Second Entrance

Microphone in hand, French cuffs starched and shoes shined, he leapt on stage with a wide smile and outstretched his arms. IF YOU BELIEVE IN GOD, he shouted, THEN MAKE SOME NOISE!!! There was a deafening silence from the small and lonely crowd as well as from the sound system which at that point was to have burst into a thundering and inspirational karaoke gospel number - his smile faded and he left the stage, shoulders sagging. Several minutes later he tried again but the moment had been lost, the carefully orchestrated spontaneity has evaporated and the handful of people watching glanced his way then returned to their barbeque and beans. They had come to hear the blues on this steamy hot holiday, each dutifully paying the ten dollar admission fee and finding seats under the tent, drinking beer and ice water and fanning themselves against the sweltering humidity. They hadn't foreseen a revivalist with a blaring pre-recorded choir as back up. Come to hear THE BLUES, someone yelled, Not a damn prayer meetin'!

I packed my camera gear away and headed for the exit - hot, sweaty, and slightly offended. A friend stopped me and asked why I was leaving and I admitted the truth, that whether or not I believed in God was between me and God and that it was too hot to praise Jesus and mean it. A very small part of me felt a very minor bit of shame at this but there it was - I had come for a festival not a revival. In your face faith, no matter how sincere or well intentioned, tends to jangle my nerves and annoy me.

Religion has become a matter of being exclusive and more than that, a matter of being "right". Those who don't agree will perish or lose their souls, heaven is unattainable if you're not born again. There's no room for differing views, no allowing for the possibility that there might be some validity in an alternative outlook or belief. In organized religion, the Christian-ness has been scrubbed away from Christian and the very meaning of the word is cloudy. Is it Christian to burn the holy books of other religions to make a questionable point? Is it Christian to force feed salvation to the masses? Is it Christian to condemn those who don't celebrate the way we do? I suppose some would say yes, by all means, recruit and convert for Jesus at any cost as long as you're selective about it. I have a suspicion that Jesus might not agree.

And so I trudge home with so called worship songs ringing in my ears, pondering the difference between religion and faith, between religion and spirituality, between spirituality and faith, and thinking that maybe in the long run, none of matters in the slightest. Whatever waits in the afterlife - if there is an afterlife - is likely laughing at all of us anyway and biding its time. Faith, like conversations between a lawyer and a client, is privileged and private.
Salvation is personal and being born once was more than enough for me. When religious fever infects politics and social programs and human rights, there isn't much worth praying for save the destruction of non-believers and I don't know a single religion preaching that brand of hatred.

So if you believe in God, make some noise. But do it quietly.