History, Culture, Media, and Unfair Generalizations about the Effects of Christianity

The sad thing about Christianity is the amount of bad publicity it gets, and the really sad thing is that most of its bad publicity is due to Christians themselves. I know people who have been put off Christianity altogether simply because of the example (or lack thereof) of Christianity given to them by ‘Christians’ that they know.

The crusades for example. If ever there was a good idea, it was the crusades. What does the bible say about those that don’t believe in God? It says to be a witness to them, showing them how to live, and showing them the love that God has for them. And what better way to do that than by slaughtering them in their thousands!
(In case you didn’t pick up on it, I don’t actually think the crusades were a good idea. Just making sure you didn’t think I was serious there).

The real tragedy is that Christianity failed to learn anything from this. Look at other such instances, such as the Spanish Inquisition (no-one expects the Spanish Inquisition), Northern Ireland, and the Reformation. These ones are possibly even more tragic than the crusades, as they show Christians fighting and killing Christians!

And yet they fail to learn.

Forgive me for commenting on history when I probably have no right to, but I think the major problems that Christianity faced began when, in 324 AD, Emperor Constantine became the sole Roman Emperor, after becoming a nominal Christian and bringing an end to religious persecution. It may sound weird to think of the end of persecution as being a negative thing, but listen to this explanation:

…as Christianity went from being persecuted to being fashionable, a trend was begun that still poses a challenge to believers today: cultural Christianity…. To become a Christian was suddenly an easy decision; there was no longer heartrending dedication required - it was just a matter of being born into the right culture or hanging out with the right crowd. Christianity became an institution depending more on correct ritual, tradition, and memorization than heartfelt dedication to God. Christianity was melded with Roman culture to the point that they were indistinguishable, and the church lapsed from commitment to complacency. (Jesus Freaks Volume 2, by dc Talk, pages 229,230)

Christianity is not a matter of being born into the right culture, no matter what people may tell you. The problem happens when people think that it is. People can do evil things in the name of Christianity, without even fully understanding what Christianity is, and give Christianity a bad name.

Look at Islam. In most of the Islamic countries around the world, western culture is seen as Christian culture - the two are ‘indistinguishable.’ Then, when western tv programmes, which show increasingly lax morals, are broadcast into their nations, they come to believe that Christians themselves think and act that way. Because of the spiritual decay of our western nations, Muslims see Christianity as empty, superficial, and spiritually decayed as well.

And then there are the scandals that receive increasingly more media coverage, where priests, who have taken vows of chastity (I don’t believe these should be enforced so much, Paul talks about marrying to avoid giving into your lusts, and when priests are forced not to, then over time they give in. If you choose to take a vow of chastity, that’s different) have been found to be abusing children, etc. People look at those cases, and judge the entire idea of Christianity on them. The millions of true-believing priests, who are committed to God and have served him faithfully in the community, are seen as hypocrites and liars because of the few priests who weren’t so sincere and did the wrong thing. Its tragic.

People judge Christianity off the negatives, without stopping to look at the positives. Instead of looking into Christianity’s claims, and understanding what it teaches, and whether or not its true, they judge it before they even get the chance.

That’s just sad.

If you are not a Christian, I challenge you to find a committed Christian, and talk to them about what they believe and why.

Jesus works in the lives on individuals, so look to those individuals to see his works.