Christians 101

Revolutionary Evangelicals

Last week my husband blogged on Huffington Post about Revolutionary Evangelicals. If I do say so myself, the post was good. He wrote about going to Joe Ehrmann's "Seasons of Life" tour last week. One of the most interesting aspects of his post, however, was the comment section. The take-away for Christians: we have a really bad name among progressives. The take-away for Progressives who stereotype Evangelicals: look a little harder at this large, diverse culture.

Some comments:

"The concept of Christians with actual Christian values, is exciting. Isn't it sad I feel the need to take this group with a grain of salt? What does that say of my experience with religion in this country, and what does it say for the history if religion in this country? About religion in general? Thank you for the post, it gives me hope there is somehting out there that isn't ferocious, but rather, Christlike in its approach."

"these ideas do not infect the many evangelicals i have known...would that it did...these are fine ideals but i fear this is a pretty isolated case of following the teachings of jesus. the evangelicals i have known do not walk the walk...they talk a hostile talk that manipulates its followers and is anathma to the teachings of jesus as told to us in the new testament."

"...In all seriousness, Christianity is very badly misunderstood because of this stereotype that you mentioned. There are many people who call themselves Christians who aren't. And there are many who are, but don't always act like it. And then there are others who act as true Christians, and yet their words and actions are misunderstood and distorted to create the stereotype you have held for so long. I have seen other messages like Ehrmann's, messages that call Christian men to follow the example of our Lord, and then read in the news media about how racist, and sexist the message was. It's a relief to see a "Northeastern Liberal" realize that there's more to Christianity than the stereotype."

"The problem with Christian "good works," laughingalltheway, is that they are performed for a reward in the afterlife. They, and your post, therefore come across as sanctimonious. And you are wrong about atheists, who tend to score higher on moral-development and humanitarian scales than religious people do."

And my favorite:

"Sounds good to me, more power to them! Interesting to note: most of the negative comments on this thread sound like some folks don't want Christians to act like liberals. Come on guys, give 'em a break. Do we have to go through the same tired old 'religion is bad' routine every time somebody uses the 'C' word? Condemn people when they do something bad, not when they try to do something good. Be liberal."

posted by Elizabeth @ 6:09 PM