Mary Carey, "Porn Star," "Christian":
This fact of reality is why in this culture war/ "Christian Nation" debate it's meaningful to note that the word "Christian" -- specifically who is and who isn't -- can mean many things.
Today we can say that over 80% of the population are "Christian" only by defining that term so broadly as to include people like Mary Carey. Likewise during the Founding, we could say that 95% of the population were "Christian" but only by defining that term in a similarly broad way. True, there were no "porn stars" (of which I am aware) during the Founding, but there were many nominal Christians as well as those, like Jefferson, who were in some way affiliated with a Christian church but nonetheless disbelieved much of the dogma coming out of it.
6 comments:
Jr,
Thank. Your post and the article you refered to, including the comments gave me the best laugh I've had all day.
Mary Carey:
"I'm a good person. ... I think I have more morals than the politicians in office. I don't rob, steal, hurt, or lie – a lot of politicians do that."
Out of the mouths of "Babes"
There were gems in the comments, too.
BW
Omigod, that's the best thing I've seen today! Thanks, Jon! We may look back someday and say this was the moment when the Religious Right jumped the shark.
My Pleasure!
Jon,
I'm fairly liberal with the definition of "Christian," though it bugs some of my more traditional, evangelical Christian friends.
It's real simple, here are the definitions of "Christian" according to the American Heritage dictionary:
Chris·tian
adj.
1. Professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
2. Relating to or derived from Jesus or Jesus's teachings.
3. Manifesting the qualities or spirit of Jesus; Christlike.
4. Relating to or characteristic of Christianity or its adherents.
5. Showing a loving concern for others; humane.
n.
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.
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Thus, since I incorporate some of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth into my web of spirituality (specifically his call to love everyone and live a life of peace, compassion, and sacrifice) I'm still a Christian even though I no longer believe the Bible to be infallible or for the Judeo-Christian deity to exist as most Christians conceive of Him/It. For some reason, many people seem to think that one can't be a Christian in addition to a mystic, occultist, chaos magickian, Reconstructivist Jew, and atheist/agnostic. (Still working on incorporating the Buddhism, Hinduism, Paganism, Islam, and Taoism.) Gee, I wonder why my friends -- and many conventional Christians -- would have a problem with that?
Good point David.
Yes, I can see how many "Christians" would say you aren't a "real Christian."
What bugs me is that they often opt for the more "inclusive" definition of "Christian" in order to point out that we are a "Christian Nation." But we've never been a "Christian Nation" insofar as "Born-Again" Trinitarian, fundamentalists (those who would argue that they are the "real Christians") have never, to my best knowledge, comprised a statistical majority in this nation.
These debates do not have any permanent conclusion my friends. So it would be a good idea to refrain engaging the mind too much in these and to look forward to things that refreshes us. Some stressful events at my job field has now made me decide to take the profession of male escorts which may sound immoral to some but a good relaxation process while I am earning in my views.
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