Question for liberal Christians--frankly I don't get it.

[MindPilot]

I'm not a believer, but I grew up in a religious household with Sunday school, church several times a week, parochial school and all that. There is very little I see in Christianity that is liberal; it is all about rules, guilt, punishment, war, submission to authority, converts, suffering (the more the better) and money, never enough money. Most of the Christians--most not all--that I run into in my day-to-day life are closer to GW than MLK.

So I ask, how do you reconcile that? And if you had to choose between liberalism and Christianity, which would it be?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. You've been exposed to the wrong kind of Christians

My social conscience was DEVELOPED in church, so I don't feel that it's necessary to make a choice, only to go to a different parish if the one I'm in goes all right-wing and rigid.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Because that's not what Christianity is. Or, more precisely,

not what it's supposed to be about, even though a lot of Christians erroneously think that's what it's about.

There is no need to choose between being liberal and being Christian.

I am liberal precisely because of my Christian beliefs.

There is nothing to reconcile.

Because that's not what Christianity is. Or, more precisely,

[RevCheesehead]

3. so are you Catholic, or Lutheran?

There is no one belief set or practice in Christianity. I would never label my experiences in one congregation as definitive of what Christians are, or how they act.

One of God's greatest gifts given to all of us is diversity. As long as we can see diversity as a blessing and gift, we can move towards love and acceptance.

I wonder about the "Christians" that you run into. How do you know they are? Do they tell you? That's more the style of the evangelicals and conservatives. Liberal Christians tend to be more focused on life, rather than religion - and works, rather than salvation. And most of us don't feel a need to tell other people how to live or what to believe. We trust that God has given us a brain and heart, and we should be guided by forgiveness and love.

[leftyladyfrommo]

5. My experience has been that my religion if very freeing.

[realisticphish]

4. That's not christianity

I don't have to reconcile anything. What other people do to pervert christianity is their own deal; I see Christ as what he says he was, a bringer of peace.

I don't need to choose between Christianity and liberalism. They are one and the same.

[elshiva]

6. Yes. Choosing between Christianity and liberalism would

be for me choosing between being a woman or being bisexual. They just go together for me.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

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[Midlodemocrat]

8. That is not Christianity.

Christianity is the embodiment and embracing of the teachings of Christ. Love one another, help the poor, comfort the sick.

The other stuff is from the OT, which was rendered outdated by the New Covenant which was the birth of Christ.

[supernova]

9. You don't

I am not responsible for the behavior, or lack thereof, of other adults. GW is responsible for his own actions, contrary to what he has heretofore been lead to believe.

And like the rest here, I am a liberal in large part because of, not in spite of, my spritual beliefs. So no, I have no reason to choose between the two. They go together in my mind.

You mention parochial school, so I assume you must be catholic. I bet if you had attended say, Quaker school, you would have a much different outlook on other xtians.

[GOPBasher]

10. Let me respond to your laundry list.

You said, "it is all about rules, guilt, punishment, war, submission to authority, converts, suffering (the more the better) and money, never enough money." Here's my two cents, for what it's worth.

Rules: The rules Jesus says to live by are the same exact things liberals stand for: be selfless; think more of others than yourself; turn the other cheek; do all you can for the "least of these"; give to Caesar (government) what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's, etc. He also makes it quite clear that not one of us is perfect, and we never will be, but we need to keep trying and be repentant when we fall short.

Guilt: Yes, we do need to be mindful that we're sinners, or should I say, inherently selfish, and we need to repent for that. But that doesn't mean destructive levels of guilt. Just enough to try to do better.

Punishment: Views are varying here. But as for me, I believe that there is punishment only for those too arrogant to ever be sorry for anything; those who think they're perfect and haven't any need to apologize for anything in their lives. Punishment is not for everyone who falls short of perfection, because that would be everyone. And I'm not an exclusivist Christian; I think people with any religious belief can be saved so long as they are repentant.

War: War? Nope, you have the wrong Christians here. I'm sorry that GWB calls himself a Christian, but that's not Christ's fault. Jesus blessed the peacemakers, not the war mongers.

Submission to authority : Well, submission to God, yes, but not to anyone on earth, especially those who claims to speak for God.

Converts: This one is way too complicated to discuss here. This would be at least one whole chapter in a book I'd write.

Suffering: This is also a very complicated one. Suffice to say that I, personally, believe that I should "suffer" living in a relatively small house by American standards so I have money left over to give to various charities that help the poor, house the homeless, etc. Is that really suffering? 90% of the people in the world would kill to live in the house that I'm in right now. Trust me, I'm not suffering. You should save your sympathy for those who really need it. :-)

Money: Well, we are supposed to give ten percent to our churches and/or charity, again, to help others. My church does an amazing job in our community helping the poor. I should give them even more than I do, honestly. I'm ashamed that I only give ten percent.