{"id":17164,"date":"2018-03-20T21:56:44","date_gmt":"2018-03-21T04:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=17164"},"modified":"2018-03-20T21:56:44","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T04:56:44","slug":"the-pot-calling-the-kettle-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-pot-calling-the-kettle-black\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pot Calling the Kettle Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Although Ross Douthat presented some relevant information in his book, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics<\/em>, I was somewhat disgusted with his unprofessional and downright rude treatment of the people he was calling out as heretics. To me, his crass style of writing felt heretical and hypocritical. The author states that bad religion is \u201cthe slow-motion collapse of traditional Christianity and the rise of a variety of destructive pseudo-Christianities in its place.\u201d[1]<\/a> Obviously it is his book, and he gets to decide what is pseudo-Christianity to him, and there is a lot of truth to the fact that Christianity in America has collapsed in many ways, but the way he goes about it feels a little counterproductive. That being said, I did feel that his following statement was powerful and worth including:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as the United States remains a God-haunted country, secular as well as pious Americans will have a strong stake in the forms that American religion takes. Both doubters and believers have benefited from the role that institutional Christianity has traditionally played in our national life\u2014its communal role, as a driver of assimilation and a guarantor of social peace, and its prophetic role, as a curb against our national excesses and a constant reminder of our national ideals. Both doubters and believers stand to lose if religion in the age of heresy turns out to be complicit in our fragmented communities, our collapsing families, our political polarization, and our weakened social ties. Both doubters and believers will inevitably suffer from a religious culture that supplies more moral license than moral correction, more self-satisfaction than self-examination, more comfort than chastisement.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Maybe because he works for the liberal media and he is trying to use the shock value to prove his point, but mocking and disrespecting the people he is talking about did not feel very Christian at all. For instance, in setting up the section on Joel Osteen he describes him as follows: \u201cThe author himself gazes out from the front cover: his black hair is piled up and slick with gel; his hands are extended and touching at the fingertips; his smile is enormous, front teeth like piano keys or filed-down tusks. The book\u2019s title hovers like an angel above his left shoulder, promising Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential.\u201d[3]<\/a> Whether you love Joel or hate him, he still deserves to be treated with respect. In fact, I have had many clients who have strong faith backgrounds and others who have very little Christian understanding who have had life-changing experiences listening to Joel\u2019s messages and are grateful for his hopeful, positive words. I think we need to be careful to not throw someone completely in the heretic camp when they may be off on some things but still be making an impact for the Kingdom. He takes another jab at Joel when he states, \u201cAs much as any trend in contemporary belief, the success of this message suggests that modernity and religious faith cannot only coexist but actually reinforce each other\u2014so long as modernity means American capitalism, and religion means the Christian heresy that has made Joel Osteen famous, and also rich.\u201d[4]<\/a> He takes similar shots at Gilbert when he says, \u201cIf there is a representative religious pilgrim for our times, it\u2019s probably the blond, rangy magazine writer\u2013turned\u2013memoirist Elizabeth Gilbert.\u201d[5]<\/a> I don\u2019t agree with everything she says or how she went about making the radical change in her life, but once again, I believe she deserves respect. I guess Douthat is getting full use of his right to freedom of speech.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Enough about his unprofessional tone, I think his call to reevaluate modern Christianity is worth looking at. It is disheartening to me as well how far we have strayed as a church from the example of Jesus Christ. It seems we are far from loving the marginalized like He did or treating the ultra-religious as He did as well. Ironically, the word religion<\/em> actually comes from the Latin word religare<\/em>, which means \u201cto bind up\u201d.[6]<\/a> If we want to talk about bad religion, I think one of the worst things religion has done to people is cause them to be \u201cbound up\u201d by the controlling, legalistic doctrine that keeps people stuck in their four walls away from the people they are called to reach. It \u201cbinds up\u201d women so they are not able to lead in ways that God has gifted them to lead. It \u201cbinds up\u201d the LGBT community and does not give them a place at the ministry table in many places of worship. Religion and the church have ended up relegating (probably from the same Latin word religare<\/em>) many people to the sidelines because we can\u2019t figure out how to fellowship with them as Jesus did.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The author\u2019s \u201cfour potential touchstones for a recovery of Christianity\u201d are an interesting answer to the problem. They are: (1) \u201cPostmodern Opportunity<\/strong>: the possibility that the very trends that have seemingly undone institutional Christianity could ultimately renew it;\u201d[7]<\/a> (2) the \u201cBenedict Option<\/strong>: an extended period of withdrawal, consolidation, and purification;\u201d[8]<\/a> (3) the \u201cNext Christendom<\/strong>: the extraordinary growth of Christianity in Africa, Asia, and Latin America;\u201d[9]<\/a> and (4) \u201cDiminished Expectations<\/strong>: an age that\u2019s willing to reckon with the ways that bad theology and bad religion have helped bring us to our present pass.\u201d[10]<\/a> I do think we need to look at the trends and keep the good stuff and throw out the stuff that has brought the church down. I think purification and withdrawing to a quiet place of reflection are both Biblical ideas. I also believe the Christians in those other \u201cA\u201d countries are going to and are already putting us to shame. Taking a look at the damage done to the Christian church will hopefully shake us enough to make some positive changes around us. The last quote that helped give this book some redeeming qualities for me was: \u201cTo make any difference in our common life, Christianity must be lived\u2014not as a means to social cohesion or national renewal, but as an end unto itself. Anyone who seeks a more perfect union should begin by seeking the perfection of their own soul. Anyone who would save their country should first look to save themselves. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.\u201d[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_____________________________________<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [1] Ross Douthat, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics<\/em>, (Free Press. Kindle Edition), p. 3.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [2] Ibid., 15-16.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [3] Ibid., 182.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [4] Ibid., 184.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [5] Ibid., 211.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [6] https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=religion+definition&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS705US706&oq=religion&aqs=chrome.4.69i57j69i60l2j69i61j0l2.5351j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [7] Ross Douthat, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics<\/em>, (Free Press. Kindle Edition), p. 278.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [8] Ibid., 280.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [9] Ibid., 282.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [10] Ibid., 283.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [11] Ibid., 294.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although Ross Douthat presented some relevant information in his book, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, I was somewhat disgusted with his unprofessional and downright rude treatment of the people he was calling out as heretics. To me, his crass style of writing felt heretical and hypocritical. The author states that bad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,7],"class_list":["post-17164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-douthat","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17164"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17168,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17164\/revisions\/17168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}