How appropriate that I came across this comic today, considering that today’s topic is Morality.

I’m still reading Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller (reading is a catch-as-catch-can proposition with a baby in the house), and some of his comments really struck me. Not that I’m some Don-Miller-aphile or something, but really, he has such a great way of pointing out *obvious* things that I just hadn’t thought about before…but that once I read them, I slap my forehead and say, OH YEAH!

This whole so-called “culture-war” really both amuses and irritates me, especially by the selective nature of the battle cries of its warriors. Here’s a snippet:

[The way Christians treat morality] makes me wonder, and even judge (confession) the motives of somebody who wages a culture war about morality without confessing their own immorality while pointing to the Christ who saved them, the Christ who wishes to rescue everybody.

Morality, in this way, can be a circus act, giving a persona feeling of superiority. And while morality is good, anything we do to get other people to clap, or anything that gives us a more prominent position in a sinking ship, runs the risk of replacing a humble nature pointed at Christ, who is our Redeemer. The biblical idea of morality is behavior associated with our relationship with Jesus, not bait for pride. (emphasis mine)

And another:

Moral ideas presented in the New Testament, and even from the mouth of Christ, however, involve loving our neighbors, being one in the bond of peace, loving our enemies, taking care of our own business before we judge somebody else, forgiving the debts even as we have been forgiven, speaking in truth and love else we sound like clanging cymbals (turn on Fox News to hear what clanging cymbals sound like), and protecting the beauty of sex and marriage.

(Missing) Boundaries and the US, Boundaries and the Church

What strikes me the most about all of this talk of morality is how much emphasis is placed on making others do what we think they should do as opposed to looking inside ourselves. The two places this is most evident, IMO, is in our current administration (now she’s done it, she’s getting into politics…guess it was only a matter of time) and in the hardcore-rightwing-church.

Our government. After September 11, we had a justification for going to Afghanistan — we’d been attacked. Even then, we were attacked by elements within the country, not by the government of the country itself. Suppose that a cell of KKK members travel to South Africa and bomb a government building there? After all, the current government no longer works under Apartheid! Does that mean that South Africa would have the right to come invade the U.S. to rid us of the KKK?

Iraq is a whole ‘nother ballgame. In 1990, Iraq had invaded another country. That country requested our aid, and we delivered it. Healthy response…honoring a country’s sovereign boundaries. In 2003, Iraq had done *nothing* to us. Nothing. We made the supposition that they *might* do something to us and that they had the power to do so…and we attacked. Do unto others before they get a chance to do unto you. Is that really what Jesus taught? *shudder*

The Right-wing Powers that Be. Add this to the Government and see what we’ve got! Why is it that fundamental Christians seem to be so dead-set on telling others how to live their lives? It shames the Church really…gives it a bad name. I’d much rather see the Church focus on helping its own people to live the way Jesus taught them to…and to reach out with love to those who aren’t “part” of the church, instead of bashing them over the head with a Bible. Considering that Cloud & Townsend’s Boundaries has sold more than a million copies, there certainly is a culture of “let me tell you how to live.”

I’m losing steam, but there’s more to say on this, so I think I’ll wrap it up instead of forcing the post…more to come.