A Christian That Hates Religion

Facebook brings people with common interests together from all over the world! So does blogging, and Blog Friends on Facebook combines the two!

I have a good friend who told me that there are only two things that I need to steer clear of on my blog!

These are religion, and politics!

Having written about politics on the weekend, I’ve decided that I may as well go for the double and write about religion as well!

On my Facebook profile, I call myself a ‘Christian who hates religion’, and today I fielded yet another question about that description!

I was asked exactly what that meant, and so I thought that I’d write about it here as well!

The Question:

What do you mean when you state: ‘Christian that hates religion’? You do not like the rituals and dogma of an organized church program? I’m curious, and enjoy looking a topics from different points of view. Please elaborate.

I answered at length, and then found this article about faith on Blog Friends!

Action Minus Faith Results In Confusion

Shelley writes about someone who is burdened by having to continuously ‘volunteer’ to do things in their local church.

Shelley had quite rightly pointed out that there were probably others who could take over the reins and help.

Often times when we take Shelley’s friend’s attitude, we prevent others from growing and giving, as well as wearing ourselves out!

A lot of people fall into the trap of working to be a christian and thus gain favour, when it is impossible to do so.

While a person’s occupation doesn’t define who they are, neither does what they do in a religious setting! It’s all about character.

I pondered these thoughts today while I repaired the damage that I’d caused to my lawn mower with my recent ‘Tim the Toolman Taylor’ trick!

When I returned, I found this post by another blog friend!

Quoting Another Writer, She Says:

‘To me, faith is about being called out of our safety zones (our places of wealth and comfort) and into the risk of living for the other, of identifying with those who have not, whether or not we’ve got our spiritual p’s and q’s lined up’.

Moving on down the post she talks about her son’s faith and his reactions to different situations, and hers as well.

As far as I can see, these two stories show a major difference between a works based religion, and a faith based life.

They answer the question far better than I did in my response to the email that I received.

The only thing that I would add is that the fact that I am a christian enables me to accept anyone for who they are.

This is regardless of their ‘religion’ or ‘faith’, or lack thereof! Some of my best friends do not believe what I believe, and that is fine!

Living life involves a series of choices.

Having lived a large part of my life as a ‘non’ christian, I chose to become a christian, and in doing so, respect the right of others to make their own choice!