There is a disturbing trend that I’ve seen becoming popular with Christians, and that is to justify being judgmental to non-Christians.

Now, first off, I’d like to clarify that I’m not a Christian.  I am spiritual, but in my own unique way.  I base my faith on what I observe in the world as well as inward experience and feelings.  Sounds perfectly reasonable, right?  Yet my first year at SMSU, I was approached by two members of CRU.  I’d attended one or two of their Monday gatherings, found it wasn’t for me, and stopped going.  However, these two noticed that.

They asked if they could pull me aside one lunch period, so I could explain my religious beliefs to them.  So I agreed, and we went to a quiet table, where I laid everything out for them.  Some of my beliefs don’t conform to Christianity; for example, I don’t believe in hell.  And while I’ve studied the Bible, I do not hold it as absolute truth, but rather a tool to expand my understanding of the world.

These two listened, nodding politely.  Then, when I finished, they told me that despite my good intentions and close relationship with God as I understood him, that I was going to hell.  They did it in a very nice way, of course, by showing me a verse of the Bible that basically said if I didn’t follow this and that, then I would go to hell, and my less-rigid spirituality didn’t follow this and that.  Of course, they supplemented it by saying they loved me and didn’t want me to go to hell.  Imposing their beliefs on me was their way of saying they cared.

Okay, great.  I’m all for caring about other people, but this just offended me.  It held the same logic as a sermon I attended over spring break.  The preacher pointed out that one of the most popular verses from the Bible nowadays was “Judge Not”, and went on to explain why it was alright for Christians to judge people.  The basics of the argument were that when you project your beliefs onto others, as the two members of CRU did to me, it’s not judgment so much as pointing out errors.  After all, if you saw somebody trying to ride a bike with square wheels, is it judgment to point out that round wheels would work better?  You’re doing them a favor, making their life easier, and probably preventing them from hurting themselves.  It would be inconsiderate not to.

But I find a huge gaping flaw in this argument.  It is the fact that all Christians assume that they are right.  They see a different set of beliefs as square wheels, and take it as their responsibility to point it out, since I’m obviously too stupid to realize it myself.  That is why this argument will never turn any atheists or non-Christians to Christianity.  You’re assuming that they are either lacking the correct information, too stupid to make use of the information, or are resisting what is obviously correct out of some sense of rebellion.  In all ways, you start off with the base assumption that you are better than them.

That’s the problem with the bike metaphor; we don’t know what wheels work, because religion regards the afterlife, something we have no tangible proof of.  Even if we were using square wheels, there would be no way to realize it until after death.  My beliefs are based upon what I observe in the world and what I feel.  I always try to make life better for other people, to smile, to make a positive impact, and that’s my version of round tires; things that make my life easier.  If I’m condemned to hell for that, well, then I can’t take all those rules seriously.

I couldn’t help but think, during that sermon, that Jesus would have strongly disagreed with that preacher.  Do you really think that Jesus would rather shack up with a bunch of people who think alike and tell them that they’re right, and to go and teach other people why they’re wrong?  No.  You’re not going to change any minds that way, you’re just going to make people defensive and less than friendly to Christians.  In fact, Jesus probably wouldn’t even be in a church, he’d be out helping the homeless.  Leading by example, showing that love and kindness is the quickest way to convert someone.  Now that’s something I can follow.