Faith Under Attack?

So CNN has had this series on this week called "God's Warriors" that examined the more fundamentalist groups of each of the 3 major religions. I have them all TIVO'd to watch, but was just browsing some of the comments on CNN.com. The question posed, Is faith under attack? Here's some excerpts of the responses which anger me:

"I have faith that one day there will be a world where children are not told untruths. I have faith that one day the majority of people will realize you cannot talk people out of believing improvable and unreasonable things, when you approach them armed with your own improvable and unreasonable beliefs.

I have faith that one day people will realize that, just because religion MAY be a force for good, that it says nothing about whether there is any truth behind it. I have faith that one day the human race will not have faith in things for which there is no scientific evidence.

I have faith that one day the majority of people will realize that morality can and does exist, independent of religion."

"Religion, on the other hand, celebrates closed-mindedness and resistance to change--two behaviors the world does not need today."

"Religion is far too prevalent in American society (I'm an American, now living in Canada). I think that it has a great deal of influence on politics, and most of that influence is negative. There are too many things that intensify tribalism and division between peoples -- without religion we would have one less (major) thing to divide us. On the bright side, the world is less religious than it was a century ago, and I hope that a century from now religion will have become irrelevant; a quaint practice indulged in by a few odd people."

"We will have to learn to live together under a single faith that does not involve an unverifiable higher power such as a God. We should live together under the faith of the Human Species"

...Faith in the Human Species? Are you serious? I mean are you freaking serious? If there is anything what-so-ever that I have almost zero faith in, it is the human species. What have we done but take what was given to us and squander it. The earth, our bodies, our money, relationships, everything used for nothing but ourselves. And that's not the teaching of ANY of the 3 major world religions. Murder, rape, racism, genocide, these are human creations and not the will of God. Those who claim to be the most enlightened because they don't believe in a deity are in actuality some of the most close-minded people I have ever read or met. How is it more open minded and enlightened to say nothing exists outside the material world, despite the fact most of the fundamental questions of where we came from and how life started still cannot even nearly be answered by science. Faith in humans? Don't waste your time, get off your tower.

Faith is under attack, but its a much more subtle attack these days. You aren't burned at the stake, you're crucified in the classroom. You aren't beaten with stones, you're flogged by the intellectual elite for being small minded.

How about this line from a paper authored about the latest findings which suggest the human species branched off from apes far earlier than originally thought. Even those authors who are making this point say "We know nothing about how the human line actually emerged from apes." What? I thought this was all hard and fast. This is the core of what 99% of anti-theists hold to, and even those and the forefront are saying we don't really know (I'm specified anti-theists as those who not only do not believe in God, but they strongly campaign in opposition to God and religion, as those quoted above). Well at least they're being honest. Don't get me wrong, I could care less if evolution were proven to be actually true. Statisticians have long proven that it is statistically impossible for evolution to occur as suggested in the time frame suggested. All that means to me is that if it's true, its no accident.

I'm sick of humanism.

I'm sick of materialism.

I'm sick of existentialism.

I have a lot more I'd like to rant about this, like how science and evolution have actually become a religion, but as this is a group blog, I'd rather just other people chime in. Do you think faith is under attack? Do you think we do a good job of showing faith is worthwhile and relevant?

Cheers.

Oh My God

Oh my God, look around this place
Your fingers reach around the bone
You set the break and set the tone
Flights of grace, and future falls
In present pain All fools say,
"Oh my God"

Oh my God, Why are we so afraid?
We make it worse when we don't bleed
There is no cure for our disease
Turn a phrase, and rise again
Or fake your death and only tell your closest friend
Oh my God.

Oh my God, can I complain?
You take away my firm belief and graft my soul upon your grief
Weddings, boats and alibis
All drift away, and a mother cries

Liars and fools; sons and failures
Thieves will always say
Lost and found; ailing wanderers
Healers always say
Whores and angels; men with problems
Leavers always say
Broken hearted; separated
Orphans always say
War creators; racial haters
Preachers always say
Distant fathers; fallen warriors
Givers always say
Pilgrim saints; lonely widow
Users always say
Fearful mothers; watchful doubters
Saviors always say

Sometimes I cannot forgive
And these days, mercy cuts so deep
If the world was how it should be, maybe I could get some sleep
While I lay, I dream we're better,
Scales were gone and faces light
When we wake, we hate our brother
We still move to hurt each other
Sometimes I can close my eyes,
And all the fear that keeps me silent falls below my heavy breathing,
What makes me so badly bent?
We all have a chance to murder
We all feel the need for wonder
We still want to be reminded that the pain is worth the thunder
Sometimes when I lose my grip, I wonder what to make of heaven
All the times I thought to reach up
All the times I had to give
Babies underneath their beds
Hospitals that cannot treat all the wounds that money causes,
All the comforts of cathedrals
All the cries of thirsty children - this is our inheritance
All the rage of watching mothers - this is our greatest offense
Oh my God Oh my God Oh my God

What you'd expect...umm yeah

I decided to give a little more of my stuff from the past...this is the first slam poetry piece i did at the church...the one that made me uncomfortable and comfortable all at the same time lol.


WHAT YOU'D EXPECT

Who do you expect me to be?
Please dont believe the hype and the stereotype
Of a crazy nation lost at sea.

You expect me to walk out with a 40 raised high saluting my dead brothers,
Or to walk out smile grinnin teeth shining with pants down to here, which by the way is disgusting to my mother

Or I know, you expect me to walk out hip hop dancing to Missy Elliot or Ludacris
Or no I got it, singing Negro spirituals and gospels greatest hits
Or perhaps preaching and yelling and hootin and hollerin till I'm blue or rather still brown in the face
Or maybe you expect me to perform a step show with ease and choreographed grace

Oh wait I got it you expect me to walk out lickin my fingers from barbeque and chicken
Or even better yet red stained hands from the kool-aid I was just fixin
Oh no? Ok Ok, you expect collard greens in my right hand and pig feet in the other
With hot sauce and pork rinds in my pockets ready to share with others

Or no wait maybe you expect me to walk out limping from being shot so many times
Or maybe a necklace seriously BLINGIN filled with platinum and diamonds
Maybe youd expect a rap or two about shooting gangsta niggas
Or better yet a rap video where girls' butts seem to get bigger and bigger

Or maybe you dont EXPECT anything but THINK youre in the know
Like maybe you think Im scared to ski in water or on snow.
Or maybe that when my size and demeanor meet you in the middle of the night,
Youd be safer on the road by walking all the way on the other side.

I got it; you think that Ill steal from a store at the first chance I get.
Or even better you think your non black daughter would be a better steal for me to catch.
Or maybe that your family would be tainted by a darker hue.
Or what talk comes from things like that from the person in the pew in front of you.

Perhaps youre not as harsh as all that and you think so much better and extend more grace...
You think I should be dignified and poised with intelligence and respect like Sidney Portier
My Jack and Jill lifestyle with money and advanced education.
The top black jobs in corporate America according to the Black Enterprise April illustration

Or maybe you just expect me to sing from church all the way to Sony
Or better yet Ill be a comedian like your favorites, Chris Rock and Bernie

And maybe just maybe youre not any of that you expect NOTHING of me
And to tell you the truth my friend thats a better light for you to see

You expect me not to read well or speak well, but at fighting, Im amazing
Or maybe you expect schools filled with my color to have lower education
Or better yet maybe my color creates and makes a better team
We all know football or basketball wouldnt last without MY color scheme

Maybe a state filled with my kind is a poverty case to be helped
You give statistics on the news about how our city can no longer be helped
But have you lived there been there or even step foot inside county lines?
To see the beautiful picture awaiting you that isnt on Bourbon Street to find

Like the historic homes and kids jumping rope in double dutch unison
Or the ice cream man coming down the road selling fudge bombs for fifteen cents
You must have missed the pick up basketball games with local neighborhood kids
Or the musicians on the streets with washboards, accordions, banging on trash can lids

Every city has crime and people do time its just the way life rings.
Since when did a particular color or a single mother become a black thing?
Since when did people expect dark skin to commit crime and cause poverty?
And forget that Jesus had dark skin and died for YOU AND ME!

Im none of those and yet all of those let me see if I can explain
I suck at basketball, Im good at swimming and one day wonna jump out of a plane.
I love water skiing and plan on snow skiing the minute I get the chance
Im not a thug but Ill admit I CAN shake my booty and dance

I like Sidney Portier and Chris Rock too, but there jobs are not my fate
And to be real honest I love step teams, but at stepping Im not that great
I love God like you and try and follow him too, and my home church wasnt better than yours
We just did things different and loved our congregation just like I've found walking through these doors

Im here to learn from you and vice versa and I hope you can take something form this
I don't want a separate program for me and my people just for you, like Jesus, to understand how it really is
Ive grown up fine not poor at all with parents that are still together
Ive gone through bumps and trials and things and believe me there are issues I still have to weather

So Im not what youd expect at all Im definitely more than that.
Heck to be real honest I hate Snoop Dog but Im a fan of Basement Jax

Dont believe the hype and the stereotype of a crazy nation lost at sea.
Theres much more to know and more to grow and it starts with you and me
Because none of us in these walls that stand tall has God ever rejected
So none of us at all should have the gall because were not what youve expected

HeArt[er]Burn

To set the record straight, here's an article that sorta of addresses the issue we've brought up numerous times (though this article itself seems to be a bit like a dangling participle).

