I’ve been asked: “Why do you dog Christians?” To which I say: “I don’t, I dog bad Christians. If the shoe fits....”
I was raised Christian. Well, we went to church every Easter and my grandfather bitched all year long about the dollar he gave the church and the Cadillac the preacher was driving. Still, we were Christians. And as my seeking spirit grew, I got on my knees, accepted Christ, and even started listening to Christian Rock for a few months back in 1982.
I really believed the stuff they were saying back in Sunday School. One night at church camp they say I woke up and was leaving the cabin in my coming-to-Jesus underwear.
“Where are you going?” asked the camp counselor.
“I’m going to see Jesus,” I said.
“He’s not out there, he's in your heart, go back to sleep,” said the counselor, and I guess I did because I woke up with no memory of the event.
I only walked in my sleep a few times, but that one time was the first time I got the “calling.” The “calling” to a spiritual life which has led to years of searching for spiritual answers. Christianity was a good start. Back then there were still Christians who made me want to be a Christian. Blue collar Christians I guess you would call them today. The kind of Christians who were above politics. The Christians who opposed war because Jesus said: “...whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:39-44)”
That about sums up my problem with today’s Christian church. I don't see any resemblance of those words in any of the Christians I run into down here in Texas. They say: "Donald Trump was sent from God." Really! Based on the words of Christ he definitely was not. Trump is the most sue-happy president we have ever had! Then they use “support the troops” as a war preparation tool, not even considering the possibility of "turning the other cheek" as Jesus COMMANDED@! Furthermore, they’ve never apologized for the killings they’ve done in Christ name; killings from the genocide of the Native Americans to the murder of innocent children in the Bush’s Iraqi War which their own leader, Donald Trump, says was "the worst single mistake in history."
The list goes on and until they repent for these things, I could not profess their faith. Fortunately, I found Matthew 5:39 in my Buddhist teachings from the Soka Gakkai. It is a Buddhist faith based on the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin. We chant for peace twice a day. During WWII, our members were arrested because they did not support the Japanese government’s Nationalist lies that led to the invasions of China and Pearl Harbor. To put it in today’s perspective, they stood up to the George Bush and Donald Trump lies of their time and paid the price.
~~ Eso Terry
In good news today...
I'll get back to you later.
ciao
