Selling God?

I came across this documentary film on Netflix at my brother's house. It may come at no surprise, but I'm not a huge fan. There are some benefits to having watched the film, but overall it made me fairly angry and frustrated.

Yes, it made some pretty low shots at Christianity and Evangelism. Obviously those who made the film think that evangelical Christianity, and likely religion as a whole, is absurd, or is merely a personal choice. Yet it bothered me because it made it seem as a mockery. It didn't ask the question of: What if it's all true?

Yes there are differing thoughts and problems with people claiming to be Christians. Yes there have been bigots and horrid people who claimed to know God's thoughts and did horrid things in his name. That is horid. That saddens me and as a church we need to acknowledge those things. Yet these people didn't actually do what the Bible taught. Yet Harvest Ministries, which the film highlighted from time to time, is a godly and great ministry that is not perfect, yet does practice what it preaches.

Imdb states: "Selling God is a whimsical look at the Contemporary Evangelical Movement. It offers a satirical perspective on the many absurdities that arise when religion and popular culture collide and features interviews with Dr. Noam Chomsky as well as many other scholars and religious leaders."

My problem with the film is that it seems a grave misrepresentation of Christianity, greatly undermining and ignoring WHAT it teaches.

It is true that in recent times much of the hype in Western, Evangelical "Christianity" has been political, revolved around the dates of the end times (including specific dates), enforcing morality, consumerism, and lots of things that are not actually the center of the Gospel. This is why it makes me frustrated. It makes me frustrated because the Gospel and Christianity are NOT all these things. It is not about all we are against. It is not just about saving souls.

It is about God restoring all things. It is much bigger that what it shows here. There are many scholars who would gravely disagree with the "scholars" in the film. I'm not quite sure where they got those in the film, but they don't represent evangelical Christianity. Instead they merely speak to the emotional, shady, televangelist christianity about which I too am skeptical. If the Bible taught the cooky, man-made hoax the film laid out as christianity, who would believe? Yet it doesn't. And I believe that God does in fact exist and is actually active.

Below are a few quotes I found disturbing and several thoughts of my own. I may try to return and write a bit more. This is just an initial response to the film. Feel free to leave comments of your own.

"Questions like, 'Why do bad things happen to good people?' is side-stepped by faith. you must have enought faith and everything will be alright... people have been convinced to believe without any proof..."

Yet... the Bible contains the book of Job (along with other large passages) which very much acknowledges the BAD things and EVIL in the world and that, yes, even happens to good people. How does faith side-step the question, if the very Bible contains a major book addressing it and that doesn't say 'don't worry, just believe.... or it must just be your fault.' In fact, the latter comment is what the friends of Job said to him and then were judged by God as foolish. It actually sounds more like Hinduism or Buddhism's response to that question.

Unlike the film said, I DO NOT think that God was happy by Hurricane Katriena nor does he hate the gays, nor the poor. HORRID. And horrid that people are so quick to judge. The book of Romans actually says that. It says that those who judge are just as in need as those who commit the sins that the judgers judge. They are equal. And both need a Savior. One is not righteous enough to save him or her-self.

Heaven - "Imported from Zoriastrianism into Judaism... The common view of heaven is strange... it's filled with all the things that people hate..." "There won't be any gays, anyone who's pro-choice, anyone who's ever lied... it will be a boring place of homosexual, republican men... Won't heaven be pretty close to most people's idea of hell?..."

My question is that why didn't they look at what the Bible might say about heaven. None of the above is actually on the Bible.

Women - The film alluded to women being oppressed by Christianity and yet Jesus was VERY affirming of women, as were the Old Testament laws,...

Hell - "For some, hell will be..."

Again, what does the Bible actually teach?

Prayer - "Prayer is like a 24-7... it's like God has nothing better than to hear people's flatteries... it's important to thank God but not the people doing most of the work... it seems like God is a cross between a butler and a sugar daddy..."

Faith - Is not blind faith. Is not believing in something without any proof. Is not ludicrus. Every word of the Bible is inspired by God.

Bible - We DO have a complete copy of the Bible. It hasn't been changed, it hasn't ben arbitrarily picked and chosen. We do have accurate copies of the texts. By far, it is one of the most accurate ancient texts we have today.

Skepticism of all "Secular" News Sources - "destroying the garden of eden by science," and the remarks of Jerry Faldwell, "don't take science, it'll destroy your faith..."

I wish the film would have looked at what the Bible actually teaches and what everyday Christians who are not those making the most noise and the most extreme strawmen. I don't think athiests, agnostics, and those of other religions are ignorant, evil, nor non-sensical. Nor do I think it is an accurate analysis of me. I do walk by faith, but also use my head. I believe God, but want to know as much as I can about the Bible and my faith.

I may not be a fan of Jerry Faldwell & Pat Robertson nor half the people in the film, but I am an evangelical Christian. If you did a real survey of American Christianity, you might find something very different than what you see in Selling God. Again, I do think that it raises some of the same questions friends and cousins of mine have raised.

"God is not arbitrary... MLK said, 'Any religion that is concerned about souls but is not concerned about the slums... is a dry religion... Religion is personal, but never private...'" YES! I agree!

"religion may be helpful, even if it is irrational..."

In my opinion, it is important as to whether or not it is true. It is not helpful, if it is merely just a fluffy pipedream.

