The Christian Paradox by Bill McKibben--Harpers...excellent

[Gloria]

http://harpers.org/



The Christian Paradox
How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong
Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005. What it means to be Christian in America. An excerpt. Originally from August 2005. By Bill McKibben.


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.

And therein is the paradox. America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior. That paradox—more important, perhaps, than the much touted ability of French women to stay thin on a diet of chocolate and cheese—illuminates the hollow at the core of our boastful, careening culture.

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[delete_bush]

1. the article verifies what I've always

thought, that most Christians know very little about their sacred texts, evidenced by only 50% being able to name one or more of the gospel authors.

Twelve percent of Americans believe Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife? How funny is that!

[EC]

2. Twelve percent believe Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife.

Exactly what I was going to say, is that for real?

[silverweb]

3. Okay.

So does this make us a nation of ignoramuses? Or a nation of incredible hypocrites? Or both?

[Ladyhawk]

4. You know, whenever I read an essay like this,

I want to show it to my hyper-religious mother, but then I realize it wouldn't do any good and would only serve to alienate her further. People like this don't get heard by those who need to hear it most. :(

[silverweb]

5. Exactly.

I send stuff like this to everyone BUT those who need it most.

The latter fall into two categories:

(1) Close relations, with whom I need to maintain communication;

(2) People who with whom there is longer is any communication.

:shrug: