I usually use this space on Sundays, when I post, to talk about bookish related stuff going on in my life. But after seeing some comments that my anger stir inside of me, I felt I needed to get the thoughts in a place that felt safe to me and not on Facebook.
As some of you know, I am a Christian and am not ashamed of that fact. Its a part of not only of how I have grown up, but has also become more and more apart of who I am. Yes, there were times that I questioned as to whether I was a "true" Christian, namely because of my love of the Harry Potter books and movies and because of other things I have read over the years that wouldn't be considered Christian in a number of circles and the same goes with the movies that I enjoy (I don't think many Christians would enjoy Sideways) and also the fact that I don't listen to a Christian radio station from just across the line and would rather listen to secular music in my car. I do have a few Christian playlists, but the vast majority of my music would be classified as secular. But I am starting to find my place as a Christian and understand that not every Christian comes from the same point of view and that there are Christians out there who watch, listen and read more secular material because they find the Christian shows/movies, music, and reading material not satisfying enough for them or they are just not attracted to that material.
Anyways, lets get to what prompted me to write this post. What prompted me to write this post was due to the fact that a number of parents in Ontario, a large majority of whom are religious, are protesting the fact that the province want to change the curriculum for its sex education in some minor ways, but nothing that in my mind is really radical (you can view what has gotten some parents in Ontario upset
here). Anyways there was a discussion on Facebook about the curriculum this morning and I saw a comment about Christians that angered me (apparently the person who initially posted the comment has taken it down).
Basically it was somebody who clearly didn't like organized religion and in particular Christianity. It lead me to do a google search on why Christians are marginalized and made to feel like pariahs. And that made me even more angry and I just left, not feeling satisfied.
I suppose I never will be satisfied because I will never find the answer that I am looking for without it being attacked on. Yes, I feel attacked for my beliefs and yes it does feel personal. Not only because of my belief in the Holy Trinity (God, Son, Holy Spirit) and other things that Christians believe (God as father, Jesus as his Son, the virgin birth, etc), but also because I believe that most Christians that I know are generous, kind, tolerant, wonderful people and also very human. Of course there are yahoos that are full of hatred and are mean-spirited individuals (and there are in every group, no matter one's creed), but on the whole, I find the Christian community to be tolerant, at least the one that I grew up in.
I am not condoning the actions of Christians in the past or the present, ie actions during the Holocaust, the Crusades, the molesting of young boys and girls, the Residential Schools in a number of countries that did extreme harm to Native populations, the depletion of Native populations in places in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and other places, the exploitation of other humans for material gain (the slave trade) because supposedly they were superior to another race, the disappearance of Native cultures around the world, and so forth and son on. But I am saying that Christians are finding that a very small vocal group maligning the beliefs of Christians and if you are to be tolerant of other religious groups, you should also be tolerant of Christianity, even if you don't agree with it.
