The Stickiness of Religion on Bumpers

I don't like to think on Monday's as it is. I don't like to adult on Mondays. I do not like Mondays with some ham, I do not like Mondays with guys named Sam.

 

(Oh dear cripes. Please go have some more coffee, Dr. Seuss.)

 

I'm just getting started. See, here's the thing. I saw a bumper sticker this morning on my drive downtown, and it got me thinking. Like, deep, philosophical stuff. Who needs that on a Monday morning?

 

(Not you, apparently….)

 

Right?? But yet, here we are. So, I'm thinking, which means you get words. Lots of 'em.

 

(*sigh* Let me get my coffee, then.)

 

There I was driving on the expressway, and the car in front of me, going ever so slowly in the passing lane, has a bumper sticker that says "No Jesus, No Peace." My first thought was how I could write an entire blog post about how drivers that display religious bumper stickers are, in my general experience, stereotypically poor drivers. BUT, I started thinking about the message on the sticker:

 

No Jesus, No Peace.  

 

Now, being of Catholic faith, I understand the notion this driver was trying to convey. We Catholics, and Christians in general, are taught from a very early age about God's grace and love in the name of Jesus Christ. But… BUT.

 

BUT.

 

Let's stop and think about this for a second. If we do, and it saddens me to admit this, we must come to the conclusion that the phrase comprised of those four words simply doesn't ring true. Not in the slightest.

 

One need only have a tenuous grasp on world history to understand just how much violence and discord existed, and currently exists, in this world because of religious fundamentalism, and Christianity in particular. The Crusades are the obvious example, but even today those that invoke the name of Jesus Christ and claim to act in His name create violence, disparity, and dissonance.

 

Look no further than our own government. Christian fundamentalists have continued, and will continue, I'm afraid, to attempt to govern on the basis of religious idealism and, in some cases, fanaticism. Our constitution specifically prohibits legislation based on religious ideology, yet our legislators continually attempt to, and shamefully sometimes succeed, in governing on the basis of the Christian faith.

 

All this despite Constitutional protections. All this despite the fact that there are millions of Americans that do not share the Christian faith.

 

Collectively we condemn religious fanaticism world-wide, but in what category do you think attempting to govern who can marry whom falls? Who are we to dictate who may marry another on the basis and favoritism of one faith over another?

 

This is just one example, and the current governmental administration is rife with other examples of action in the name of religious fundamentalism doing just the opposite of what the bumper sticker professes:

 

With Jesus, No Peace?  

 

Peace does not simply mean the absence of violence. Merriam Webster defines peace in several ways: a state of tranquility or quiet; freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions; harmony in personal relationships; a state or period of mutual concord between governments.

 

I highlight "freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts" because, in my example of legislation on the basis of religious belief, our elected officials are engaging in behavior that is the antithesis of peace – they are utilizing oppressive thought to curtail equal rights.

 

The age old question remains: What would Jesus do?

 

Many claim that they know and will point to specific scripture to answer the query. Yet how contradicting and conflicting is Christian scripture? And how accurate?

 

Christianity looks to scripture written hundreds or thousands of years ago – oral histories translated thousands of times over. Stories told by those born decades or more after the events of which they speak. Bibles have been written and rewritten by kings and others to suit their preferred and desired interpretation of scripture.

 

I firmly believe that there is a difference between faith and belief. The Bible talks of a man surviving for three days in the belly of a whale. Do you really believe that? Do you really believe that one man could construct a sailing vessel capable of carrying two of every creature on earth? Do you really believe that water can be converted to wine?

 

These aren't truths. These are parables. Turning again to the dictionary: short, fictitious stories meant to illustrate a moral attitude or religious principal.

 

Short. Fictitious. Stories.

 

I have questioned both my belief and my faith, yet I have both. It is  in which I choose to belief, and in which I choose to have faith, that is important to me. I believe in God. I have faith in God.

 

I do not believe that my God would want us to legislate discriminately. I do not believe that my God would want us to harm one another in His name. And I do not believe that invoking the name of Christ will create peace.

 

I do believe, however, that if we Christians act like we're told Jesus did, loving all, caring for all, then perhaps we can help effectuate peace. I have faith that there are those who will and can do just that. I myself try, but I falter, as do many if not every single one of us.  

 

But the presence or absence of Jesus Christ is not the end all, be all of peace, and I don't think we should pretend that it is. I know some pretty darn peaceful agnostics. I know Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and even a Buddhist or two – all peaceful.

 

With no Jesus.

 

I don't pretend to know the answer to what creates peace, but I have some ideas. Understanding. Acceptance. Learning. Critical thinking. Discipline. Compassion. Empathy.

 

Believe in these notions. Have faith in these ideals. But don't profess to say that the basis of one religion, or the absence thereof, will create or destroy peace. History tells us otherwise. History counts lives taken it the name of the Christian God in the billions. That is not peace.

 

No Understanding, No Peace.

 

No Acceptance, No Peace.

 

No Compassion, No Peace.

 

No Jesus?

 

I'm not so sure about that.

 

Something to think about on a Monday.

 

 

 

© 2017 J.J. Goodman. All rights reserved.