I love this show. It's done by the Super-Size Me guy, Morgan Spurlock. It's a great show where Morgan gets people to challenge their beliefs and prejiduces.
In one show Muslim and America. A white, christina guy from West Virginia goes to live with a Muslim family. During his 30 days he gets to know the Muslim faith and what the belive and stand for. He talks with Muslim religious leaders and befriends his host family.
The one that really sealed the deal for me, though, was the one I saw last night, Gay/Straight. In this one, a "God-fearing 24-year old conservative homophobe" from rural Michigan was sent to live in San Francisco's Castro district that is known as being one of the gayest areas of the country. While there he joined a gay sports team, worked a job which caters to gay clientele, attends gay-friendly church services, and has a gay roomate. Through all of this he sticks with his idea that being gay according to the Bible is wrong. That is until day 28. That's when he starts to realize that these people aren't just gay. They are daughters and sons, sisters and brothers, friends. They are the same as him.
It was great to see his change. It was frustrating to see him stick by these specific Bible passages even as he ignored specific other ones when it came to him. (killing is a sin, he's in the military and thinks it's okay to kill for your country, etc.)
Throughout the whole thing he was adament that he doesn't think gays should be allowed in the military. Then at the end he realizes that he wouldn't mind having his roomate in his unit. So that's his real turning point I think where he starts to realize that these people aren't evil, and they're not any different than you and me.
Oh, I just love it! I wish everyone had to really examine their views like this. It's alot harder to stick by your hurtful ideas when you're personally involved and you have to tell your friend or family that you don't think they deserve to be happy or have the same things in life as you. (Although I know a few people who don't have a problem with this, but hopefully they're the exception, crazy evangelical Christians, and not the rule)
4 comments:
I'm assuming you would be just as willing to examine your own beliefs as well. Remember open-mindedness is not equal to being liberal. To be open-minded only means that you are receptive to arguments or ideas, not that you agree with them. There are many open-minded Christians that will truly listen to beliefs that contradict their own (and, in the process, examine their own). But, ultimately, if those other beliefs go against the Bible then Christians are not closed-minded if they do not agree. Just something to think about. I understand that Christians are often hypocritical, but that doesn't mean they should just accept everything in an attempt to avoid being a hypocrite. It's best to stand up for one of ten beliefs then to ignore them all.
I certainly agree with examining my own beliefs. I do it everyday. I don't believe all Christians are hypocritical at all. I also don't think it's better to stand up for one of ten beliefs than ignore them all. I think that if you so strongly believe one thing simply because it's in the Bible, then that requires you to believe them all if they are in the Bible. All I ask is you practice what you preach.
I definately wouldn't believe what I do today if I hadn't questioned my beliefs. I was raised a conservative, Christian, Republican. I don't think that everyone has to come to the same conclusion I did. This was the path I chose based on my experiences, and I expect someone else to come to a different conclusion based on their experiences. All I ask is that your beliefs stand up to questioning, that you understand the consequences of your beliefs, and that you actually practice everything your belief says. (i.e., if you think homosexuality is wrong because it says so in the Bible, you believe absolutely everything that is in the Bible. You dont' get to pick and choose. You either take the Bible literally, or you don't. That's a whole different discussion, though.)
(I'm the anynonymous from above...) I completely agree with you that Christians should adhere to ALL of the Bible, not just the convenient passages. My point about the 1/10 beliefs vs. none was that I believe a Christian who denies all of the Bible is a bigger hypocrite than the one who adheres to 1 thing. I totally understand that you may not see it that way, but I just wanted to explain what I meant. Obviously, I'm a Christian. I strive everyday to learn more about my faith and to examine where in my life I am going against Christ and His teachings. I will be the first to admit that the American Church is not what it should be- for instance we judge much more frequently than we love. I know that many Christians focus on certain sins because they do not struggle with them (e.g. homosexuality). I've learned a lot this past year about grace, and I know that homosexuality is no larger a sin than when I gossip. Yet, it gets much more attention, and it's unfair- yes. Now that I am aware of such, I can (and do) work on my struggles (and by no means are they limited to only gossipping). However, realizing that I have a struggle doesn't mean that I should then accept other sins. It's like the saying, "two wrongs don't make a right." That being said, you will NEVER hear out of my mouth that homosexuals go to hell, etc or that I am perfect. I just wanted to explain myself a little more. I am sorry that you have had bad experiences with some Christians, and I'm sorry if I came off like one of the types you don't like. I read your other posts from today, and I was wondering if I could prove my faith without the Bible. It would be hard, because it's personal encounters with the living Christ that assure me of my faith. But, I have taken this awesome course called Alpha that examines the Christian faith (http://alpha.org/), and it was really neat. Their website isn't very informative, but if you're really interested it might be something to check into.
I haven't had bad experiences with most Christians (just the evangelical/babtist/bible beater ones), and you didn't come off as one that I don't like. I just get tired of people judging other people without judging themselves, and I deal with it everyday here at A&M. There's many people here who think they are such great, Christian people, and then they are just mean to other people, and to me, that's not what a good Christian is.
That being said, that's not the reason I strayed from religion. I strayed for several reasons (off the top of my head):
1) I just can't take the Bible literally. I can't ignore the history of it, who wrote it, when it was written, who translated it, etc. That's not to say that I don't think that the Bible is based on fact, or is mostly true. But, I just can't take it word-for-word literally. This doesn't necessarily negate religion for me, though, because many religions don't take it literally (Methodists dont' particularily).
2) Science. Again, this doesn't keep me from being able to practice religion, but it does keep me from practicing a religion that takes the Bible literally.
3) I just had a lot of questions that I never got satisfactory answers to. Also, I didn't feel like religion was giving me anything I wasn't giving myself. I strive to be a good person, and care for those less fortunate than me. I try to love people, and not judge. I don't do this because the Bible tells me so, I do it because that's me. Now many people would tell me that's selfish to think, but I don't know, free will, right?
Okay, this drug on too long. So I think I'll stop with that. Hopefully it made sense.
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