My uncle's not a monkey

As debate rages in Kansas over how to teach evolution, I'm reminded of an article I saw in Maisonneuve about Christian science fair projects.
Unfortunately that article is not available online. Suffice it to say it was heavy on the Leviticus.

I recently had an argument with someone over whether open-minded Christians are in fact Christians. Obviously people can call themselves whatever they want. If someone wants to believe in dog-headed gods and call himself a Egyptoligan he is perfectly free to do so. But from what I know about Christianity and based on my own experiences, I have to stick with my assertion: the term Christian necessarily refers to a closed-minded individual. I don't mean that the person is bad or judgmental, although he may be both those things. I simply mean that on several vitally important issues, his mind is completely made up. If that were not the case, and he was still a Christian, then the term would have no useful meaning.

I remember a youth pastor refering to things he had read on bumper stickers. One of them was "A mind is like a parachute. It only works when it's open." He went on to say that while this was true, the parachute must close at least a little, or it wouldn't trap any air. I remember this same pastor once spent an entire hour debunking theories held by other religions about what happened to Jesus after the crucifixion. I doubt anyone in the audience had even once questioned this part of the Bible until he brought it up. For my part I found some of those other religions mighty persuasive.

One of my favourite aspects of Christianity is how it went from a religion of martyrs to oppressors and now seems to want to shift back over to martyrs again. Not a Sunday went by in the Church without some mention being given to the Christians around the world who were suffering under intolerant governments, and this without any apparent irony. Apparently there is no connection between a country suppressing Christianity and Christians suppressing pretty much everything.

posted by Thomas @ 14:59