tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-100684434381873359.post8499414663226723047..comments2022-11-25T10:35:14.045+01:00Comments on The unofficial blog of BVS Europe: Defending the faith?rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185620630023947160noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-100684434381873359.post-74821803212686776002008-01-27T13:57:00.000+01:002008-01-27T13:57:00.000+01:00After I posted my last comment, I felt bad because...After I posted my last comment, I felt bad because I realized that it wasn’t a very Christian or loving response, even if some of the points were true.<BR/><BR/>Marija is pointing out that Christians are sinners, who fail to do all that they ought to do and also do things that are in fact wrong. This is true, and is in fact a basic statement of the Christian faith-- that we struggle to do good, that we need God's forgiveness for what we've done wrong and we need his help to change.<BR/><BR/>Jesus died for us-- even if we are rock-throwing Serbs or apathetic American couch potatoes or people who post belligerent blog comments. We accept God's forgivness and love, learning in the process what love is, so that we can become people who love.<BR/><BR/>So, Marija, I'm sorry. I confess I haven't done what I ought. I will try to do better. I hope that I can learn more about activism and how to work for social change from you and from activists like you, that we can work together even though we have different ideas about the metaphysical structure of reality. I think that we can.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-100684434381873359.post-44727356441671396932008-01-24T11:00:00.000+01:002008-01-24T11:00:00.000+01:00Katie, thanks for your post. It's a great reminder...Katie, thanks for your post. It's a great reminder to seriously consider our call as people struggling with faith in an unjust world, and it's an encouragement to act on what we believe.<BR/><BR/>I have to say though, that I found Marija's comments to be less thought-provoking than ignorant and intolerant of difference. <BR/><BR/>She ignores examples of Christian activism (Mother Teresa? Martin Luther King Jr.? the Catholic worker movement? L'Arche communities???) and also doesn't address terrible crimes committed in the name of atheism, for example under the regimes of Stalin and Mao and currently under Kim Jung Il. Pol Pot, Suharto and Enver Hoxha weren't Christians either, come to think of it. In my own life, I could name a dozen Christians who are activists and a dozen atheists who are not. <BR/><BR/>BVS itself is a direct challenge to her ignorant statements. Where does she think the money is coming from that supports you to be an activist at WiB, free of cost to them? And the money for Rachel, Dana, etc? It comes from the church.<BR/><BR/>It's one thing to make a personal choice to be an atheist and to live out your convictions with that as a basis for your ethics. It's another to state that you can't/won't even imagine a positive way for political and religious structures to interact because you think religion shouldn't exist. That is extreme intolerance, and it's the same kind of intolerance that is being expressed by the people that she is claiming to be opposing, just in a different form. This kind of atheistic intolerance is what makes oppressive atheistic regimes<BR/>possible and it's not any less wrong than religious intolerance. <BR/><BR/>How can things possibly change in Serbia if activists like Marija insist on remaining ignorant and intolerant? How could a religious Serb (the very kind of person who needs to protest for change in Serbia) possibly be comfortable in such an environment??Katiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08789225837183068306noreply@blogger.com