The Blog I Never Use

[I started this post more than a year ago, but it just didn't seem complete, now I'm posting it because I want to deal with similar issues where Imus' stupidity is concerned]

What, if anything, offends you? This might surprise everyone but Trey: I am not offended by very many things. I have high personal standards, but other people have to decide for themselves what they are going to do and to believe. Don't get me wrong, I believe that we should stand up for what is right (for whenever we can be relatively sure is right) but how does my offense help?

I also believe that easily offended Christians are Christians who can't interact with non- Christians, and therefore limited in their sphere of influence. I think the worst bane to Christianity is the extreme behavior of fundamentalist Christians, triggered by their overly sensitive offence reflex

Beyond that, there aren't very many things that are so obviously wrong that I can expect other people to come to the same conclusions as I have. So, I'll disagree with people, I'll discuss people's behaviors with them, and I'll occasionally argue with people about how they choose to act, but I don't see any advantage in being offended. So, when I can help it, I don't get offended.

To quote the Apostle Paul: "⁹I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— ¹⁰not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. ¹¹But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat."

In other words, Christians should ignore even the biggest issues that they might have, at least when it comes to non- Christians (you might also note that the categories mentioned are habitual --people who are so involved in a behavior that they have become synonymous with that behavior . . . these are not just people who have been drunk but people the lives of whom embody drunkenness).

Recently (last year, now) I discovered an offensive book that I've really been enjoying. I could do without the offensive parts, but it's the kind of book I've been waiting for: an honest story of a relationship with Jesus by someone who isn't necessarily a Christian but understands Jesus pretty well.

The book is titled Lamb : The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. In an interview Moore said,

I handled the material in the funniest way I could conjure, while still maintaining the identity of the Jesus as laid down in the Gospels. As a vehicle for the humor I created Biff, an irreverent best friend of Jesus, and the narrator of the story. This sort of allowed me to goof on the whole story a lot without outright attacking someone’s faith. The book was under the radar for most of the religious community, but I’ve gotten letters from hundreds of Christians, a score of non-clergymen, and a Rabbi, and all really seemed to like the book, some even have said that it strengthened their faith, which probably had a lot more to do with their faith than my book, but it’s still positive. I’ve had one negative reaction. Last week a Fox News channel in St. Louis cancelled an interview at the last minute because they were afraid of the book. The only other negative reactions have been to my humor, not to the religious context. Some people thought that the humor was too adolescent. They, of course, are right. I was writing about adolescents.

While he did get one or two small details wrong, for the most part it is evident that Moore did his research. If you know what to look for, you can get a better picture of the ancient world from it than from most text books.

One last note: I was offended by one part of Lamb. Angered is more like it. Like any good student of Anthropology, I was taught to respect other cultures and religions, but in the case of religions that practice human sacrifice, especially the sacrifice of children, I'll make an exception. At one point in his book, Moore recounts some of the atrocities committed by Hindu believers in ancient India. When you read this section, you might just understand the real God's wrath. I couldn't help wishing that God would strike dead those who were responsible, if only in the book.

If you are offended by ANYTHING, you might not want to read this book, but if almost nothing has ever offended you, or if you like to be offended, give it a read.

Here are a few things to remember as a Christian reading this book:

1. This is fiction and the author wants you to see it as fiction.

2. Biff represents regular people, with all of the flaws and sinfulness of every person included in (some might say condensed into) his life. Think of it this way, how easy do you think it is for Jesus to see what we say and do? This book proposes that Jesus could walk alongside humanity without letting his holiness create an impermeable barrier. Biff's sexual fixation isn't something I wanted to read about, but it accurately represents the sexual overindulgence characteristic of our age (and the Roman, though not Jewish, culture of Jesus' time).

3. Biff is writing the story. Once you get to know him, you'll understand that Biff is the type of guy who makes up the dialogue of the past in his own idiom, swears and all, so be prepared.

Let me know how your book club goes :)

Comments

// posted by Unknown @ 8:31 PM