riddle@im4u.UUCP (08/25/85)
I suppose I should mention in connection with this discussion on Witness for
Peace something I've learned recently. I was raised in a non- and even
anti-religious household and had many experiences dating from a very early
age with the more insensitive forms of religious proselytizing and bigotry
so common among certain Christian groups in this country. As a result I
developed a deep distaste for religion in general and Christianity in
particular, and became something of a bigot on the subject myself,
suspecting that most people who called themselves Christians were fools,
hypocrites or both.
My feelings on the matter have changed quite a bit in the past few years as
I've gotten involved with various aspects of the peace movement and have
come to know a number of people who view their peace work as an outgrowth of
their religious faith. On any peace and justice issue you can name -- the
nuclear arms race, South Africa, Central America, racial and sexual justice
here at home, and others -- a large part of the movement is made up of
people who are sincerely trying to *apply* the moral principles that I
thought Christians only talked about. I am also discovering that they have
always been here in this country, trying to wake up the conscience of their
fellow citizens: they worked for decent treatment of Indians in the colonial
period, for the end of slavery, for the rights of women and the poor, and at
least a few of them have opposed every war we've ever been in.
The more contact I have with this tradition, the more moved I am by it, and
it has pretty well turned my head around with regard to Christianity. Not
that their faith is rubbing off on me -- I am still as irreligious as I ever
was -- but at least I no longer take a profession of Christianity as a sign
of mental or moral weakness.
If this comes as a surprise to any of you and you'd like to know more about
the side of Christianity I'm talking about, a good place to begin is with
"Sojourners" magazine. To quote the blurb on the inside of the cover:
"Arising from a 50-member community in inner-city Washington, ... Sojourners
represents a growing number of Christians who are coming together in a
movement of faith and political conscience." Unlike political material put
out by the religious right, "Sojourners" doesn't prefer Biblical chapter and
verse to the facts or to sound reason. You should be able to find it at any
good newsstand, or you can write to: Sojourners, P.O. Box 29272, Washington,
DC 20017.
--- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
--- {ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech}!ut-sally!riddle riddle@ut-sally.UUCP
--- riddle@ut-sally.ARPA, riddle%zotz@ut-sally, riddle%im4u@ut-sally