Christianity Can Do Better

 [Originally written Feb. 24, 2021: added words in late May, 2021, in blue]

Two billion citizens of the planet count themselves as Christian in the year 2015.

That's probably on the short side of a total of 7 billion or so at present.

 

[Started, dated from 5 November 2015]

 

I think I published all the old ones from 2014, the first year of this blog. 

This was at the end of 2015, when I first mentioned the world's Christians in this post I began, wishing to delve into the make up of modern Christendom; when the Arab Spring of 2011 had already winterized; and now (February 2021) it has been almost six more literal winters since. Time to reflect on the state of the world and the topic at hand, the Christians who makes up Christianity.

 

I do not do this to favor it or them, per se, but definitely not to slight the Muslims or the Jews or the Hindus or the agnostics or atheists. Or Buddhists or anyone else, secular or ecumenical. 

Christianity, broadly and loosely, is the biggest belief system in the world, albeit variegated and multi-faceted, very complex. 

We humans are a complex lot; the more of us, the more complicated.

 

So, speaking of human beings, back to us (yes, I am one) Christians, we need to do better as believers and followers of Christ, as I began with my title some five plus years ago. There are over two billion Christians in the world, but we do not help ourselves or each other enough. And this does not have to be at the expense of the non-Christians, but ideally we would help one another, as Christ commands, and the Neighbor, i.e., the "Other". The fallen brother and sister, the pagan, the homeless of all types, the Muslim, the Jew and the Hindu, and on and on, to the poor agnostics and atheists and the "nones" of the world. (Those who profess no allegiance to any organized faith, but many of whom claim "to be spiritual".)

 

Threats Towards Christians

    In 2021, as there has been for untold centuries, as was some five, ten, and 50 years ago, there are problems that threaten the existence and welfare of Christian people and their compatriot or sympathetic neighbors, because of their identity and practice of their beliefs and the difference of them and their co-constituents and co-citizens, like in Lebanon, or Iraq, Indonesia or Nigeria,

Threats By Christians

Many Christian peoples threaten others, including themselves. A gross example of this is in Northern Ireland, where the Green Catholics and the Orange Protestants have warred one with another, some tempers flaring up more recently in the new decade of pandemic time, 2021.

Many Christian conflicts and violence are not done in the name of faith or Christian objectives or aspirations. Rather, the people committing the violence or atrocities happen to be Christian, either devotedly or nominally, and things get messy as far as the interpretations of how "religious" the affairs actually are.

I blame power, politics, and money (resources) as the more likely candidates for the root causes of the most strife and violence, although in the history of religions and human kind there is ample evidence of religious differences causing a lot of militant actions and pain, torture, mayhem...

But the two billion of us (who count as Christians) ought to be able to pool and share our efforts and resources better, for the betterment of not only us but the other six or so billion inhabitants of all religious sects and creeds and belief-system persuasions, not fight, not scrap for land and water and oil. Etcetera.

So, that is my proclamation for the time being: Israel and Palestine need to figure out how to share, how to get along, cooperate, work for the betterment of all sides.

Christians live in the Holy Land as well, and they do not have enough leverage, in my opinion.

Hey Christian world of Catholics, Lutherans, Orthodox, Methodists, Baptists, Latter-Day Saints: let us do better.

We can and should get along with all: atheists, Communists, socialists, Muslims, Jewish, Buddhists, Hindus, even the anarchists have a place at the table of peace and prosperity.