The Christian Paradox

Pharyngula posted yet a link to another brilliant piece on Christianity and politics published in the August issue of Harper's, but this time it's a revealing look at the general state of Christianity in general in the United States, and how it relates to the reality of Christianity as we know it in the United States (and, I'd argue, to a lesser degree in the good ol' Great White North as well).

Only 40 percent of Americans can name more than four of the Ten Commandments, and a scant half can cite any of the four authors of the Gospels. Twelve percent believe Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife. This failure to recall the specifics of our Christian heritage may be further evidence of our nation’s educational decline, but it probably doesn’t matter all that much in spiritual or political terms. Here is a statistic that does matter: Three quarters of Americans believe the Bible teaches that “God helps those who help themselves.” That is, three out of four Americans believe that this uber-American idea, a notion at the core of our current individualist politics and culture, which was in fact uttered by Ben Franklin, actually appears in Holy Scripture. The thing is, not only is Franklin’s wisdom not biblical; it’s counter-biblical. Few ideas could be further from the gospel message, with its radical summons to love of neighbor. On this essential matter, most Americans—most American Christians—are simply wrong, as if 75 percent of American scientists believed that Newton proved gravity causes apples to fly up.

Asking Christians what Christ taught isn’t a trick. When we say we are a Christian nation—and, overwhelmingly, we do—it means something. People who go to church absorb lessons there and make real decisions based on those lessons; increasingly, these lessons inform their politics. (One poll found that 11 percent of U.S. churchgoers were urged by their clergy to vote in a particular way in the 2004 election, up from 6 percent in 2000.) When George Bush says that Jesus Christ is his favorite philosopher, he may or may not be sincere, but he is reflecting the sincere beliefs of the vast majority of Americans.

Professor Myers' comments were spot on in this regard. Knowing the Bible like the back of your hand is definitely NOT a requirement for being a Christian. Memorizing the Ten Commandments is one thing; actually living them (whether you are conscious if that or not) is something else entirely. If you'll pardon the aside, on one list-serv I belonged to years and years ago, the moderator chastized my friends there for not citing scripture in their discussions. A few months later they were all too happy to gang up on me and subject me to constant verbal abuse due to my Catholic upbringing (and were trying to convince another one to stay, either to serve as their personal anti-Catholic punching bag, or to try to "convert" her to "real Christianity").

Anyway. The fact of the matter is that a lot of Christians just don't know their faith as well as they think they do. Oh, they go to church, boycott laviscious and demonic books like Harry Potter, and try to keep their kids from dating until they're 40, but at the end of the day, just how much do they really know about the teachings and philosophy of Christ? Would they actually want to know, or would they feel more comfortable believing that the Bible tells them that it's okay to be rich and greedy with no compassion or sympathy for those in need?

...Depending on which poll you look at and how the question is asked, somewhere around 85 percent of (Americans) call ourselves Christian. It is true that a smaller number of Americans—about 75 percent—claim they actually pray to God on a daily basis, and only 33 percent say they manage to get to church every week. Still, even if that 85 percent overstates actual practice, it clearly represents aspiration. In fact, there is nothing else that unites more than four fifths of America. Every other statistic one can cite about American behavior is essentially also a measure of the behavior of professed Christians. That’s what America is: a place saturated in Christian identity.

This is an interesting distinction. Is the United States a Christian country, or is it just a country that says that it is? If anything, the idea of America as a country defined by it's Christian identity is far more apt than America as a "Christian Nation". Again, you can say, think, or believe yourself to be Christian, but is that really the same as being one?

But is it Christian? This is not a matter of angels dancing on the heads of pins. Christ was pretty specific about what he had in mind for his followers. What if we chose some simple criterion—say, giving aid to the poorest people—as a reasonable proxy for Christian behavior? After all, in the days before his crucifixion, when Jesus summed up his message for his disciples, he said the way you could tell the righteous from the damned was by whether they’d fed the hungry, slaked the thirsty, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, and visited the prisoner. What would we find then?

Now, before I go on, this is Republican America we're talking about -- you know, George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Dick Cheny, etc. etc. etc. I don't need to tell you what the answer to that question is, now do I?

This Christian nation also tends to make personal, as opposed to political, choices that the Bible would seem to frown upon. Despite the Sixth Commandment, we are, of course, the most violent rich nation on earth, with a murder rate four or five times that of our European peers. We have prison populations greater by a factor of six or seven than other rich nations (which at least should give us plenty of opportunity for visiting the prisoners). Having been told to turn the other cheek, we’re the only Western democracy left that executes its citizens, mostly in those states where Christianity is theoretically strongest. Despite Jesus’ strong declarations against divorce, our marriages break up at a rate—just over half—that compares poorly with the European Union’s average of about four in ten. That average may be held down by the fact that Europeans marry less frequently, and by countries, like Italy, where divorce is difficult; still, compare our success with, say, that of the godless Dutch, whose divorce rate is just over 37 percent. Teenage pregnancy? We’re at the top of the charts. Personal self-discipline—like, say, keeping your weight under control? Buying on credit? Running government deficits? Do you need to ask?

(emphasis mine)

Huh? Gays and Lesbians destroying marriage in America, eh? Looks like you "Christians" are ruining it just fine on your own, guys.