geez louisa, this could be a long one. i could keep it simple and say that i'm a Christian, and a conservative, but that leaves so much room to be misunderstood.
first things first: i believe in G-d. not some scary big guy in the sky who wants to punish us all for being bad-- a G-d that loves me and created me for a purpose. One that loves you, too. no matter what kind of fuck up you think you are. i think the evidence that He's there is all around us, like music on the air. people wonder why the world is full of pain and suffering if there is really a G-d... i think it's my fault the world is crappy, not G-d's. it's your fault, too. we don't do right by eachother, we pass the buck on our obligation to love our neighbor. to love our enemies. to turn the other cheek. we see the poor or the suffering, and we turn away, and say there must be no G-d. if there is no G-d in this world, it's because we are not being a window to Him. i read a story about a guy who used to be a Christian, and is now an atheist, because of a picture he saw of a woman in a land having a drought. she was holding her dead child, and he thought, where is G-d, when all she needed was rain? i think the real question is where were WE? where was I? why was i not there, representing a G-d of grace to that woman?
something i'm sick and tired of is Christianity getting bashed all the time. if you listen to jon stewart or bill maher (who are very funny guys) you'd think that you have to be an idiot to believe in anything. they are very clever, and very condescending, and act as though it's been scientifcally proven that there is no G-d, and all believers are just un-educated, backwoods fanatics, clinging to our outdated superstitions and mythology. seriously? as if there were no intelligent people, no scientists, or doctors, or philosophers, who believe in G-d? we're not all racists, bigots, and members of the NRA. guess what! i'm not a racist! i don't hate gay people! i think the environment matters, and i don't drive a hummer. since when did mocking other people's beliefs become cool? and this loony idea that Christianity was invented to control people, a moral measure that we will always being struggling in futility to live up to, out of fear of being punished.... i have to wonder if these people actually know much about the Bible. the one major thing that distinguishes Christianity from other religions is the concept of grace. grace means unearned forgiveness. yeah, knowing there is a G-d makes us aware of our shortcomings. but He loves us, and forgives us. i don't attempt to live a good and moral life because i'm afraid of being sent to hell. i've been forgiven, and not because i earned it in any way. i don't get to be smug about it. people that are being smug are missing the point.
which leads us into politics. i'm a conservative. i relate most closely with the libertarian party. i think the government was never meant to solve our problems. it was meant to safeguard our freedom. i think that ayn rand was right when she said, "Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others." now, this doesn't mean i don't want to help people. i just don't think charity can ever be a mandatory thing funded by the tax system. i also thing the government is the wrong machine to distribute aid. non-profit organizations are more efficient, and get more aid directly to the people who need it. there are too many administrators, managers, and red-tape in the government. i also think that it's laziness to wait for the government to "fix" things. as i said above, if we started acting with true loving kindness to our neighbors, we wouldn't even need aid from the government. the more we expect help from the government, the more it will interfere in our lives. is it really constitutional that the government regulates what we can and can't consume? and i'm not just talking about our stupid "war on drugs," i'm talking about food. not just unhealthy food, either ( as if the government is qualified to decide what is healthy or unhealthy) but they regulate how we buy fresh foods, too. it is easier to buy over-processed pseudo-food products than it is to go to a farmer and buy milk and meat directly from him. read ron paul's book the revolution: a manifesto.
this may have ended up being a rant. but i find that it's harder and harder to defend the things i believe in without being misunderstood. pop-culture would call me a fanatic, or paranoid, or part of the "religious right." i don't think i fit into any of those boxes. i feel pretty rational... but hey, why listen to me? i'm just one of those crazy gun-toting, Christian-mythology-believing, poor-hating, homophobic, racist, un-educated, TEABAGGERS?!
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