Sermons

Sun, Sep 13, 2020

Do I really have to?

Series:Sermons
Duration:13 mins 14 secs

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity”.

 

Martin Luther King jr said that in relation to the attitude of white Americans––

and the American church in general––

towards the plight of African-Americans in his day.

But it’s an expression of exasperation that has always resonated with me.

Let me be honest––

I simply can’t stand ignorance.

Maybe it’s the academic in me… 

but I can’t cope with deliberate…

wilful…

intentional…

unquestioning ignorance––

and certainly not ignorance that has harmful consequences;

the sort of ignorance that leads to injustice, oppression, marginalisation, and persecution;

the sort of ignorance that hurts other people.

I get frustrated by the ignorance and stupidity that pervades modern politics––

where everything is reduced to trite slogans.

I get frustrated when people who are not scientists––

and who do not listen to what the overwhelming majority of scientists are saying––

try to foster the notion that anthropogenic climate change is a matter of debate…

when it isn’t.

I get frustrated by people who continually spout anti-vaccination rubbish––

which has been categorically debunked time and time again––

but they know more than microbiologists and immunologists…

because they read something on FaceBook.

And the same could be said of Cov-idiots.

I get frustrated when the same old myths and lies continue to be propagated…

and believed…

in relation to asylum seekers;

namely, that they’re just economic migrants, not real refugees;

that they are, somehow, “illegal”;

that there is some imaginary “queue”;

or that the inhumane and illegal policies of successive governments this century can be justified…

when the facts, to the contrary, are widespread and abundantly clear.

 

And nowhere… 

perhaps… 

do I think we see the problem of sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity more…

than in the area of religion.

I get really exasperated by the ignorance that so often passes for religious belief:

the unquestioning, uncritical, literalist, and fundamentalist readings of holy texts;

the simplistic and anachronistic theological presumptions;

and the sectarian and separatist ideologies.

And I’m not talking about any one religion here.

We see those sorts of attitudes in all of the major faiths––

in militant, fundamentalist Islam…

in Zionism…

and in conservative Christianity.

But perhaps, not surprising, for me it’s those conservative… 

literalist… 

fundamentalist expressions of Christianity that bother me the most:

the Westboro Baptists Churches…

the Pat Robertsons…

the Danny Nalliahs…

the Anglican Archbishops of Sydney…

and the Fred Niles of the world––

not to mention all of those “fruitcakes” from the American religious right.

Not only does their ignorance give the rest of us Christians a bad name…

but their pronouncements perpetuate a fundamentally false––

no, a fundamentally blasphemous–– 

image of God.

I have no time for those conservative Christians who send me emails or ring my phone…

trying to tell me that–– 

because of my views on any number of issues––

I’m betraying the Christian faith as they see it;

or, subtly or not so subtly, that I’m going to hell.

I have no time for those who try to contact me to ask me to join in debates about “homosexuality and the church”––

as if that were a matter for debate.

I have no time for those who send me all sorts of garbled garbage…

believing themselves to be “prophets appointed by God”…

and simply assuming that I would welcome and support their drivel… 

because I’m the minister at a Baptist church.

Their ignorance–– 

while sincere––

and their stupidity–– 

while conscientious––

is still ignorant and stupid…

and it’s dangerous.

 

All of which means… 

I find today’s reading from Romans a little bothersome.

“Welcome those who are weak in faith”

says Paul.

Don’t quarrel with them––

I have no problem with that––

and don’t despise them or pass judgment on them.

And that, for me, is where it gets hard.

Welcome those who are weak in faith…

those who are sincerely ignorant…

those who are conscientiously stupid…

and show them hospitality––

because that’s what the language of “welcome” meant in Paul’s day.

That means, treat them with honour and respect––

as if they were your children, your brother, or your father.

Now, of course, many of us can have very spirited arguments with our children, brothers, and fathers…

who can, also, be sincerely ignorant or conscientiously stupid.

But that isn’t Paul’s point––

quite the opposite.

Welcome them, he says, and treat them like family––

that is, treat them with love.

Don’t treat them like the dangerous fools that they are…

but, rather, treat them with respect.

That’s really what Paul is saying here.

And, frankly, I find that hard.

How do I treat such a person with respect…

and with love…

without condoning their willful ignorance and stupidity…

or without having other people assume that I share their beliefs?

At what point is it right not to associate with such people…

so that we––

and the God whom we believe in and follow––

are not tarred with the same brush?

Surely that, in our day and age––

in the face of all of the dangers of religious fundamentalism––

is the more pressing question?

 

And yet, while there is a time when we do need to do that––

when, consciously and clearly, we do need to disassociate ourselves from sincere religious ignorance…

and the danger that it poses––

nonetheless, Paul does have a point.

It’s not our place to judge.

It’s not helpful simply dismissing such people as ‘nutjobs’ or ‘fruitcakes’.

It’s not helpful, even, to harp on about their sincere ignorance…

and conscientious stupidity.

As Mother Theresa once said, 

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them”.

They may be ignorant.

They may even be stupid.

But that shouldn’t change the way that we respond to them.

 

But what does that really mean in practice?

 

Take the example of Zak Ebrahim.

His father was a fanatical Muslim––

who became a terrorist…

and was gaoled for his role in the nineteen-ninety-three bombing of the World Trade Centre.

He tried to bring up his son in an atmosphere of blind hate…

but Zak broke free of that…

and has become a staunch advocate for non-violence and peace.

And he suggests that the way to overcome violence and hate is…

“humanizing your opponents, recognizing the needs and fears you share with them, working toward reconciliation rather than revenge”.

I think that’s the point that Paul is making here.

When we humanise those who are different;

when we try to understand their point of view––

however ignorant or stupid it may seem to be;

when we recognise the fears that underpin their belief and the need that it meets…

then, perhaps, we can begin to bridge the gulfs that divide us.

When we treat them as people…

and understand why they believe what they do…

then we open up the possibility of change…

even if we oppose––

with every last breath and ounce of strength––

any words…

or ideas…

or actions…

or behaviours…

that would harm other people.

As Paul reminds us…

we are called, as followers of Christ, not to judge others…

but to strive for reconciliation and peace…

and to love.

And love, in the end, must always win out.

 

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