The Evolution of Christianity

When I was growing up, Christianity was a much different creature than today. Today's brand of Christianity has become increasingly fundamentalist in nature. This is a disturbing trend, and—I'll admit—has drawn me away from many Christian individuals and organizations. Christians are increasingly becoming mindless, intolerant ideologues. They don't seem to question what they hear on Faux News. They supported George W. Bush long after the facts were revealed (before his re-election in 2004). They rarely speak up when Pat Robertson calls the an entire culture "evil" and deserving the wrath of God. They choose not to believe the truth, perhaps because it threatens the foundations of their faith. They believe what they read in Christian publications and WorldNetDaily. Very few get their perspective from AlterNet. They appear to be not smart enough to "be a Berean" and test what hear and read, or, they just don't question it (Out of fear? Brainwashing? I don't know.).

If they were to genuinely take an interest in Christian history, they would realize the the church fathers had a much different interpretation of scripture. Theology and interpretation have evolved over time, despite an "unchanging" God.

No Christian I knew as a young adult would have had any problem whatsoever with Harry Potter. In contrast, today, I have met many Christians who think Harry Potter bad because it contains "witchcraft". But, in fact, real witchcraft bears no resemblance to Harry Potter. What many seem to forget, is that Harry Potter is a work of fiction. No one by virtue of reading it came to believe in Wizardry. Perhaps adults lose their sense of imagination as they age. Another point: Every single parent I spoke to that disapproved of Harry Potter had not actually read it! How can you judge what you haven't read? My brother in law was against his children reading it. After reading it himself, he was okay with it. In the minds of many Christians, ideology takes precedence of knowledge.