Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Jesus junk and the American Christian

For a variety of reasons, I’ve been thinking lately about people’s perceptions of Christianity, and how Christians display their beliefs. I think it is pretty obvious why the general public (American, in particular) tends to have a low opinion of Christians (it’s pretty much the same reason why I have a low opinion of many Christians- see earlier blog ‘Confessions of a Weird, Christian, Homeschooling Mom’). These ruminations have caused me to examine my external life for outward displays of Christianity.

Between all seven of us Holdens, I think we own two Christian-y t-shirts (David has a skull & crossbones one that he really likes, and I have a dragon one.) We have a few t-shirts of bands that are comprised primarily of Christians, but that’s it in the clothing department.

We have no Christian-y bumper stickers (unless the Pink Nun counts?)

We have no Christian-y wall-plaques, Scriptures, sacred hearts, crucifixes, or calligraphic Christian-y sayings. Zip, nada, nothing.

We DO have a few newsletters from missionaries- one from a friend working to end child sex slavery, one from a nurse in Africa, and one from some hippie-types working with the bohemian crowd in New Orleans. We also have a picture of children we sponsor in India and Bolivia, with some scriptures attached.

We have some posters of Christian cartoons (they are actually really, really, funny- I wouldn’t hang them up, otherwise!) in the upstairs hall.

We also have a plethora of bibles. Seriously. In Stuart’s famous words, ‘we have so many bibles we can’t count them’. I don’t know why this is. Maybe we attract homeless bibles? They make their way here, slowly, painfully; abandoned by their owners, unread, unloved, and find in our home a quiet, peaceful haven where they aren’t read, either, but at least they are off the streets. This gives me hope that one day I’ll find the house where all my missing socks wander off to…

I must now ask why it is we refrain from the typical American display of our faith. There is always the possibility that I am afraid of the stereotypes, afraid of what people might think, afraid of putting myself in a category. But mostly I think it’s because (let’s face it) all that Christian-y stuff is just plain cheesy. Bad artwork, bad puns, shallow beliefs. Maybe I’m picking on people here, but honestly, most of that Jesus junk is just that- junk. Plus I have this sneaking suspicion that a lot of those ‘Christians’ who fill their house, cars, and wardrobes with their statements of faith are trying to make up for a lack of real faith in their hearts. I know, I know, very judgmental of me, hopefully I’m very wrong, but there it is- that’s what I suspect. So for the time being, our bible collection and our lives are going to be the only public displays of our Christianity.

1 comment:

Maggie Boyd said...

I've been thinking a lot about how people display their faith too. I DO have some scriptures posted beneath prints on my wall (I actually find the pictures attractive ;-) I don't have any Christian t-shirts but I think the only t-shirts I have say profound things like "CSI" (gift from husbands NY Trip) or worse, "It's Fun to be a fan" (with a Staten Island Yankees logo-- another gift from that trip). I stopped wearing that one when people in stores actually picked fights with me. Sure it's natural to hate the Yankees. I respect that. But I wasn't about to get beat up for a team I hated. I have stamps with scripture versus on the ledge of the kitchen window above my sink. Sometimes I even read them. And of course we have bibles laying around but I got rid of most of the extras and try to keep only the ones I read now.

But Christian-y t-shirts et al aren't the signs of peoples faith I have been looking for lately. I wonder how many of the people that stock up on that stuff act Christian? Help their neighbors, do something besides not commit adultery or murder.

Anywho, out of time and my thoughts are all jumbled but I wonder if our community should spend less and work a little harder at doing what we were told?