The Bronx Blogger

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

The Bronx Blogger Talks About Religion

I've been having several lengthy and involved discussions over at "The Evangelical Outpost".

We've been talking about all sorts of things: the war in Iraq, the failings of the public school system, Darwin's evolution versus Intelligent Design theory, and so on.

Quite often the post starts out with some religious or theological point that Joe Carter, the site proprietor, wishes to discuss. But even when the post doesn't start out that way, the moral and social issues that lie underneath some of the more political issues often steer the conversations in the comment threads back towards religion and belief in God.

I've often made the point over at the E.O. (Evangelical Outpost) that it is much more important that a person have good character and that a person behave charitably towards other people, than whether or not a person is a particular kind of Christian (or Jew or Muslim). It's even much more important than whether or not a person believes in God (after all, that's what She would think is important if She existed).

To me, this is pretty obvious, just common sense. Growing up and living in New York, I've been exposed to folks from all over the planet and from every walk of life. I know that God has bigger fish to fry than whether or not you or I or Joe Carter gives Her proper deference, or even believes in Her at all.

That said, I respect where Joe and everybody else is coming from. After all, freedom brings great responsibility, and people who have liberated themselves from traditional religious beliefs often seem to mess up the "great responsibility" part of their lives. Religious folks like Joe are just trying to encourage everyone to live life in a good way, in the best way possible.

I salute that, and I wish him great success. And I hope he can keep focused enough on what's truly important so that he can keep all his priorities straight. It's a challenge for all of us, myself included.

Peace out, word.