I am here in TX and truly cringing at the amount of broad generalizations I have run into. I recently had “the conversation” as my wife and I like to call it (both of us being from the South) with my mom about how it really is possible to be a democrat AND a Christian. Needless to say, I wasn’t too convincing. But the claims I have heard all week are somewhat depressing, a lot of polarization going on. “Those liberals” all they want to do is take God out of the government. We were founded on Judeo-Christian ethics and our country is going down the tubes because of “those liberals.” Global warming? Oh Jared, that’s just a political agenda. We can’t destroy this earth. What was interesting was some of the broader generalizations that were even about Baptists, “you know, they only teach the basics, but at some point you have to grow out of being a baptist.” Anyway, I was amazed at it all and I am know rethinking my coming out of the closet with my democratic and ‘liberal’ stances, from fear of being forever excommunicated from the family. But, as Kimball says in his new book (which I am ironically reading in TX):
“Today, Christians are known as scary, angry, judgmental, right-wing finger-pointers with political agendas.”
His (and my) conclusion about outsiders and their views on Christianity: “I can’t blame them – I wouldn’t like Christianity either”