From: Sam Norton (elizaphanian@kohath.wanadoo.co.uk)
Date: Tue Oct 26 2004 - 05:48:56 BST
Hi Marsha V,
> Now, there might be a higher Christian understanding of God, and you might
> hold that perspective. But a very large majority of the religious
> perspective presented by the public is naive, literal and silly. It seems
> to me, if there is a modern understanding of Christianity, the public has
> no clue.
>
> While I appreciate that your points are presented in terms of a
> philosophical argument, is your perspective in any way rooted in the
> beliefs of the Christian faithful.
To cut a very long story short, (i) the most common understanding of Christian belief in the US
derives from the Puritan and Reformed traditions - these are very much on the 'edge' of the historic
Christian tradition and, in several respects, can be clearly distinguished from the older strands
(eg Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, even Lutheranism); (ii) the most common public
manifestation of Christian belief in the US, so far as I can tell, serves the media's interest in
polarisation, and is therefore the more extreme side.
I would say, however, that it is wrong to judge a faith system by the worst examples of those who
claim to uphold it. I think it only fair to consider good examples as well (like MLK) albeit that it
may prove to be not worth following even in that event.
More widely, I think there are grave grounds for concern at trends in the US relating to the link up
between the Republican party and the fundamentalists, not least in how it ties in with the
ultra-orthodox wing in Israel, whereby the evangelicals want to support Israel's occupation of the
East (sic) bank 'to the River Euphrates' as a means of hastening the second coming of Jesus. I think
that's barking mad (and very unChristian) and I hope it remains on the fringes of the US polity. But
it may not, and I think that's something to be concerned about.
Sam
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