There is a "koan" (a Zen Buddhist literary device intended to shock the hearer/reader), attributed to 1rst Century Zen Master Linji Yixuan, that states "if you meet Buddha on the road kill him." There are varying interpretations of this koan out there but nearly all assume a single notion--if one meets Buddha it will not be the REAL Buddha (only a false one or a perception--because Buddhist are pantheist the true Buddha exists in all things--not in a single entity).
I have thought MUCH about this lately...having tried my hardest to ignore, what seems to me like stupidity (?), on the part of so many who seem to have so little understanding of the faith that they pretend to profess. In an attempt to be fair I want to, at least, hope that these zealots are well-intending, and actually THINK that they are doing the right thing (I am trying to be gracious and give some credit where it is due)...but instead they are actually making our lives more difficult. Let me give you a couple of "for instances":
(1). Keeping CHRIST in Christmas
To start with...Christ IS Christmas (and by that I do not mean Dec 25th!)--therefore, you cannot remove Christ from Christmas. By definition Christ IS Christmas...so stop complaining that the world is being the world and instead SHOW them the Christ of Christmas by your attitude, generosity, etc... The "far right" (add your own definition) would have us to believe that our "rights" are being violated or that we are being repressed, at WORSE...persecuted. We are being NONE of those things (I know that is a grammatical nightmare...but grant me a little latitude here). Our rights are not being trampled on...we have just as much right to say "Merry Christmas" as anyone else has (at any time or any place)--but our constitution also grants that same right to anyone who may want to say "Happy Holidays" or "Happy Kwanzaa" or "Happy Hanukkah." If postmodernism has done anything--it has made it clear that we are all on the same footing. This line of logic is the same naive realism that assumes that someone who was not born in the US should adopt English as their primary language (while I agree that everyone living in the U.S. should be able to speak the language to a certain degree--to be able to communicate--that is NOT the same mentality that says, "love it or leave it.") Remember the lady in the harbor "give us your poor...huddled masses"--her name, I think, is "Liberty"--I guess those concepts are not as important as they used to be. If you want to say "Merry Christmas"--feel free it is your right--simply don't assume that your right should be adopted by everyone everywhere--if people don't wish you a Merry Christmas don't feel violated or go into a tirade about how people are taking Christ out of Christmas--instead let your speech be "seasoned with salt"--"let your gentleness be evident to all" "let your light so shine before men that they might see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
(2) Prayer in Schools
Why do Christians assume that we alone have the right to exercise our "freedom of religion." I believe (though I am not a legal scholar) that the freedom of religion clause in our constitution allows everyone equal "freedom" to practice. If you want your children to pray to God in school then be prepared for Buddhist, Muslims, Satanist, Jews , etc...to recognize their deity as well (and for atheist to deplore and be against ALL deities!). No one can stop you or your children from praying during school hours or on school grounds--the school simply cannot publicly recognize one above the others...and clearly to allow time for all would take too much time away from the educational process (the concept of education in the U.S. is a whole other post!). We are not being persecuted when we are told that the school system cannot publicly sanction prayers at events--rather, we are being told that our constitution is being interpreted to its logical conclusion--there is room for everyone. Remember the pledge of allegiance to our flag "with liberty and justice FOR ALL"--or are those words intended to mean "only people like us who believe the exact same things as us?" PRAY--the bible commands it and it is vital to the health of our spiritual vitality ("pray without ceasing" is a command in the original language)--feel free to do it at every sporting event, throughout the entire event if it so pleases you--you can even pray aloud if you like--you just can't force everyone there to pray with you AND you are not being persecuted if they choose NOT to join you!
There are MANY other examples (the Ten Commandments, and others) but I think you get the idea. Recent research from Lifeway suggests that growing anti-Christian sentiment in the U.S. will actually have favorable results...as it has in other cultures this growing cultural tide of anti-Christian sentiment will once and for all kill off the "American Jesus" (and that will be a good thing!). Eventually so many now who claim to be "Christians" (by name only Christians who want salvation without Lordship, and would rather attend Church than be a disciple of Jesus) will be driven away and those who are actively seeking Christ and pursing a relationship with him by acting out their faith will actually cause the Church to grow. In other words, persecution is coming (and Christians are actively being persecuted in our world)...but persecution is NOT...not having your way (or the way it has always been in America...at least over the last 200 or so years--cause clearly American history is more important than world history--BOTH have an important place).
"If you meet Buddha on the road kill him." I like it! It suggests that we need to ALWAYS be re-evaluating our perceptions. In the U.S. we hold no more sacred perception than that of our "American Cultured Jesus"...but does that perception seem to "hold water" when we read Scripture? Christ IS Christmas: go and live like this is true in your life: feed the hungry, love the unlovely, treat your enemies well, shelter the homeless--it is NOT about "social justice" (the whole "social gospel" thing has already been tried and found wanting--Google: Walter Rauschenbusch)--it IS about continually negating the effects of worldliness and radically transforming our minds so that we can perceive what God's good, pleasing, and perfect will is for us in Christ Jesus (cf Rm 12:1-3).
"I believe, help me in my unbelief"
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas... "God bless us...everyone!"
