Note on "I'm Proud of Us Slackers"

I removed the link to the Christian School Journal blog with my comment because the CSJ links back to posts that mention it. So any concerned Christian educator can follow a link to my post "I'm Proud of Us Slackers". So much for my anonymity.

I wanted to be anonymous primarily because I don't want to get into any ideology wars with older evangelicals. It's enough to deal with my parents, and they're going to love me no matter what. Plus, my mom has mellowed out a lot when it comes to politics (gone are her days running the Muscogee County Republican headquarters). Both my parents take the time to listen to my arguments and give me credit for thinking through the issues. They understand that I voted for things I care about (the war, the environment, health care, education).

I have a relationship with them, one that transcends political opinion. I don't with the readers of the Christian School Journal blog -- we are only represented by words on a screen. It's hard to overcome "worldview differences" with internet comments. I think finding common ground must be done relationally. That is what I'm realizing about so many of the tough issues that divide us -- we can find where we agree, but we need relationships first. We need to love first. It's easy with my parents -- we love each other by default. It's a lot harder with older evangelicals I only know through a blog.

And honestly, as much as I enjoyed being that postmodern heathen from the Satan's playground (a.k.a. Austin) the novelty wore off, and I just don't want to argue anymore.

[I'd also like to link to a post I wrote a few months ago about postmodernism, worldview, and faith. It pretty much explains where I am with my faith, and may shed light on why I see no point in arguing with evangelicals. Also, today some of my fellow "wayward" postmodern church friends sent me a link to the Emergent Village feed site, and that has made me feel better.]

Sometimes Christians Scare Me

I nearly collapsed this morning when I read this NPR story about Falwell, Jr. canceling classes at Liberty on election day to encourage his 80% Republican student body to vote.

Then I read a terrible review of the "Christian" movie Fireproof in The Onion, and I was near to renouncing my faith.

But thankfully, I read Heather's latest blog post: When Heather P Sparks...: Hokey Christian Emails...Evangelicals are Strange

And then I found this bumper sticker mentioned in one of the user-comments on the NPR story:

Faith-Based... Politics?

Barack Obama and his campaign know he needs some percentage of the evangelical vote to win the general election. They also know that young people make up a huge portion of his constituency.

So it's no surprise that he was happy to have a conversation with Cameron Strang, founder of Relevant magazine, a hip, progressive media group aimed at hip, progressive, young Christians. He managed to land this interview weeks before John McCain, and I'd actually be surprised if McCain did talk to those kids. He's more after their parents, seeing as Relevant readers are only a small percentage of those oh-so-crucial evangelical voters.

Here's the link to the interview.

What was most interesting was Obama's ideas for Bush's Faith-based Initiatives Office. He's planning on renaming it the President's Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

I'm guessing Obama, or at least someone on his campaign, read David Kuo's book about being an insider in Bush's Faith-Based Initiatives Office. After reading it myself, I think his ideas sound like good improvements, but we'll see what happens if he's elected and how things look four years from now.

I don't doubt Obama's commitment to faith-based service, but politics are politics. I believed the lie of compassionate conservatism. Granted I was 17 and gullible and going along with my parents' views for the most part. Now, I've gotten pretty jaded about politics, but I'm not so cynical that I won't vote. I just hope money gets to the organizations and services that need it.

The Postmodern Christian: Not an oposition of terms

I don't usually blog about faith. It's sticky, especially at this time in my life when I've been questioning pretty much everything I believe and rejecting a lot of trappings of the evangelical subculture I was raised in.

I'm finally reading Brian McLaren's book A New Kind of Christian. It was published about eight years ago, and since 2001, it seems the emerging church has become fuller, more vibrant. Or maybe it's just come to my attention.

But I'm not going to get into the emerging church. Not today. This book is more about the paradigm shift from modernism to postmodernism. I spent half of my education (pre-college) in Christian schools and heard a lot about the importance of "a Christian worldview." I was warned of the dangerous relativism that was seeping into our society. I was told to be careful in college, that I might be tempted intellectually to leave my faith. I was told greater culture was dangerous and our sequestered Christian subculture was safer and better.

Then I went to Berry, where the secular and evangelical worlds collide in odd ways. I wasn't tempted intellectually, but I came to realize after four years of a solid yet secular education that I am postmodern. I can't help it. Despite my upbringing, I am ingrained in my culture and have a postmodern point-of-view. Or worldview. Take your pick of vocabulary.

So the past three years have been a battle over the question, "How do I reconcile my postmodern worldview to my faith?" This has led to a lot of doubt, frustration, anger, and resentment. I'm not out of this yet. There's a lot I'm still figuring out, but I know now that I'm not going to pretend I have a nice, neat list of answers. I'm struggling, wrestling, and finally, I'm trying earnestly to seek the truth.

Interestingly, the name of my church is Vox Veniae, which means Voice of Truth in Latin. The truth may not come in a systematic theology. That worked for the modernist church, but I'm beyond that. I don't want a system. We're deconstructing right now, but still trying to maintain something holistic, spiritual, and beautiful. And there's truth in it. I have a sense deep inside of me that despite my rejection of what I considered to be Christian and therefore true, I'm finding the real truth. It hasn't come through Bible study. It hasn't come through mission work. It hasn't come through traditional worship. Yet, it is more true and natural and right than anything I had been told in my Christian schools or Bible camps.

McLaren's book tells the story of a burnt-out pastor's search for the truth and his reconciliation with his faith - all within the context or a paradigm shift to postmodernism This is not something to fear. Evangelicals are afraid of the emerging church and postmodernism because of the deconstruction of everything they know and believe. But God is bigger, so much bigger. And he/she is moving in the midst of this transition and I want to be a part of that movement.