http://www.relevantmagazine.

com/current/op-ed/its-ok-call-yourself-
christian
Eh, I agree with parts of it, namely the importance of spiritual or
religious community, and the selective portrayal of Christian eliefs in
popular media. !ll that eing said, she falls ack on some tired
stereotypes herself: namely that any solitary religious practice is
going to fall into spiritual consumerism or self-serving ideas, and that
denominational division "ustifies the mentality of the #not my church#
defense.
$ne of my ma"or prolems with %elements of& politically lieral
christianity is that there is this underlying assumption that the
general pulic is already literate with all the theological differences
etween the various churches and denominations out there, or that
the general pulic is somehow re'uired to know them, or even care
for that matter. I think Christianity has een an estalishment religion
in !merica for so long it has developed a it of a privileged mindset in
regards to how it gets #stereotyped#. Its may e my own oservation,
ut when a group feels impugned or stereotyped against the proper
course of action should e to advocate for oneself, not wait for the
critics to get with the program. (hat whole #i)m not apologizing for
another Church# line to me reeked of a complacent mindset of #I)m
not responsile for speaking to or addressing what others do in the
name of my religion#. (hat whole attitude is a lot of the reason why
!** christianity is getting the flack it is these days.
I suppose one could argue that y writing this article, she is
tangentially addressing the #e+tremist fringes# who are apparently the
cause for all this criticism, and since I have not read any of her other
articles or sermons, maye she is more proactive in her approach to
addressing the nutty things other Christian groups do. ,ithin the
scope of this article though, it seems to create a mindset of #us and
them# where what #they# do shouldn)t e her prolem-a view which I
don)t find constructive or realistic.
(o the #spiritual cafeteria# point, she doesn)t provide any evidence for
her assertion outside of a vague appeal to a #culture of narcissism#. It
seems to rest on the assumption that anyone trying to understand
.esus outside of Church is going to go from earnest seeker to victim
of their own confirmation ias in / seconds flat. E+cuse me for eing
skeptical, ut what does that say aout the great mystics and ascetics
of our faith and others0 !re we really going to rely on the assumption
that information culture has somehow caused everyone to ecome
self-interested spiritual automatons hopelessly lost without the
influence of Church0 !re we going to ignore the wealth of thoughtful
scholarship out there0 (o me this is pretty flimsy reasoning to deny
someone the legitimacy of their spiritual position.
I think this whole notion of a #spiritual cafeteria# is an elitist way of
claiming a %partial& monopoly on truth in an era where we are all
supposed to at least paying lip service to the ideas of religious
pluralism, and a way of discouraging the potential for religious
freethinking. Instead of condescending to and assuming individuals)
motivations for independent practice, why don)t we thoughtfully
engage with them and try and find a common ridge0 ,hy does
church need to cater to a specific group and honestly why do we care
what #they# call themselves0
I would much rather articles like this ask the hard 'uestions on what
other models of spiritual community are out there right now, and how
the church can or can)t relate to them, and more importantly whether
or not the church really can engage with communities and
independent people outside of its own congregations in a meaningful
way. Instead of getting on the defensive aout laels, maye we need
to stop resisting a changing and e+panding religious vocaulary. I
think instead of condescending to those on the outside, why not
strike up a meaningful conversation, and acknowledge them the right
of self-identification0 1ntil Christianity as a whole can do that, I think
we will e continually looked at as either crypto-elitist ivory tower
"erks, or raid ile-thumping igots y the rest of my generation.