False Assumptions - a series

False assumptions:

1. Christians are brainwashed and therefore tend not to be logical or open-minded


2. Feminists can't be Christians (or religious at all for that matter)


3. Liberal Christians have somehow abandoned their faith or are backsliding

The above assumptions are increasingly personal to me as both the Christians in my life as well as the liberals often have completely misguided understandings about each other and therefore about me. For the most part, I avoid discussing politics with many of my Christian friends (most of whom are more moderate-conservative) and likewise, I avoid discussing religion with my liberal friends (most of whom, but certainly not all, are agnostic/non-religious). Then there's me - a progressive Christian who actually loves discussing both of these topics late into the night (and certainly after a few glasses of wine) with just about anyone willing to engage in a thoughtful conversation with me about either of these topics. Although, it is rare that I discuss the intersection of these two issues with very many people, there are certainly exceptions to this. And to those of you who have engaged in these late-night musings about the intersection of progressive politics and faith, you know who you are and I love you dearly for it!

I've been playing around with these ideas for a long time now but I've been reluctant to openly talk much about them. In part because I fear I won't clearly articulate what it is I'm trying to say, but also because I fear what I have to say will be taken out of context and further perpetuate misunderstandings. And finally, I have no desire to piss off the liberals or the Christians or the liberal Christians in my life - I love you all! But I've become increasingly frustrated by misunderstandings from both sides and feel there are issues I should explicitly address. First, I should say that in part my frustration stems from the fact that neither side - Christians or liberals - actually want to have these conversations with me (or each other!); they'd rather make assumptions about my beliefs (and each other) and these assumptions are usually manifested in rather snarky remarks towards me (or each other). It should be evident to anyone who knows me that I will willingly discuss, explain, or debate either of these topics if you merely ask. I'm not however, going to shove my religion or my politics down your throats. But I do ask in return that you don't make assumptions about my beliefs or the seemingly mutual exclusivity of my faith and my politics.

With this explanation and pseudo-disclaimer out of the way, I'd like to tackle the three false assumptions presented at the beginning of this post one by one.

1. Christians are brainwashed and therefore tend not to be logical or open-minded.

I have to say that nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I attribute much of my critical-thinking skills to religion and my religious education. The Bible is a confusing, hard to dissect, open to interpretation, historically and culturally contextual, translated text. While I do believe it is the Holy Word of God, I also recognize it is open to multiple interpretations, as do the majority of Christians (there are obviously exceptions, but they are just that - the exceptions). Thus, I spent my entire childhood in a church and a Christian private school in which I was taught skills and given tools to help make sense of the Bible. I was taught to question intent, consider historical context, examine multiple interpretations, go back to the original Hebrew, Latin, and Greek to more fully understand translations, to consider geography and history in order to interpret cultural meanings and significance, to analyze and understand who the author of passages was and where they were in their lives when writing texts, etc. etc. etc.

As you can imagine, there were times that such a study of the Bible led to doubts and anxieties about my faith, but it is because of these doubts and anxieties that my faith is strong. My faith is not blindly accepted or built upon brainwashing - but quite the opposite. My faith is built upon a lifetime of questioning, doubt, experiences, and understandings that have led me to believe what I believe today. Do I have all the answers? Of course not. Are there issues I still don't know exactly how to make sense of? Absolutely. But do I doubt the foundation of my faith or Jesus? Most definitely not.

If you go back and look at the non-extensive list of skills I acquired via Bible studies and a Christian education, it should be rather obvious that these are many of the exact same skills I employ daily as a scholar. I must question causality, historical context, cultural indicators and effects, translations, multiple interpretations, numerous theories explaining the same phenomenon, etc. etc. etc. I would go so far as to say I am a good researcher and scholar not in spite of my religious upbringing but because of my religious upbringing. I acquired so many of my critical thinking skills and research approaches vis-à-vis Christianity and a religious education (at home, in school, in church, in Bible studies).

Now obviously not all Christians are critical or open-minded, but neither are all liberals, feminists, conservatives, Muslims, vegetarians, fill in the blank. Close-mindedness comes from a lack of understanding of one's own beliefs as well as a lack of understanding of someone else's perspectives. When we feel our own beliefs are threatened we often respond by shutting down dialog; unfortunately this happens far too often. However, I hope I've made it at least a little bit more clear that it is very possible and even likely, that Christians can be logical and open-minded about their faith and the world. We are taught a plethora of critical thinking and investigative skills, however, not everyone chooses to apply these skills to a context outside of Christianity. This is not the fault of Christianity, but rather the individual, and it is certainly not unique to Christianity, but is applicable to all people.

There's obviously so much I could say on the topic, but I'd rather be somewhat brief so as not to bore you. I'll tackle the next two assumptions in separate posts (I'm not a fan of super long entries).