unChristian: Irrelevant and Isolated

It's no secret that Christians like to pull away from the world and build walls. The medieval monasteries did that. Ironically, foreign missionaries do that. Amish do that.

A recent Yahoo News article on textbooks used by homeschoolers seemed astonished that the textbooks presented a one-sided creationist view of science. The news writers were surprised by this statement printed in the introduction to one book:

"Those who do not believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God will find many points in this book puzzling," says the introduction to "Biology: Third Edition" from Bob Jones University Press. "This book was not written for them."

The textbook delivers a religious ultimatum to young readers and parents, warning in its "History of Life" chapter that a "Christian worldview ... is the only correct view of reality; anyone who rejects it will not only fail to reach heaven but also fail to see the world as it truly is."

The preference for chiropractors and homeopathy to medical doctors is rooted in the idea that science always sabotages Christian faith. So is the disdain for such mundane matters as academic accreditation, critical thinking, and even statistical analysis. "Don't confuse me with godless facts. I know what I believe." The Bible must not be polluted with comparative linguistics. If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, then it's good enough for me.

But that wasn't what I wanted to write about here.

The book unChristian makes the odd point that younger people, both inside and outside the church, are very interested in spiritual issues, but don't think that the church is a very good place to find answers to spiritual questions. That's just fascinating. It's like saying that McDonald's isn't a very good place to find hamburgers. What can you find at church?

• A weekly public speaking and music event, usually in an idiom that today's people find odd and old-fashioned. (Face it: today's teenagers aren't that thrilled by 1970s folk-songs.)
• Advice on how to be a better person.
• Intense pressure to conform (at least superficially and temporarily) to the outward markings of religious people.
• Intense condemnation of some things that inwardly you really don't object to (having sex with a girlfriend you really love, protecting the rights and safety of your gay friend)
• Lots of politics, and the thinly-veiled implication that America has a Christian political party and a Satanic one. Coupled with this is the dedication to make America's civil institutions into a mechanism for imposing superficial Christian practices on unbelievers.

What can't you find?

• An understanding that we're all "in process" and some of us haven't caught up with the others.
• A way to deal with the tough day-to-day questions: "Will I ever figure out my life?" "Why is God always so silent?" "What if I'm just tired of keeping all the rules?" "Why are you guys always so happy and I'm not?"
• Friendship that will stand by me even when I screw up.
• Intellectually satisfying explanations of some of the tough issues.
• An attitude of confidence and compassion rather than fear and loathing when facing the outside world.