An Odd Post About Faith

Sometimes events or discussions take place that cause me to re-examine my beliefs and how I live my faith -- or what passes for my faith. Sometimes I'll find myself in a casual discussion on religion and realize that I hold more traditional Christian beliefs than many of my peers. I find this odd because I don't consider myself to be deeply religious. I do consider myself to be part of an organized religious church body...although I do not support or proclaim all that this church body adheres to. I go to church very rarely but primarily due to inertia and that I don't like going alone, not because I've fallen away or reject religion.

The news for today includes a headline that there is a rapid decline in the number of Americans who count themselves as "Protestant" Christians. I'm not at all surprised. The actual story is that Protestants no longer are in the majority. The news outlets are getting it confused either due to ignorance of intentionally to stir up controversy. This is really more about statistics than about religion. What is a Protestant? Perhaps the statisticians have a working definition but the respondents probably are not so sure. Some Baptists do not consider themselves to be Protestants. Are Mormons Protestants? How about self-proclaimed "Evangelicals"? If respondents are self defining their religious status, my guess is that there are not sufficient categories on a survey form to capture a meaningful aggregate response. The survey definitions are very likely out of date.

There is also the issue of non-Christians living permanently or temporarily residing in the US. There have been increases in Bosnians, South Asians, Muslims, Chinese, or other ethnic groups who would not consider themselves to be Protestants. Mexican or other Central American or Caribbean immigrants would probably consider themselves to be Roman Catholic rather than Protestant.  I'm not too worried about the survey headlines.

I am regularly asked to fill out survey for a national polling organization because I signed up to be part of their polling universe when they pulled a survey sample. All of these surveys have various political questions or policy questions (Who did you vote for? Are you a Liberal? What do you think about __whatever__ policy?). They frequently have questions about commercial products...like those pod coffee makers or some other product. They always ask about religious affiliation, whether I consider myself to be an "Evangelical", and how often I attend church. They ask other questions about income and location. These are used to sub-analyze the responses. Are Evangelicals more likely to be gun owners than Muslims? Are low income people more likely to want coffee pod machines?

I must admit that the whole label of "Evangelicals" irritates me and I never consider myself to be an Evangelical. My perception of Evangelicals is negative on several levels even though my church could be considered to be Evangelical. Evangelicals -- as popularly and commonly defined and recognized -- can't keep their nose out of other people's business or private life or personal decisions. I'm sure there is a spectrum or degree of Evangelical-ness and not all Evangelicals behave the same way but those who act out or profess the loudest seem to be the most extreme and most obnoxious.

I tend to favor tolerance and inclusivity more than one would think considering my church's position on some issues. I noticed an article in my monthly church magazine that cautioned against attending church services in other denominations or going to Bible study groups outside of our church. Our church practices "closed communion" meaning that only church members, or members of a very few other churches who meet certain criteria of belief or practices, may take communion in our church services. There are more conservative churches than mine but we are pretty far away from most Christian denominations. I can remember when women were first given the right to vote in church affairs.

Instead of being an Evangelical, I like the idea of being a "carrier for Christ". I use the term "carrier" almost the same way as if someone was a carrier of typhoid or polio but in a positive rather than a negative way. I think it is better, generally, to profess your faith in the way you live, act, behave, carry on business, raise your children and love your spouse and family. If Christians would be "carriers for Christ" we wouldn't need Evangelicals poking around in other peoples' lives. We would also be in conflict with others less often. The "Culture Wars" that Evangelicals seem eager to wage are often conflicts of their own making.

When you look at the basics, Jesus says we should love God and love our neighbor. The Ten Commandments say we should love and honor God, watch what we say and keep our hands to ourselves.  I don't see anything there that says we should maim, murder, persecute or hate people who have different beliefs, look different or live different lives. I don't see any admonition or encouragement for us to righteously poke our nose into other peoples' lives. Do you?