Well, it's looking more and more that way to me. I don't necessarily think its all bad either. It can be a blessing to be able to reframe who we are as a peculiar people with peculiar ways and practices- ie Resident Aliens in a foreign land.
I saw this article and it is what got me thinking about this:
"In its efforts to create an environment free of religious harassment at its installations worldwide, the U.S. Air Force has said that it is withdrawing and reviewing earlier ethics guidelines permitting evangelism by chaplains."
read the rest here: "New Air Force Religion Guidelines May Restrict Evangelism"
I would hate to see the role of chaplains reduced in the military. I have come over the last year or so to see the VERY important value of chaplains as symbols of Gods love and peace in the midst of conflict and maybe the hardest days soldiers face in their lives. So this pacifist would hate to see one more symbol of healing, hope and Gods peace and love to be taken away from those who really value it.
6 comments:
To limit any religion's leaders the right to proselityze undermines the nature of religion. If you think something is true, you will want to convince others of the same thing. It's high time to get over thinking that wanting people to convert for their own benefit is a high crime and misdemeanor of a peaceful society. I always thought being exposed to views that we don't necessarily agree with made both me and my beloved disagreeing counterpart more willing to find other types of common ground based on our mutual humanity. The moment we shut down conversation is the moment we begin to let our definitions dehumanize the other side, thus producing a LESS tolerant society. Silence breeds ignorance. Ignorance breeds mistrust. And mistrust breeds hatred. It won't be long before our society collapses if we do not allow genuine freedom of speech and religion to flourish.
jason, i'm not sure how to do that in the comment section. i've sene others do it though.
I here a lot of pessimism about the future of Christianity in America, but I've very positive about the future. As you say, it's a chance to reframe what it means to be Christian. Having just read Resident Aliens, I'm unconvinced that Willamon and Hauerwas have the right vision, but I agree that is a great opportunity to create a Christianity beyond showing up at church on Sundays -- something transformative of individuals and society.
glad you read RA's. whether one agrees with it or not (it really resonated with me) they bring out some interesting concepts for the church to struggle through.
thanks john.
jonathon
Jason:
Here's the HTML coding for a link:
[a href='http://www.yahoo.com']Yahoo[/a]
Except that instead of using brackets, use the 'greater than' and 'less than' symbols.
Oh, so if you want to link Ship of Fools is should look like this: Ship of Fools.
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