The final commercial for Pat Robertson's diet shake should lead anyone to question half of what the film had actually being what the Bible teaches.

Not Helpful

Recently I sat through a couple seminars on grief and how to walk with others through grief. Then yesterday I experienced exactly some of what they said NOT to do. I may not be in the depths of grief, as the result of a death or severe loss, but I am in the midst of the grief and transition of moving back to the US after six years abroad. Abroad is home, not here. My best friends, those in my daily life, and my "family" all live THERE not HERE. I am in transition and coming to grips with the loss of moving.

Well, yesterday I finally pinpointed one of my "fish out of water" moments and was able to pinpoint why. A girl told me how much she appreciated what I had shared about missing Spain and then proceeded to tell me that she understood exactly what I was going through. This summer she went overseas for a couple weeks and she missed her family a lot. I wanted to be sympathetic and appreciate her efforts to empathize, but... that is NOT HELPFUL. She may want to be empathetic, but she DOES NOT have any idea what I am going through. I don't want to bemoan my situation nor do I need to talk about it as much as I may do from time to time. YES, I do have some growth that need to take place. Life, even life right now, is NOT all about me. BUT... you don't understand reverse culture shock unless you've experienced it. And I'm sorry, but six years and a month are not the same. You may experience a glimpse of it after a month, but not really. It is NOT the same thing.

I need to remember this too, but one point I was brought back to from those grief seminars was that unless you've been through the same thing, it is NOT AT ALL HELPFUL to have someone say that they understand what you're going through. Some other examples people gave from the seminar were people who had lost a pet telling someone who had recently lost a parent that they understood what they were going through. BULL-POOP! And I think someone else likened someone's dealing with cancer by saying they understood because they too had just been really sick with the flu, or something like that. How would anyone thing that is helpful?

I know those are extreme examples, but even with something as seemingly benign as reverse culture shock, you just someone to listen, to say they're sorry, or to say, "you must be going through a lot right now" sympathetically, or honestly just saying nothing and not understanding is MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH better than saying they understand because they too have gone on vacation. Give me a break. I know this is a bit fuerte or critical, but just thought I'd process and share a bit. Thanks for listening.

High Pressure Sales

A few days ago someone called asking if they could bring me a free book and for me to do a short questionnaire. So, today a couple shows up at my door with the "free" book, that only costs 3 Euros for the cost of production and the " short questionnaire" which took about an hour and a half. Throughout the whole presentation and hugely biased questionnaire (where she virtually fed me the answers she wanted) she continued to say that they weren't selling anything and that it was a marketing promotion.

It all started out nice, just a normal marketing questionnaire. And then she began to offer me all these great gifts she wanted to give me for "free." The only cost would be the cost of their production, of course. But the cost was a joke it was so little.

She was going to give me a camera, a breadmaker, a water purifier, two sets of books, and I don't know what else, for a low low price of 1,500 Euros, of course at a low monthly price of 54 Euros for two and a half years. I then told her that I didn't think I was interested, that it seemed like a lot of money to me. She of course reiterated that it was a very low price and that it was only a small monthly price, not to even look at the total. As I continued to say "no," she began to act shocked and offended and, as I half expected, she then offered me half the stuff for half the price, a mere 750 Euros in total.

It was interesting how the tone changed completely when I told her that I didn't think I was interested, that if she wanted to give me some time to think about it I might change my mind, but frankly that it was stuff that I'd love to have, but that I don't need and that I would rather spend that money elsewhere. She told me how I was going to regret this decision and that she couldn't believe I was passing up such a great offer. The guy with her agreed and said, "You know, it is a really good deal." And it may actually be a fairly good deal for all that you get, but it is still the fact that I don't want to spend the money on what they are selling and that I really don't like to be pressured into buying anything.

I really can't stand telemarketing and door-to-door pressure sales. If I don't say "no," I generally regret it, at least a bit, and if I do say "no" I feel fairly frustrated after the whole transaction. I usually feel bad for them and for the time they've spent and yet it infuriates me that they try to then make me feel bad.

And let me just say that it would be nice if they could actually listen to you and what you are saying, since they act as if they care. And I kind of hate the fact that the whole bate and switch, they say they need your help for one thing and then end up trying to sell you things (even if they say that they are merely in the marketing department).

update on my driving test

so... i went to take my driving test this morning. a few of us met at the driving school, jumped on the metro then on a bus and arrived a half and hour early for the written driving exam. i grabbed a little bit to eat, drank the coffee i brought, and waited...

we then all packed into the foyer of the building while a man on the load speaker began to call names one by one who would walk to the back of the room, grab their scantron sheet and head into the exam room. one by one the names were called, minus mine and a few others. we then walked up to the front and he figured out what was wrong. finally he got to me, only to tell me that the id number he had written down was wrong. there was an extra "4" added to it, so i couldn't take the exam.

i called my driving school who said, "yeah, we knew we messed it up, but we called and fixed it." so then she got on the phone with the exam proctor and they argued for about 20 minutes to then conclude that she messed up and i'd just have to come back next week.

so, long story short, i have to wait until next week to take my written driving test and to hopefully pass and be on to the actual physical driving test. so, suffice to say, today was not my favorite of days - the driving test plus a few other not so happy things. i guess the bright side is that i have a week more to study.