The two biggest areas of my life are often posited against each other; maybe not as opposing forces or as predator and prey but they definitely tend to avoid each other. I'm speaking of social consciousness and Christianity. When I say social consciousness, I mean understanding our society and why it works the way it does. This usually begins with understanding the history behind our society as well as acknowledging its downfalls and addressing these issues head on.
For those of you who don't know: I am a Christian. I've spent a lot of time avoiding that label because it comes steeped with a lot of negative connotations. People assume that I'm boring and that I hate any and everyone who is sexually and/or religiously "deviant" from my opinion of what is right (plot twist: neither is true).
In fact, for a while I've been questioning a lot of the traditions that permeate Christian culture. There are lots of things I don't agree with but I do understand, appreciate and believe in the power of love, compassion, grace, mercy and forgiveness (another plot twist: these values are found in LOTS of other religions). Although I do identify as a spiritual Christian in the sense that I tend to focus on the values listed above that serve as cornerstones to the religion instead of dwelling on following rules and regulations that have built up over time due to institutionalization, I've found myself challenging many Christian traditions as I've attempted to widen my knowledge concerning social and political issues in society.
It's logical to assume that this would prompt me to uproot myself from my Christian background and plant myself elsewhere. In fact, I know of lot of Christian individuals who stray away from the religion after being introduced to notions of social consciousness in college and I don't blame them. It's difficult to stay committed to a faith base that often becomes fastened behind outdated traditions of patriarchy and prejudice if and when you become an avid activist for social justice and decide to expand your social consciousness. Speaking from personal experience, bringing up issues within our society at church often makes people uncomfortable. For some reason, social/political justice and sex are both huge taboo topics int he church: we just don't talk about them and if we do, it doesn't go very far beyond "pray for america" and "just wait." I think this needs to change.
I can understand the hesitance within speaking about social consciousness in the church being that it leads to challenges against many tradition values that people have found comfort in for years (also many people are avid about the separation of church and state in every aspect). However, I don't believe that our church communities are immune to these issues that plague our society today.
Our society is a system and systems do not appear or happen by coincidence; they are created, constructed, adapted, ect. Some people benefit from the system, others are oppressed by it and yet we exclaim gleefully with hand over heart that all are created equal. Just as our social system was created, it can be reformed and corrected so that everyone benefits and everyone is justified. Will this mean that there will be no more problems and pain? No. But it will mean that every person will have equal opportunity. (I'm gonna tell you know, if you believe everyone does in fact have equal opportunity today, you may need to do some reading).
If we sift through all of the regulatory BS that comes with the Christian religion and get back to the message of who Christians believe to be the new covenant (Jesus) what's left is love. Ever since I was a little girl my mom and dad told me that even if I couldn't remember a single scripture verse, if I remembered to love I was doing something right. It's easy to convict and judge and remain ignorant of issues that effect others when you're comfortable. But it's difficult to spread love and compassion when you continue to separate yourself and turn a blind eye. If we truly believe that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, it only makes sense to be aware of the problems that effect us and work avidly to fix them; whether you share insightful posts on Facebook or show up at sit-ins.
Social consciousness can be an uncomfortable subject within the Christian community because it challenges many traditions and values Christians hold dear. But if we open our minds and use the knowledge that is gained from becoming socially aware to help our communities in hopes to reform society as a whole, I believe it would strengthen the Christian community (by means of empowering those oppressed by social systems who, I guarantee are members of your church) as well as simmer hostilities that often boil up between the Christian community and others. If we as Christians are going to accept God's name, we also need to accept his heart. This isn't a call for us to compromise our faith, it's a call to step out of religious barriers and walk in the concept of radical love.
