Ok...so there are few things in this world that I hate more than talking Religion or Politics. By nature, I avoid conflict as much as possible. I don't like to stir the pot at all, but I need to get this one off my chest.
The other day, I posted about the movie Fireproof, starring Kirk Cameron and a bunch of other people, apparently who were all volunteers from a church. I had some opinions about the movie, but I was very, very careful to make very, very clear that my problems with the movie were all in the production side. I thought the acting was pretty bad (as you might expect with a volunteer cast), the writing was very, very weak (stereotypical black women who say little else than "mmmmm hmmmmm"), and that the movie felt a bit too preachy.
Not 30 minutes after the post went up, I got this comment:
undoubtly you didnt watch fireproof for the reason it was intended. my guesse is you are either single or divorced. if i am wrong about that then you are obviously not in a God supported relationship and there will come a time in your relationship that maybe you should have payed a little more attention to the true meaning of the movie.
Now, here is what gets my feathers all ruffled: If you go to any church in America (or the world, for that matter) that preaches the Bible, and speak with their pastor, you will hear nothing but the tenets of forgiveness, tolerance, acceptance, loving thy neighbor, etc. If you watch the congregation before, during, or after the service, you will see that all of the churchgoers really do a great job of showing these beliefs off. They love, and pray, and smile, and love, and pray, on and on, which is wonderful. But, a great many of these people, as soon as they leave the church, become what this commenter became. I don't know if it was petty jealousy because I didn't like a "Christian-themed movie", or if this person really thought that Fireproof was the Citizen Kane of Kirk Cameron movies, but sending comments like that one really doesn't do wonders for advancing the cause of Christianity.
My specific beef with this is not aimed at the commenter. People are entitled to feel how they feel. Moreso, my problem with the overall tone of the response is that this is the kind of thing I see from "Christians" all the time. People who go to church every Sunday, and tithe, and pray, and carry their Bible everywhere they go, yet somehow can't seem to find somewhere to get rid of all of this venom that builds up inside of them, so they attempt to take it out on those that they perceive to be less holy than them. The Bible is a complex book, and even most theologians would agree with that statement. The human race has waged wars over the interpretation of the words in the Bible, which is a whole other topic for another day. But, the basic ideas of the Bible are pretty simple. Act like a Christian, everywhere you go. Oddly enough, the phrase, "What Would Jesus Do?" is a pretty good rule to live by, yet it seems that a fair portion of people who claim to live by this sentiment are the first to knock you down a peg if they think that you aren't living by that standard.
My pastor at Church (Celebration Fellowship in Fort Worth, by the way) had a wonderful analogy for Christianity. Christianity is like salt. Take away the salt from a meal, and it tastes bland and lifeless and most people wouldn't think it tastes very good at all. Add a little dash of salt, and the meal tastes better, depending on your tastes. But when someone puts too much salt on your meal, it ruins a perfectly good meal. This pretty much hit the nail on the head for me with how Christians should act. Sprinkle a little salt here and there to season up someone's life, but don't crack them over the skull with how Christian you are. I don't need it, and I don't want it.
For this commenter to assume that because I thought the acting in Fireproof was not great that I am divorced is just the kind of hypocrisy that I have come to expect from a lot of "Christians". There are a lot of good ones out there, but there are just as many with the "holier than thou" attitude that I could frankly do without forever, thank you very much.
Very, very confusing movie, but it all makes sense in the end. I thought that they kept us in the dark for too long, then accelerated the story too fast to catch back up at the end. Not a bad movie, good premise, but I just found it too hard to be emotionally involved because they just wouldn't give any of the story up!
