All or Nothing

I'm a very middle of the road thinker. I'm neither Republican nor Democrat. I find myself agreeing with points and disagreeing with points on both sides. I am neither for guns nor against them. I don't support abortions nor do I condemn the women who have had them. (But for the grace of God, there go I.) I guess this makes me postmodern.

Modernists are very all or nothing in their thinking. You're either a Republican or a Democrat. A liberal or a conservative. A Christian or not. (And probably on the opposite side, an Atheist or not.) You either support gun control or you don't. You support the war in Iraq or you don't. You support gay marriage or not. There's no inbetween. No grey. No half-assing it.

Is meeting people half-way wrong? Why does saying "you have some valid points" make you wishy-washy? If I can concede that the "opposing party" has some good things to say, does that really invalidate my argument? I think that is the fear. I think that modernists tend to fear that if you give someone an inch, they'll take a mile. Looking at it strictly from a Christian perspective, I certain see that played out in churches. You can't be a Christian and a Democrat. You have to support the 2nd Amendment, the war in Iraq, the death penalty, and be against gay marriage and abortion. People fear that if you give someone too much freedom, they'll run with it. And maybe they will. But the alternative is living in fear. The alternative is how we end up with schools like Liberty and Pensacola, where their biggest concern is making certain the students don't step over a line. There is no trust, no innocent until proven guilty. From the moment you sign the "honor" statement, you and all your fellow students are guilty of crimes you have yet to commit.

I used to think like this. My parents are fairly hardcore in their beliefs so of course I was raised to think what they thought. But when I got to the age where I could think for myself, I began to find that I wasn't so hardcore. There wasn't just black and white. There was grey. It didn't have to be either/or. There could be both/and. I can be both against abortion and for protecting the environment. It doesn't have to be one or the other. I can both be a Christian and still respect other religions.

When I started to think like this, I thought I'd have the best of both worlds. I didn't have to be completely against anyone. I could meet people halfway. What didn't occur to me was the fact that the either/or people would still expect me to be either/or as well. They didn't want me meeting them halfway. They wanted all of me or none of me. I either believe that God hates homosexuals or I'm not one of them. I either believe that I have to be married with kids to be fulfilling my purpose or I'm not one of them. I either believe that dancing is a sin or I'm not one of them. I either believe that anyone who isn't (their definition of) a Christian is going to (their definition of) Hell or....hey, I might be going to Hell.

Didn't Paul meet the people of Athens half-way? Didn't he see the fact that they were a very religious people as a good thing? Why does half-way have to be a bad thing? I'm not so insecure in my beliefs that I can't admit that someone who believes differently from me might be right. I often say "I could be wrong". I really could. But I would much rather meet people in the middle instead of clinging so tightly to my beliefs that I miss out on other viewpoints and interesting conversations.

The day we are completely satisfied with what we have been doing; the day we have found the perfect....answer, never in need of being corrected again, on that day we will know that we are wrong, that we have made the greatest mistake of all. - Vincent Donovan

He who thinks that he is finished, is finished....Those who think they have arrived, have lost their way. Those who think they have reached their goal, have missed it. Those who think they are saints, are demons. - Henri Nouwen

A conclusion is simply the place where you got tired of thinking. - Anonymous

What else is love but understanding and rejoicing in the fact that another person lives, acts, and experiences otherwise than we do? - Friedrich Nietzche

The worst prison would be a closed heart. - Pope John Paul II