A rebel with a cause or a Christian with no convictions?

Keep it a secret or show the world?

Religion is important to many people. Most individuals practice some kind of religion at one point in their lives. That or their lack of religion represents who they are/what they believe in. If that makes any sense.

Now even though religion is very important to almost everyone on the planet it is considered one of the topics you should avoid talking about here in the U.S. Politics and religion is something that one doesn’t talk about in front of polite company because it leads to hurt feelings and tears instead of interesting conversations and a healthy debate.

Which I think is a little special because politics and especially religion is what shapes us as people. Or maybe I use to think that. Perhaps it is better to just show what you believe and not label yourself one way or another. Because labels are scary.





I am a Christian.

Now if you say that online you immediately must go “But not one of those Christians”. Because if you don’t an entire livejournal community might eat you alive. Once you label yourself a Christian people automatically get an idea of what you are like in their heads. Which I can understand to a point. Yes we all hate generalizations which may or may not be true. This can lead to racism and bigoted behavior and a bunch of other isms. But sometimes they are true. Generalizations have to come from somewhere. And if you are going to call yourself a certain term you must feel a part of that group and connect with them on some of their principals and ideas.

That being said…sometimes being a part of a group means you need to explain how you are not a crazy member of that certain crowd. Thus the disclaimer that some of us Christians have to use so people don’t go off on us and think ill of our beliefs. Maybe us “less crazy Christians” need to use a new term to describe ourselves. I for one don’t want people to think my choice of religion makes me a bad person. That is the exact opposite of what most religions are supposed to represent in a person.

Maybe I am the crazy one, for not adhering to rules and standards that have been etched into most Christian’s minds for a long time. But I would like to think following the main principal of a religion still would make you a member of that group even if you didn’t believe/follow all the mini principals.

But everyone has a different idea of what a mini principal is and what a main issue is. And I think that is what separates the crazies/die hards from the live and let live Christians.

To me the main issue/point to Christianity is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior. A no brainer really. You accept Jesus into your heart and try to follow how he lived his life and do your best to be a “good” person.

Now where I think the fundamental (crazies) get it wrong as they don’t focus on how Christ lived his life. Loving people and trying to better their lives. They rather focus on rules that may or may not be the exact word of God and if they were….some of its original meaning has been lost in translation.

So no matter where I stand on other issues I will consider myself a Christian because I do accept Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. Others might (have) disagree with me but in the end you can’t tell me what I feel in my heart. Or argue that I am not a Christian when I am following the most important rule that there is.

So where do I stand on the other issues? All over the place would be the answer.

The most controversial (at least to every fundamental Christian) is gay marriage. Or gays in general. I think that some people are born straight and others are born gay. It’s hard to wrap my mind around the numbers otherwise. 10 percent of the population is “wrong”? Bleh. But in any event I am not seeing the massive sin people are committing if they are in a loving stable relationship and both people happen to have a penis. Or both have vaginas.

Now there is some massive hate from certain Christians when it comes to gays in general. But most of the HATE (or most recent hate) stems from gay marriage. Or the lack thereof. Again I don’t see the big deal in letting gays celebrate in the institution of marriage. And if I DID have a problem with gays in general I would fail to see how allowing them to marry each other affects my marriage. When straight people and their 50 percent divorce rate doesn’t affect my marriage I don’t think allowing gays the same right to be happy or miserable will either.

But fundamentals do not feel the same way. Gays are bad and are sinner and if they marry the entire world will explode. People will be allowed to marry goats or oranges or something. Truly scary stuff. It’s okay for straight people to do it in the bum but not two men. Trying to make headway with someone who feels this strongly about gay marriage/gays in general is very difficult. Also you get called awesome names and told you aren’t a real Christian for thinking that people deserve to live their lives in peace and not called awful names.

And really, if I was against gays I wouldn’t be against gay marriage because I firmly believe in separation of church and state. Again that will make fundamentals RAGE at you and mumble some gibberish about how America was founded on the back of Christian. History is hard ya’ll.

Moving on to a less clear issue for me is the whole God made the Earth in 7 days verses the Earth is really 56897 billion trillion years old. I think that is something a lot of Christians have to think about because it comes up frequently in conversation with those trying to disprove Christianity. Sometimes I think that the days weren’t really 7 24 hour days but huge amounts of time that God called days so he could better communicate with us humans. Before then the concept of keeping track of time hadn’t existed so who knows the truth.

But other times I think WOW God is so awesome and all powerful he really did create the world only 6000 years ago and our technology can only prove so much. Or maybe God made the world look a lot older for a reason. Or it could fall into my 7 days doesn’t equal a week theory. I’m not quite sure and that is where faith has to come in.

That is pretty much my stance on the issue of evolution as well. I don’t believe I came from a monkey because….I don’t want to be a monkey. I see myself a little higher on the food chain than that. And if we were from monkeys why are they still around and not something else? But I do believe that there is evolution on Earth. In other animals. Because that is how I roll. But I believe God made animals with the ability to adapt to their environment and change if need be. Just not with us humans. GO US.

On the issue of premarital sex…meh. I think this condition made more sense when kids were getting married at 13. It is a bit EW when only one of the people was 13 (see girl) and the other person was over 30 (see creepy old dude). But now in a day where people are putting off marriage later in life abstaining from sex well into your 20’s is almost impossible.

Going to church is important. I think being surrounded by like minded people can be a good environment and help establish a closer relationship with God/your certain religion. That being said..it also can be an environment where hatred can feed off each other and the real focus (which should be on God) is lost in church politics. As of right now I do not attend church. I have been hurt/shocked a few times in a house that is supposed to be God’s. In theory church is good and positive tool. In reality people are people.

I am pro choice. *a hush goes over in the crowd*. I really don’t know about where life starts and if it’s a baby verses a fetus. The important issue for me is a woman’s right to choose. All babies (even though I hate kids) should be wanted and pregnancy should be a joyous and puke filled event. It shouldn’t be a mistake or something one dreads. There are tons of unwanted children already in this world. Why add to the problem? But if a woman doesn’t want to put her body through that for whatever reason she shouldn’t have to. It shouldn’t be up to anyone else what she does with such an important part of her body/future.

Also if abortion is murder…then what do you call killing an abortion doctor?

These issues and many more are why my mother is often mad at me. And why we can’t have a normal conversation/debate about religion. Because she has in her mind what a Christian should be. That all Christians are the same and no one can form their own opinions and thoughts for themselves.

But I’m a Christian. Just not one of those Christians.


(Image may be fanart. I am not the artist. If you are contact me and credit will be given).