised money, I don't know how much exactly, to go to people who had lost their homes as well as churches that had been damaged. When a member lost a workshop in a fire a great many others got together and rebuilt it. A pretty daunting task and they didn’t have to be asked. They did it because they wanted to. I could go on and on but I won’t. All I know is that as soon as I turn down the driveway my problems don’t vanish but they do lessen a bit. All the stresses of the outside world step back a little and are replaced by smiles, kind words, handshakes and the laughter of children. Did I mention that we have almost 100 people less than eighteen years old? Isn’t that great? Maybe people do get a little stressed out at the administrative meetings, but I never been to one and stayed, I don’t think I want to, but in the normal get-togethers and comings and goings they’re nothing but pleasant. So that’s my little testimonial. I’m not expecting to convert anybody and I’m not trying to. I do hope, however, that it does change some people’s misconceptions about Christians. If you are a Christian then I hope you like what you read. Let me know what you think of my argument. If you are one of those non-believers who still have a problem with Christians, and probably don’t even know any, well then your opinion doesn’t mean anything anyway. ------------ About the author: Jonathan Farlow is a frustrated writer/librarian and lives in Archdale, NC with his wife Kathy and daughter Sara. Visit his web site. You can read some of his stories there. Feedback is welcomed. Email: jonathan-farlow@excite.com Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
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