Member-only story
“You Must be a Christian.”
Must I?
“Thank you for giving us your seat on the plane so we could be together. You must be a Christian!”
“How can you coexist with people who all want to kill you? I can’t ride in your car.”
“The roles of a Christian husband are to be a leader, a teacher, a protector, and a provider.”
I heard the first of the lines above on a flight, obviously. I heard the second from the Good Christian Woman across the street after I offered to drive her to the shops while her car was disabled. She refused the help because of my “coexist” bumper sticker, explaining that all Muslims wanted to kill all of “us,” so she couldn’t be seen in my car. The last line is a pretty standard definition that I’ve heard from more than one source. I have the same fundamental problem with every one of these: they all assume that good, ethical behavior is exclusively Christian.
There’s a fascinating and talented blogger who writes beautifully of the Oneness of things and of the beauty of love. One of his pieces received a comment that assumed he is a Good Christian Man. This was ironic because the form of spirituality he practices and writes about is for everyone, across all religions and spiritual practices. But it wasn’t enough for her that he is a good and spiritual man. He had to be a Good Christian Man.
