Middle Ground

Early this school year, within the first few days of being in San Diego, I was spending some time with my friend Patrick and my roommate Micah. Both are fundamentalist Christians. In the course of conversation, the topic of high school friends emerged. The information of interest was whether or not my high school friends are Christian. I said that most of my high school friends party and are sexually active, with one exception: Paul. Paul has a girlfriend, but is celibate, has access to alcohol and marijuana, but chooses to abstain. Despite his Christian-like social choices, Paul is not, and never has been, a Christian. This combination of conservative social behavior and non-religious background was baffling to Patrick.

It's true that there are few non-Christians in college that don't get drunk on weekends and don't actively seek sexual activity, but even so, is it really so mind-blowing to hear of a non-Christian college-aged male that is celibate and dry? Are people so robotic that they can't help but get drunk and have sex just because most everyone else is? Of course not. Patrick's reaction to Paul's lifestyle just goes to show how deeply rooted are the generalizations of non-Christians by Christians.

Paul is not alone in his way of life. Patrick obviously had never heard of the straight-edge movement, or at least had never been explained its characteristics. Begun in the early 1980s by Ian MacKaye and his band Minor Threat, the straight-edge movement was a response to the increased use of drugs and alcohol amongst teens. The straight-edge (or "sXe") motto is summed up in the lyrics of Minor Threat's "Out of Step."

"Don't smoke, don't drink, don't fuck."

Being the massive undergound movement that it was and still is, there are thousands of teenagers living "morally sound" lives, all the while having no religious affiliation or background.

Fundamentalist Christians tend to think that "partier = non-Christian" and "non-partier = Christian." They associate all partying with living selfishly (as opposed to living "for God"), which inevitably leads to a feeling of emptiness, they assume.

Of course they fail to realize the underlying similarities between their social events and the social events of their non-Christian counterparts. Both groups seek entertainment, both groups scout within for potential mates. In this way, the members of both groups act selfishly. What, then, qualifies one group as living "selfishly" in general and the other as living "for God" in general? What exactly does not getting drunk and not having sex do "for God" when the underlying intentions are just as selfish as the intentions of those who are getting drunk and are having sex?

Essentially, fundamentalist Christians use one characteristic of a person to judge a person's entire character (partier = non-Christian, non-partier = Christian). With this black-or-white view of people, fundamentalist Christians don't find it necessary to try to fathom why someone might not party or have sex for non-religious reasons. It's just easier to think of people that way, just like it's easier to take the Bible literally and it's easier to believe that faith in Jesus as savior is the only way into heaven. Fundamentalist Christians love to operate on extremes, and their view of college kids is no different. One might ask how this black-or-white view of college kids came to dominate fundamentalist Christianity, and the answer is evangelism.

When it comes to evangelism, the most enthusiastic are often the ones with the darkest pasts. If an idea or concept has a deep, meaningful impact on a person's life, that person is likely going to want to tell others about that concept or idea. Additionally, an impacted person will likely want to reach out to others who are in situations similar to his or her own. This means that kids who become (evangelical) Christian in college will likely want to reach out to other college kids. Putting these concepts together, we have that the loudest evangelical voices on college campuses likely belong to the ones with the darkest college experiences, which always involve partying to some degree. Because partying is part of the dark pasts of these loud voices, partying is naturally going to be heavily demonized. This evangelical cycle perpetuates today's dominant fundamentalist Christian perspective of "partier = non-Christian," "non-partier = Christian."

Ultimately, these dark-past evangelicals control the mindset of fundamentalist Christian college groups, because the members with a Christian background (the majority) have no concept of what it's like to live a non-Christian life. The perspective of the dark-past evangelicals trickles down to the Christian-raised members, and the latter must accept that perspective because there is no other to contest it; and again, that perspective is easy to digest and makes for a simple evangelical strategy.

What's missing in all of this is the recognition by fundamentalist Christians of the possibility of a non-Christian non-partier. They do not entertain the idea of a middle ground. They take the dark-past evangelicals at their word and allow themselves to assume that conversion to Christianity is the only remedy for a non-Christian partier that feels empty inside. Christianity can be a remedy for someone who feels empty, but there is a problem with promoting Christianity as this sort of remedy, as is done by many evangelical Christian college groups.

When evangelizing to partiers, fundamentalist Christian college groups place strong emphasis on "Jesus loves you," "God loves you," "God has a purpose for you," etc. All these statements are perfectly in line with Christianity. These statements are not, however, all there is to Christianity. In the case of these fundamentalists who are evangelizing college kids, they believe that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son," "God is love," etc., but they also believe that all non-Christians go to hell, the Bible is the literal word of God, homosexuality is a sinful CHOICE, etc., etc. While these are all part of fundamentalist Christianity, the fundamentalist evangelicals do not mention these when trying to convert people. They emphasize the part of their religion that the potential convert WANTS to hear, NEEDS to hear in order to convert. While this evangelical strategy is not technically dishonest, it is dishonest in the sense that the full spectrum of the belief system is not being presented. Instead, only the parts most likely to draw a person in are included.

What if a person likes the idea of a loving God, but does not line up with the rest of the fundamentalist doctrine? Is it fair or just that a person may make a life-changing decision to convert to fundamentalist Christianity based on the idea of a loving God, without ever hearing the rest of the doctrine? Such an evangelical strategy is despicable and fundamentally un-Christian, but evangelical college groups do not see a problem with it because of the perspectives of the dark-past evangelicals being trickled down. As a result, these groups think that by simply evangelizing, they are caring for people, when in reality they are offering a remedy to emptiness with a rigid and rather frightening doctrine on the side. They see their Christianity as love and purpose alone, thinking it to be just what the doctor ordered for people who feel empty. But fundamentalist Christianity is not simply love and purpose.

Evangelical college groups would like their potential converts to believe that Christianity is the only remedy to emptiness, but that is simply not true. Simply getting drunk and having sex does not lead to emptiness. The lack of meaningful relationships and interactions is what leads to emptiness. If a person makes friends with a bunch of people who are shallow and ultimately self-serving, of course emptiness will ensue, because the deep and lasting relational ties that a person needs will be missing. Christians are not the only ones capable of having deep, meaningful relationships, so the idea that a partier who feels empty must become Christian in order to feel fulfilled is ridiculous. You don't need to believe that an all-powerful being is on your side in order to feel fulfilled, you just need friends that are as caring and genuine as you are. That is the middle ground.

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