Beliefs at odds with my beliefs...

I learned a big lesson when I was a kid.

My parents were, ("Were"? Heck! Make that "are"!) right wing conservatives. In the 1970's my parents had several friends who were died in the wool, card-carrying devotees of "Brother John Birch." Those folks believed that the communists really were behind every governmental action and that a master plan for the destruction of America was in the works. I heard this stuff a lot and generally have to say that at that time I "drank the Kool-Aid" when it came to those beliefs.

One day a friend from one of these families was at my house and we were discussing [Strong, deep voice here:] "The impending communist menace"!

He knew this stuff inside out. We were discussing Minnesota's gun registration laws and how it was the first step toward [Again, strong, deep voice here:] "...confiscating our weapons and enslaving us!"

(Ouchie! Don't want that!)

Listening to this stuff (and believing what I was being told,) my first bias has always been toward action. I said, "Hey! Let's get some oiled cloth and take some of our guns and bury them in boxes out in the forest! That way, when the government comes they won't be able to get all of our guns and then we can defend ourselves!"

`Seemed pretty reasonable to me at the time. (It still does if you accept their premises.)

I'll never forget the look that my buddy got on his face when I said that. He just stopped and looked at me with a look that said, "What the heck is wrong with you?!"

As he stared at me, I had one of those "ah-ha!" moments of revelation: He doesn't believe a single word he's saying!

It really put me back on my heels.

Suddenly I understood that talking about that stuff made him feel smart. It was a way to irritate people he didn't agree with and find common ground with those he liked. It was interesting to him, but when it really came down to rat killing, he didn't believe what he was saying. It was a ghost story he told for titillation, kicks and gratification. He believed that anyone who would actually act on those beliefs was disturbed. (And today I agree with him on that score.*)

However, thinking back to that time, I've asked myself, "Where do I make good theater of my Christian beliefs and yet where would I really never consider acting?"

Discussing Christ at Work with a supervisor? A Director? A stockholder?
Selling a car, (a house, a retirement fund,) for money to fund missionaries?
Becoming a missionary?
Becoming a missionary where Christians are persecuted?

What do I refuse to surrender?
Which loved ones or comforts do I think of as “mine” rather than “God’s”?

The dose of skepticism I learned that day has come back to me time and time again about me. How about you?


_{* Tragically, a guy named Timothy McVey never got the message in time.}