Now, that we have this out of the way, let me explain my stance on the sub-culture which has arisen out of Christianity. The school I go to is a 'Christian' School. I put ''s around Christian, because I have my doubts, as it is not run in the way I would expect a Christian school to be run. Well perhaps it is run the way I would expect a Christian school to be run, but not a school which bases it's ways on the bible, and of course, Jesus. It is this reason that I feel I can give an acurate description of the Christian sub-culture, and what I see is wrong with it. I will also draw on my growing up in a family which attends church.

My dictionary gives the following definition for what a Christian is: Chris·tian (kr¹s“ch…n)

n.
Abbr. Chr.
1. One who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
2. One who lives according to the teachings of Jesus.
[ Middle English Cristen from Old English cristen from Latin Christi³nus from Greek Khristianos from Khristos, Christ; See Christ] Chris“tian·ly adj. adv.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1992 Houghton Mifflin Co. Electronic version lic'd from and portions © 1994 InfoSoft Int'l, Inc. All rts rsvd.

So from this, we learn that a Christian is someone who professes belief in Jesus as Christ, meaning that they believe that Jesus was God, and was man, and was sent to die for those who believed in him, as a way out, OR someone who follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus. Now these two things are very different. One implies a belief in God, and Jesus as his son who died, the other implies a belief that you should follow the example shown by Jesus. Each one can exist without the other, and chances are, you have never really been shown an example where the two have existed together. The way I see it, there really is no religion, at present truly based on the teachings of Jesus. The Christian religions of the moment, at best, loosely base their teachings on the example of Jesus, but for the most part follow the example of the world around them.

This is why I do not like being called a Christian. To many, a Christian is simply one who believes in Jesus. That is all they are. They do not truly follow what he taught, they do not actually, in many cases, even know what Jesus taught. Of course some will know this, but find reasons not to attempt to live this way, or the thought of living that way may not have even crossed their minds. But overall, to be a Christian, all you must do is believe that Jesus died for you.

I have some problems with this. One, it results in many Christians acting in a truly un-Jesus-like way. They become judgemental of those who do not have their faith. They became full of a form of hatred for 'sinners', for gays, prostitutes, drinkers, in fact any non-church goer. They become unaccepting of anyone who is different from their little box. They are the conformists, thought the bible tells them not to conform. They are the bigots, though their bible tells them to accept those of different faiths. They are the haters, though their bible tells them to love all. They are the ignorant, though their bible tells them to search for truth and knowledge everywhere. They are the hypocrites, who profess faith in Jesus, yet, of their own decision or not, choose not to actually follow that Jesus taught. To them, it is enough that he died.

In my mind, as I have explained before, I believe that Jesus came not only to die on the cross. I do believe this, however, I think that his life was more than this. I see his life, without his death, much in the way that Buddhists see the life of the Buddha. He was not a God to them, though in my belief Jesus was the son of God, and God, rather, the Buddha was a teacher, a revealer of a way. Buddha was the enlightened one, who wanted to show others the way they could reach their enlightenment.

In Christian terms, I believe that Jesus' life was there to show us the way, show us how to live with eachother, and show us how to act towards eachother. His life was not there just so he could die a man, having experienced life, as some Christians would have you believe. His life was an example of how to live.

My other problem that I have with the lumping together of the two definitions of a Christian is that it brings together two rather different types of people, those who simply believe, and those who actually live, or at least attempt to live. The example my be an impossible one follow exactly, especially since we now only have stories to follow, because examples have not existed down through the ages. This lumping together of the two definition creates alot of prejudicy about those who believe in God/Jesus, and the religion itself. And this is what is causing the death of the church, and possibly with it, the religion.

I do not call myself a Christian. I cannot stand the connatations, or being lumped with hypocrites. To me it has almost become an insult to be called a Christian.

Now that we have why I don't like being called a Christian, I will give an explanation of the Christian sub-culture. I'll use examples where possible. I suppose this is going to be a sweeping generalisation, so don't take this as the only way it is, this is just what I have seen, and how I see the sub-culture.

