I am a 19-year-old cradle Catholic (meaning I was born and raised in Catholicism). I have gone to private schools my entire life and have had the Bible, traditions and beliefs fed to me on a silver spoon at
every meal.
In my quest for foundation in my faith, I have gone through many obstacles. All in all, I came to college a young woman in love with God and life. Recently, however, the sugar-coated fantasies of organized religion have become sour and real.
My eyes have been opened to the hypocrisy in Christianity and the way that some religions go about expressing their faith.
As organized religion is seeping its way into our government and Christians try to convert the world (as some would say) to one belief, I'm finding that Christianity is becoming almost a fad, instead of a heartfelt principle. So now, this is my cry as a believer, my cry to discover what faith really is all about.
As a freshman, I became involved in Campus Crusade for Christ, which is a Christian organization here on campus, and would attend meetings regularly on Thursday nights. I found the experience of 180 and its music liberating. One night, however, a particular meeting left me speechless, and with eyes strained wide.
A speaker said (bluntly perhaps), God doesn't need you. Maybe it was the way he said it, but suddenly I felt very small. I felt unwanted, unneeded and very alone. I left that 180 meeting and never went back. The fear that was preached into my heart that night, that I was somehow not good enough to be loved by God sent shivers through my soul.
A lot of Christian organizations spread God's word by bombarding you with flyers and questionnaires, instilling fear in your heart about heaven and hell and preaching at you until you are winded by God's word. They have been brought up to believe that their idea of what is right is the only one. So many Christians fall onto the pathway of proclaiming their love for Jesus Christ to anyone they come into contact with (whether they want to hear it).
What is the point of witnessing to someone who doesn't want to listen? In the end, you are just wasting breath. No one wants to be pushed into finding God, or believing in something. The beauty of finding faith is being able to feel that hollow emptiness in your soul filled with a love that never ends. You can't build that by ambushing or creating fear.
I find that some Christians are just too wrapped up in themselves and their rules about Christianity to just tell others about what faith is really about. God wants us to share about his unending love for humanity. In the process of trying to share this, many Christians come off as judgmental, disgusted and fearful of people who do not
follow Christianity.
This is what bugs me -how can someone preach acceptance and then judge against homosexuals and their natural love for another human being? How can you preach love and then go tell someone who has a different view of God that they are wrong? What happened to Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?
Sometimes I just find myself speechless as to how such self-professed peaceful and loving people can hate someone for believing something different from them. How can there be so much ignorance?
In the end, I believe that God loves me for who I am. Regardless of my faults or my sins, He is always there with a hand reaching out to catch me when I'm falling. I try to bring others to Christ by my way of life, by trying not to pass judgment on those who are different from me or who have made mistakes. Actions speak louder
than words.
-Alex Jabs is a sophomore
English major. Send
her an e-mail at
alexandra.jabs@ohiou.edu.
17 Archives
The Post Editorial
