Collective Trauma: The Fallout 6

It is difficult living in a culture that doesn't accept what or who you are. I am writing here as a Christian. This, by the way, has absolutely nothing to do with homophobia or opposition to women's rights. I am in favour of same sex marriage and consider my values to be mostly compatible with feminism. I mean, rather, a culture that hates Christians and Christianity in general, not because we are opposed or not on certain values but because we live at very different and opposed wavelengths. This is very difficult to explain to non-Christians, who will simply write us off as contrary, difficult and judgemental. There is also a lot of slanderous nonsense out there about us that people swallow, because people don't tend to think very much, nor with any depth or nuance, and what makes things even worse is the way some Christians themselves irresponsibly promote and live out those same negative stereotypes. But there are some major differences that make co-existing difficult. I am thinking especially of how we view money, power, community, materialism and sexuality. In terms of money, we are warned in Scripture that the love of money is the root of all evil. That wealth, this world's goods are to be shared, and that really we are to leave behind money values for the greater values of the kingdom of God. This also makes us rather socialist in our economics, even if that "s's word flies in the face of our embarrassing fundamentalist-evangelical brethren who live south of the border and, unfortunately, here also in Canada. But the message of the Gospels, in terms of money, is very communitarian. It is all about sharing. This doesn't really fit very well in a culture where unbridled greed and capitalism seem to run everything. If we are poor, it isn't because we're lazy. I myself have worked hard all my life and I am still poor. Why? For lots of reasons, circumstances and doors being slammed in my face among them, but also because I was never lured by a huge paycheque into accepting work that ran against my ethics as a Christian. I could only find work in low paid home support and other positions of care and support for the vulnerable, and this way, despite the low pay, I was working and receiving income for performing duties that were completely in line with my Christian values of love, justice and mercy. In terms of power, I accept the validity of only one real power in the universe. That power is God, the maker and sustainer and inhabitant of all that is in the universe, the world and in our own human selves. The world that we live in is full of god wannabes and this is where things become a little problematic. While I will respect and accept secular law, I will accept it only insofar as it does not contradict the law of love which is to serve the God of the Universe. So, if my government says that Muslims are going to be banned from public life (which I don't think is likely to happen), and I am in a position where I can hire a Muslim, I will hire a Muslim. If our government decides that Latin American refugees have to be sent back to the US before they are kicked out of that country, I will harbour and protect a Latino refugee if I am able. And on it goes. In terms of community, the ethos of the day is towards a fragmenting individuality that excludes and shuts out others and glorifies the individual as its own little god. Completely contrary to everything that Christians value and hold dear. We hold that we are all in this together and that we need one another to rise up and to remain intact. This thinking does not bode well in a culture of narcissism where it's all about achieving your personal best and no one else matters but you. I especially see this out on the sidewalks with joggers, the way they hog space, show absolutely no respect or consideration for pedestrians and basically behave as though they own the pavement, and they get away with it because they embody the very narcissism that our society has come to deify. Materialism is all about worshipping things instead of God. Christians don't do that. We worship God, the very God whom you reject, not because he doesn't exist, but because you cannot live with the inconvenience of knowing that he exists and that he is also calling you. In terms of sexuality: well, pop culture seems to be turning everyone into sluts and pigs. I really got heat from a couple of individuals last week (it also jeopardized both friendships) for writing in a cavalier way about two very obnoxious Mexican girls sexually objectifying men, and I called them both on it in Spanish. I was accused of "slut-shaming", which is a very stupid and useless term but really charged and loaded with emotional baggage. As a Christian, I believe that people in general are really abusing themselves and one another sexually. The hook up culture is particularly insidious and it simply cheapens people as objects of personal gratification. Yet no one seems to think there is anything wrong with this. A few years ago in an Anglican parish with a huge gay contingent I caught heat for speaking against church involvement in the gay pride parade, not because I have issues about gay marriage. I fully support gay marriage. But the whole pride industry glorifies wholesale a kind of sexual licentiousness and promiscuity that is completely incompatible with Christian teaching and for this reason I don't think that we should be associated with this. Those people were completely incapable of seeing nuance, wrote me off as a dangerous homophobe, and to this day I am not welcome in that parish. Because no one seems to understand that sex itself is absolutely sacramental, not to be wasted on exploitation nor objectifying others, and solely for the health and wellbeing of long term and committed and loving relationships, whether between a man and a woman, between two women or between two men. I am still amazed that no one seems to get the distinction, and equally amazed that I am amazed about this. That's all for now, Gentle Reader. Thanks for reading. And, no comments, please.