In my time at the church, I have noticed that older Christians there are not in the slightest way different from any other older people. By older I mean elderly people, of which most likely make up the most of any church. This people are very judgemental when it comes to youth. They are often very conservative and right wing supporters. Of course I am not saying they are all like this, rather that I have noticed more like this than not. The times that I have talked to them, it was either to congradulate me on a drama I was forced to perform for them (because we all know that the only thing the youth kids can do is dramas) or they have approached me to tell my they are praying for the way I look. They ask why I have a ring in my nose, or chains around my neck, wrist, pants, wherever. One lady even said she wished that she could put a stone around the neck of my peircer or tattooist, and throw him into the ocean, because of a verse in Matthew 18:6, which said "Whoever causes my little ones to loose faith, cast him into the ocean with a large rock around his neck". So she figured that since my nose was peirced, and my skin was decorated, that I had no faith. Not only that, but she assumed that this was a literal command, that you should kill those who take people away from their faith.

Today I witnessed another incident that again showed the feelings of older church goers to me, and the other youths. I went to church today, a place meant for worship, but I find it very hard to worship anyone there, as every time I go my mind is filled with a form of anger, or annoyance at what I see around me. Anyway, it was a service which, like the week before, had been run by the kids, the youth. Well, it was not actually run by the youths, as it never is, but rather, it involved the kids doing stuff in it. Anyway, a lady came and sat to a lady in front of me. She looked at the front, saw the kids and said, "Well I'm not doing too good today. I thought we had the youth leading the service last week, that's why I didn't come. Well I think I'll be on my way home now."

This showed me two things, one that this lady has no respect for the little ones, whose faith must be guarded, as we've learned above, secondly, that this lady connot stand to sit through something different that she has for the last who knows how many years. Probably longer than I have been alive. The old people seem to thrive on tradition. I have noticed this again and again. The only way they are capable of worship is through hymn's and liturgy. I am not one to judge how one worships, however, as if it works for them, so be it. The bible tells them that worship does not come from our actions, our words, our thoughts, or our deeds, but from our soul.

Now, the next definite group in the Christian sub-culture are the adults. Those too old to be kids, and too young to be the old people. Now, because of the make-up of the churches I have been brought up in, I don't have much to say here. The only adults I can truly comment on are those who have taken youth groups, or sunday schools I have attended. These people have ussually only been in their position because their kids were in the class/group. They are often very judgeing of kids like me. I can remember getting kicked out of sunday school every week, for asking too many of the questions the teachers didn't like, for talking, for refusing to partake in the senseless crafts. I wanted to learn, not be bussied, and kept out of the way of those upstairs. The youth groups were slightly better, there were the few leaders who I could get along with. In Canada this was a place to learn. In New Zealand, it was more senseless than the sunday schools I had been at the years before. The leaders were more judging, less used to kids, other then their own, which they controlled like robots. I can remember getting yelled at for taking a walk once, when I didn't like what was going on. I can remember getting in arguments, because I knew my bible, and the leaders had no clue what they were talking about. I can remember being proved right so many times I lost complete faith in these 'leaders'.

Now of course I have met some brilliant adults. My mom is a good Christian, she tries to follow the teachings, and she is the most accepting person I have ever met. She has her nosed peirced, a tattoo. She gets along with my friends, Christians or not, better then I do. I have met some great youth ministers, who have a great understanding of their faiths, and actually live their lives the way that they were shown. They have been great people, one guy was the funnist guy I met for a long time. He taught us some good jokes to play on people. These people are often the ones who have the same problems with the church, and most Christians, as I do. They question the same things I do.

The last group in this sub-culture that I will mention in the youths. These to can be very judging of people. Often they will be angered when you question their beliefs on any subject. In fact, I have noticed that they will be angered if you question anything. They want you to be apathetic about everything, in the same way they are. They are often very much into pop-culture, the music, and the look. And with that they will be much the same as other kids, in their looks and taste in music, and their prejudice against kids like me. The only difference is that they will often judge non-Christians much more harshly. This is often the most annoying trait of them all, as it leads to many other problems. Over all, they are often judging.

Of course this isn't true in everycase. I have met some good Christian kids. Often the ones who feel the same way as me about these things. They think about things, question things. They are often the ones who will not conform to anything, especially pop-culture. But these people seem few and far apart.

Overall, Christians are much like the people of the rest of this world. This is something I really don't like for several reasons. One, I don't like normal people anyway, for the same reasons I don't like the people described above. They often don't like me either. Secondly, if Christians act the same as everybody else, they obviously aren't trying to live their life like the example they have been given, and supposedly believe in.

For all these reason, I do not like being called a Christian by anyone, and I would not call myself one. I would prefer not to be called anything, but I know that this will not do for many people, so if you must call me anything, call me a Disciple, for that is how I try and live my life, as a Disciple of the Way.


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