"A voice is heard in Philadelphia, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her paychecks and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."
Although I detest what this woman said, I have somewhat mixed emotions about this kind of 'anti-Christian' behavior in general.
A personal aside that will hopefully illustrate what I mean …
I have a very small framed parchment/calligraphy copy of the twenty-third Psalm on the wall above my desk at my office. It was given to me many years ago by a friend forty years my senior who has probably had more positive influence on my life than any woman I have ever known. Her name was Naomi. She passed away in 1999, but in the years leading up to her death she used to agonize over the fact that the portion of my work that doesn't involve direct contact with the public I often choose to do in the wee hours of the morning when the building in which I work is empty. That way, I can work uninterrupted by people who, during the day, will often wander into my office to chat. (My over-protective friend had visions of me being accosted in the dark parking lot some night/early morning as I was leaving for home. :)
These days, as I am preparing to leave my office in the wee hours of the morning, I will often glance (warmly, and with some regret) at that little parchment, and reminisce about the anguish I used to cause my dear friend by working such late hours.
Back to my point (I appear to have wandered off a bit :) … that little piece of calligraphy is so small that anyone wandering into my office would need to lean well over my large desk in order to even read the small words that are contained within the frame. It should be obvious that it hangs there simply for my own reading and personal reflection. It is not on display. My office wall is also covered with many other, larger things, all of which make this little framed scripture appear relatively insignificant to all but me.
Only twice in all the years that it has hung there has anyone ever made a negative comment about it.
The most recent was this past summer, when a woman (a new resident of our township, having recently relocated here from Philadelphia) came in to transact some business. During our conversation, she had occasion to look at the small frame, and leaned forward to see what it read – after which, her comment was something like, 'I don’t believe that has a place in a government office. Do you know what separation of church and state means?'
I informed her that I knew probably as well as she does what that phrase means, but that it appears neither in the US Constitution nor in the constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. To which she replied something like, 'Perhaps your superiors understand the phrase better than you do.'
I informed her that, being an elected official, I answer only to the voters of our township and the law. I have no other 'superiors'.
Considering her attitude, and her unwillingness to back down, I fully expected that she would call someone she considered to be my 'superior', but I have had no feedback from anyone, so I am assuming that she either dropped the issue, or she contacted someone who supported my position, and who never said anything to me about her call (two of our three township supervisors attend my church and are members of my choir or adult Sunday school class, and I am certain that both of them would have diplomatically told her that her complaint was without foundation).
After she left my office, I remember sitting back and wondering exactly what in her life may have caused her to respond so negatively to what so many others who have walked in and out of that office over the years have never viewed as offensive. And I came away feeling that, depending on those life experiences, I might well understand her mindset.
Some 'Christians' leave a lot to be desired in their interactions with non-believers. I have met countless such 'Christians' myself, and, were I not immersed in a church in which the large majority of members bear no resemblance to the 'Christians' to whom I am referring, I, too, might well have a very negative opinion of Christianity.
Some 'Christians' use their religion as a didactic club with which to beat non-believers over the head. Some 'Christians' use their religion as a badge of honor with which to portray a sense of personal superiority over non-believers. Some 'Christians' use their religion as an excuse for bad behavior, because they believe they have connections that make them somehow more forgivable than their non-Christian counterparts. And some 'Christians' believe that there is no room in life for anything but the outward accoutrements of their religion.
And I am afraid that, for every Christian I know who recognizes that goodness, humility, and respect for others are a non-negotiable part of a Christian life, there is another 'Christian' who believes that arrogance, closed-mindedness, and intolerance of others' genuinely-held beliefs are effective tools with which to build a God-centered life.
The 'best' (by my own personal … and therefore fallible … definition) Christians I have ever known (Naomi being among that group) were people who rarely spoke of their religion, but who instead exemplified it every day, simply in the way they lived their lives … with courage, humility, goodness, kindness, and compassion. They made me say 'there is something different about that person.' And they made me want to know what it was.
I'm afraid that that kind of Christian is harmed by his counterparts whose good personal attributes may be overshadowed by a perceived 'calling to save the world' through strong and fearful words, and thoughtless and self-aggrandizing behaviors. When such behaviors are perpetrated under the name of 'Christianity,' it is no wonder so much of the world dislikes what 'Christianity' seems to represent.
After some reflection, I couldn't help but wonder whether the woman who responded so negatively to the twenty-third Psalm on my office wall might have reacted so negatively, not because she has been brainwashed by anti-Christian forces in politics, the media, and the entertainment industry, but because 'Christians' themselves, by their own words and actions, have succeeded in depicting their religion as something entirely worthy of her scorn.
Rachel Buchman's comments go way over the edge. But for every Rachel Buchman whose hatred is venomous and probably politically or ideologically motivated, there is probably another who bristles at the thought of dealing with 'Christians' simply because he or she has generally dealt with 'Christians' who themselves don't reflect the teachings of Christ.
~ joanie