Why I (Am) Like Conservatives

I apologize for my infrequent posting of late. You know how it is - midterms, Olympics, laziness... My primary excuse is that I've been busy setting up my new printwear business. By which I mean fooling around with photoshop. Anyway, you can see the fruits of my labours (and those of my associate, Moses) at wererevolting.com. If you're looking to buy awesome stuff, we can hook you up. But to blogging.

The other day I had the opportunity to hear a good preacher at a College & Career conference. I've heard the man before, and I have a fair bit of respect for him. He's pretty old, quite interesting, and as conservative as all get out. We don't see eye to eye ("What are you doing these days?" "I'm studying philosophy." "Oh no.") but he's a straight shooter, and I like that. The thing about him is he's really into the Bible - he preaches as if every word in that book was hand-picked and assembled by God himself, and oozes meaning. The Bible is God's message to him, and what it says, he believes.

In one of the sessions he led (of which there were many) he mentioned that Christians ought to be more active in fighting the moral decay of our society. Being the left-leaning, tolerant, wanna-be-feminist, philosophistic college-boy that I am, I'm not convinced that our society's morals are declining, and I asked him afterwards to explain what he meant. This lead to a discussion of the "homosexual war" which he feels Christians have "lost much to easily".

The Preacher, through his study of scripture, has come to believe that homosexuality is an abomination in the sight of God, and that nations which condone it are doomed to God's wrath, as were Sodom and Gomorrah. He believes that homosexual attraction is a punishment for great personal sins, that the "homosexual lifestyle" (i.e. promiscuity) is nearly universal among people with this perversion, and that it signifies an abandonment to wickedness so drastic that most people who fall into it (and most nations that permits it) are beyond repentance and will soon suffer God's wrath.

I must interject at this point and say that while I personally believe that homosexuality (not to be confused with promiscuity) is not sinful, I have no quarrel with those who disagree. I understand why many Christians believe homosexuality is wrong, based on its apparent condemnation in the Bible, and so long as they treat gays with as much respect and love as they would any other "sinners", I can respect their beliefs.

But to say that homosexuality is the worst of all sins, a nation-dooming abomination, the manifestation of the most extreme wickedness and unrepentance, is something else entirely. In my head I have a pretty good tirade for people who think this way, the main point being that you'd better really get to know the person you're condemning before you tell him he's the pinnacle of depravity.

Of course, this cuts both ways. I think I could give a good "Woe to you, Pharisees"-style speech, but you don't talk that way to a grey-haired men of God whom you've come to respect. I made my views known to him in a more humble tone, and as it turns out, the preacher does know a few homosexuals, and their lifestyles do little to cast doubt on his beliefs. I didn't have much to say in reply, except that the homosexuals I've encountered have generally been gentle, moral, and respectful of family values.

As the conversation progressed he mentioned another group of which he holds a rather dim view: philosophers. He readily admits to knowing very little about philosophy itself, but he's not been impressed with the philosophers he's met. Each seemed to him to be trying hard to cover over their (presumed) conviction of the existence of God and the truth of the Bible with empty arguments and academic pride.

These and numerous other human interactions have confirmed his conviction that God's moral law and the truth of Scripture is evident to everyone (Romans 1 kind of stuff), and that anyone who lives sinfully or rejects Christianity does so out of wicked motives. I was surprised to hear this. I told him I know a good number of non-Christians whom I believe to be living the best they can and honestly seeking truth. People who reject Christianity or Christian morals, from my perspective, tend to do so for good reasons, not out of a desire to ignore the laws of God. He listened respectfully as I explained my experiences, seeming neither troubled nor dismissive. When I was done he simply said his experiences had been the exact opposite. And he told me a story about his sister, who once took a philosophy class. Her professor spent the whole term explaining why belief in God was unreasonable. Apparently unconvinced, she wrote her term paper or the topic "Why I believe in God". The professor gave her an A, and wrote that if he'd had the experiences she'd had, he would probably believe in God too.

It bothers me that our beliefs are so strongly influenced by our experiences. I feel like there ought to be a universally evident truth - the law of God written on our hearts, or in some unassailable, God-authored book to tell us what to do - but based on my experiences, I can't see how this could be the case.

The irony is that if I really believe the filter of subjective, personal experiences so strongly prescribes our beliefs, I cannot be upset with those who believe the opposite: that God's truth is known to everyone, but heeded by few. I can try to facilitate an experience (probably a conversation) that might cause those who disagree to re-evaluate their beliefs, but I cannot look down on them for their narrow-mindedness. Narrow-mindedness is likely a product of narrow experiences (just as my open-mindedness is a product of my relatively broad experiences) and I can't fault someone for having met only wicked homosexuals, dishonest philosophers, or Christians who have a personal relationship with God. Of course, it's quite possible that someone has had experiences that ought to have prompted them to re-evaluate their beliefs, but generally I'm not qualified to say if this is the case. Just as true tolerance must tolerate intolerance, I cannot judge those who have had different experiences than my own, even if those experiences are narrow and monolithic.

I fear I may sound a bit snooty saying all of this, which is certainly not my intention. I recognize that I may be dead wrong in my broad-minded beliefs - perhaps later experiences will shed a new light on my current ones, perhaps I am subconsciously being horrifically dishonest about my experiences and motives, or perhaps I am predestined to wrong belief by a wrathful God. I do not imagine that my own experiences are any more an indicator of God's truth that anyone else's. I simply do what I believe we all do: I believe what I cannot help but believe, given my experiences.