It only lists two divorces (and three marriages) as of 2006.06.09. So there may be one after that, but I've not found it on the 'net.

This was originally designed to be a post just for information, but what I read in the article tends to disturb me. Don't get me wrong, like we talked about tonight, I'm all for learning from mistakes, but do you get the feeling that's what's going on here?

None of us knows the heart, and I'm certainly not asking for judgement to be passed. Rather, I'm looking for conversation. Do you think the attitude is just or flippant? (Does he even mention either divorce in the book? Does he mention the premarital part of it?) What do you think about him (even after his second divorce) leading a women's conference? Specifically, it is mentioned that his marriage endured "twenty difficult years". That's certainly not how it was portrayed in the book. Did he give up too soon? Is what he said in the book only the action/decision part of it (meaning the actual desire never came as promised)? Should it change our view point of his text at all? Do you think there are things he promised, that we agreed with, that no longer seem/are true?

Again, I'm not looking for book bashing nor am I looking for Steve bashing. What should our approach to this be if it occurs in our lives or the lives of those we love? What's our role as the church with someone going through this or on the verge of going through this?

Light Up Ahead

Take this heart of darkness
I give it up
And all the emptiness
You fill it up
The times that I feel nothing
You bring enough
So I can live for something
You lift me up

And all these bad dreams
I wake up to the light
And when I can't see
I wake up to your eyes

Wake me up
There's a light up ahead

It gets so complicated
If you live enough
Turn in to what you hated
You're breaking up
The times I feel like nothing
You bring enough
So I can live for something
You lift me up!

And all these bad dreams
I wake up to the light
And when I can't see
I wake up to your eyes

Wake me up
There's a light up ahead


This is one of my favorite songs by Further Seems Forever, one of those bands who played some great spiritual rock to the masses. I heard it today and was struck by how much this song can be written about me sometimes and figured it might hit you guys the same way. I love it. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Here's the link if you care to have a listen

Cheers

Brothers in Arm

Brothers in arm
Brothers in harm
Brothers there to lean on

I jump quick to attack knowing they have my back
And step up to the plate with no single debate
of whether right or wrong

I lead the way with words I say trying to convey
my
pain
and confusion

A smile on my face during a tumultuous day
brings me back to my senses

Whether lack of sleep or sorrow so deep
They rescue me from delusion

We fight, we die, we live, we try
to serve
our
God

Tis not an easy task should you ever ask,
because being human leaves us with thoughts of treason

Treason of our brains and our actions and our chains,
which we at times pile on like rain
not thinking of the dangers of the flood

Each step we take and move we make
we grow stronger

Like a flying ace we endure and face
all the world of sin

Wing men from up above, blessed of the stuff
God
is made of.

Lord hear my praise till the end of days that I have Men to walk with.
Your comfort draws near as they pull up a chair to talk and commune.

My dull sword drawn ready
to sharpen
on
the swords
of these men.

Through the forest we ride like a rolling tide cutting our pride
like samurai
on
bamboo.

Our cynical nature
is crushed like a wafer
in the hands
of a giant.

Thank you my God for hearing my prayers
for wiping my tears
and calming my fears.

For it is you I rely
The almighty on high
as the leader of this rag tag group.

May we be fishers of men
and real community never end
In Christ's name
AMEN

The Downside to Community

As we (a home group under the leadership of Brent Bell), Hammer Delt, seek to establish community within the Village body, I have made a few observations that have saddened me. I'd like your feedback on the thoughts. Keep in mind that these observations have been made short term, and without the knowledge of things to come.

1) A few weeks ago, I was invited to join "The Cove", a gmail group put on by some of our peers at the church. I don't know how many people are on the mailing list, but I would guess around 150. Just to cut to the chase, the majority of the conversation going back and forth is either a) not glorifying to God, and b) arguing to no end about things that make little to no impact on anyone's walk with Christ (make no mistake, stubborness and pride have a major part in this). Some of the "rhetoric and Christianese" (copyright Shanks, 2007) that is passed back and forth makes my head hurt, and totally boggles the little understanding I have in God. But isn't that the point of it? To lean not on my own understanding and to just simply trust in God? So why is so much time wasted on trying to figure out things that can only be given peace through prayer and application?

2) It seems we (read: Josh) have picked up more bad habits from others than we have actually shared good habits. This is directly referring to the sarcasm bit. Just this past Friday night, I found myself dogging the Prez, even after he called me out on it in public!! It wasn't done in hate or malice. I definitely don't think that we have reached some magical level in our relationship where it makes it okay to say things like that, even in jest. Why did I suddenly start doing that, especially when I make it a point to call others out on it? Is it the speck/plank corrolation? Thoughts please.