December 18, 2006
Curious George goes to Annapolis
As someone that used to believe the Bible was nothing more than a children’s book for people that needed simplistic lessons to fill their weak minds with. As someone that compared God to the man in the yellow hat and Jesus Christ to Curious George, I shouldn't be all that surprised when I hear the argument, "christians are primitive". Being a former atheist who has had countless discussions/arguments with theists informing them of their inability to think for themselves and their need for this ridiculous crutch called religion; I shouldn't be all that surprised to find myself now in conversations with those that believe what I once did.
My company Christmas party was in Annapolis this past weekend and my wife and I found ourselves sitting next to the husband of one my coworkers, we’ll call him George, engaged in this very discussion. I suppose the surprise had more to do with the holiday atmosphere and the irony of the setting being a Christmas party and all. Yet there we were, my wife mostly because she was sitting next to him and I was engaged in other ongoing conversations, discovering the intolerance of the tolerance preachers.
While the wine continued to flow it become more and more evident that Christianity was being equated with republican politics, which was pure evil in the eyes of Curious George. As I can see now looking back on my atheist past it was me that was curious, it was me that was searching for answers to questions that I could not understand. I was reminded of the beauty of grace and the need for all Christians to liberally dispense grace to this fallen world. Despite the attempts of Curious George to declare his intellectual superiority, he only succeeded it reflecting his own spiritual bankruptcy.
May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ descended upon his heart this holiday season, soften it and draw him into a love beyond any comprehension. May he soon begin to ask the questions that his heart longs to have answered and may I be better equipped with the patience and love of the Spirit if I find myself in conversation with him again.
It's interesting how God uses people we encounter to show us more about ourselves. It's also interesting how God uses our own experiences to allow us the privilege of understanding and loving others. Thanks for this perspective. I love the frame of relating atheism and curiosity...I hope you never lose that willingness to explore and that God will keep showing you new wonders every day!
Posted by: Kimberly at December 19, 2006 01:03 PMKimberly,
Thanks for your encouragement and the reminder of God's path towards our growth in the understanding of others.
Incidentily, I read this quote today, "Monotheistic religions that lay claim to the one and only possible truth are doomed by their very nature to end up in conflict. The only way out is to free ourselves from these ancient divisive creeds and thus extinguish their fires of righteousness" (Carolyn D. Lewis, Ocean View, Delaware, in a letter to the editors of Time, December 18, 2006).
http://reformation21.com/Reformation_21_Blog/Reformation_21_Blog/58/vobId__4832/
This was also part of Curious George's argument and his distaste for monotheism. From his perspective, there could only be a polytheistic view of god that was consistent with nature if there be gods at all.
I wish I had been a fly on the wall.
And I thank God for my experiences as a non-believer that help me, as a believer, not become so self-righteous or focused that I lose perspective. And how wonderful that George is curious and that you and Amy were seated next to him.
On another note, I think that non-believers most often cite the behaviors of specific Christians (the Republican right, the judgmental coworker, the Sunday School teacher who also sleeps around, etc.) as arguments against the Christian faith, forgetting that a very basic part of Christianity is that we're all sinners and that those of us who believe are not perfect but are forgiven. I know that when I was agnostic I focused on the judgmental nature of the Christians that I did know and the moral lines they arbitrarily drew in the sand. Now that is a reminder to me of how important my witness is, and how it's important to emphasize that I am completely sinful yet still loved and forgiven by our Father.
I'm rambling now, but that just means you wrote a good post that made me think a lot (when I should be working).
Posted by: Ally at December 19, 2006 05:06 PMNice post.
But is George all that curious?
Ally – My wife did most of the apologetic and was more involved in the conversation than I was, so she gets all the credit displaying love to someone that was being hostile (i.e. "discovering the intolerance of the tolerance preachers"). It was her witness to me that was part of my transformation and it was wonderful to see that she still has it ;-)
Now as for your association of judgmental Christians with the Republican right, let us not forget the sins of the Democrat left that are just as fruitless to a Christian witness.
Mark – Thanks and as for George’s curiosity I think it was more of a subconscious effort on his part that he doesn’t yet realize he is experiencing and perhaps never will. But the more conversations he has with faithful believers the better right??
Posted by: Jeff Price at December 20, 2006 12:13 PMJeff, you just can't resist getting in a comment against Democrats (and for Republicans) whenever possible, can you? I must say that your incredibly pro-right wing and anti-Democrat stance pushes me (and yes, this shows my immaturity) further left!
I wasn't associating the Republican right with judgmental Christians. My parenthetical was referring to George's comments that you noted(re: religion and Republican politics)and other commonly cited groups by non-believers who seek to discredit our faith by citing hypocrites or in short--sinful Christians. I'm a believer, and thus I wasn't saying that I associate the right with judgmental Christians...although now that you mention it....:)
Posted by: Ally at December 20, 2006 05:51 PMDon’t play coy with me Ally…like you need any reasons from me to take you further down that dark road to the left :-) Besides, try as you might to deny it, you know you were equating your parentheticals and it was just a nice convenience that I had made mention of the "evil right wing" in my post. Furthermore, I didn’t say anything against Dems & for Repubs in my comment, just that the sins of the left are just as evident and fruitless to a Christian witness as the sins of the right. Don’t cha think? ;-)
Posted by: Jeff Price at December 21, 2006 09:31 AM