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March 12, 2007
Rank and File
by Nova Stubbs, insurgent49

Judge Not

     I don’t know many Christians and honestly, I rarely associate with the ones I do know. There is currently one practicing Christian at my workplace, and I consider her a friend. Why? Because, as with many of my friendships, I am able to discuss with her anything under the sun, including religion, without personal judgement.  We disagree on many things but we are always able to respect one another’s opinion.

    Outside of the workplace I run with the atheist/agnostic crowd and she, for the most part, runs with the Christian crowd. These are the paths that we have chosen, yet we don’t judge one another for our belief systems. She is a non-judgmental Christian.

     “Judge not lest ye be judged” Matthew 7:1 … isn’t this a value that is often overlooked by many Christians? I’d say so, and that is why I grow tiresome of the Christian “ethic” to begin with, because it often negates one of its most important values. But, my work pal doesn’t seem to cross over into this “sin,” even in the most heated of debates. I truly respect her for this.

    Last week I mentioned that she was the only Christian with whom I felt comfortable discussing religion. She looked at me and asked, with a puzzled look, “the only one?” I nodded yes, and could see a streak of disappointment pass across her face; she then turned to another co-worker sitting in the room and asked, “isn’t that sad?”
 
    The number of Americans who identify themselves as Christian has been on the decline for the past twenty years. More and more Americans consider themselves atheist and agnostic each year. Also on the rise are the Americans who may call themselves Christian but rarely, if ever, attend church or consider themselves “practicing”. Many Christians view this trend as a moral decline.

     I am unsure of how my Christian confidant truly feels about this trend. I do know, however, that she is fed up with how the media continues to portray Christians. After telling her about the film Jesus Camp, which I wrote about in last week's column, she noted that the media seems to always focus on the conservative right Christians (i.e. the wackos) more than the mainstream Christians.

     I understand her frustration, as there are many limp dick liberals out there who give us lefties a bad name as well (for instance, the liberals who tell everyone not to eat fish because “fish have feelings, too” make the rest of us look like a bunch of nutcases). 

     Both Christians and liberals, at this point in time, seem to be fighting uphill battles. Christians are rapidly losing momentum. According to the American Religious Identification Survey: in 1990, 86% identified themselves as Christians, but by the year 2001 that number was down to 77%. If this trend continues, non-religious Americans will be the majority by 2050.

     Liberals have been in the minority for years. We still have to fight for our place in society, as our voices are often mocked and our opinions cast aside, deemed un-American. Us liberals are not sitting comfortably either. The difference is that we are gaining momentum, while many Christians are losing it.
 
     As an agnostic liberal, I am supposed to be happy with the Christian decline. This is not the case. Christianity that crosses the line of church and state pisses me off. Christianity that indoctrinates children into believing that people who aren’t Christians are bad and will be damned to Hell in the hour of judgement also piss me off.

     Christians who aren’t judgmental and truly care about being kind to their fellow human beings, however, are just fine with me, as they add to the great diversity of our country and don’t cling to the “hate those who aren’t like you” mentality. And yes, Christians like that do exist.

     The liberals who hate Christians are just as bad as the Christians who judge non-believers. Don’t be a hater.


        

   
     

      Nova Stubbs is a freelance writer and activist, and is co-founder of Insurgent49. Nova resides in an undisclosed location in downtown Anchorage and may be contacted at nova@insurgent49.com.

     'Rank and File' appears on insurgent49.com every Monday.
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in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership.