Right. Because Whatthefuck.com is the place someone would go to get a spiritual pat on the back for being a good Christian. I'm sure there are MUCH more predictable and fruitful venues. Perhaps she just got excited about attending an event in the same way we'd get excited about attending a concert or a party or a social gathering and wanted to share her excitement with others--her friends.
What I love about whatthefuck is that it's a forum for a broad continuum of ideas and ideals and everyone is open to debate. I'm intrigued, however, that Skittles post brought about a slew of comments on the futility of her venture while no one said "hey! have fun!" We're so quick to judge without pausing to think about how interesting it is that one member of our community is trying to be active about her belief system instead of sitting around waxing philosophically about it or pushing it on other people. I have come across a lot of judgmental, biased, and hypocritical Christians in my lifetime, and while Skittles is open about her beliefs and her involvement in her church community, I haven't seen her pushing her doctrines down anyone's throat or looking down her nose at anyone. Yet we're so quick to jump on her for simply expressing excitement about her involvement in this activity.
Is one fund raising activity going to stop world hunger? Of course not. And I'm pretty sure no one participating in that 30 hour famine believes that either. But even if the gesture is little more than acknowledging a festering wound in the human spirit, do we have a right to crush that gesture under a heel of cynicism and negativity? Technically, yes. We have a right. I just have always felt it better to encourage positive actions than douse hope under a deluge of negativity. Pragmatism is essential for living, but so is hope. If there's no reason to hope, why not just shoot all the starving, the sick, the poor, and let the wealthy and fed go on their merry way? Of course I'm dealing in hyperbole here, but my point is essentially this--we're all sitting at home with shelter, food, clothing and internet. While we sit around philosophizing about it, Skittles is dealing with the issue in her own way, and she has a right to do so without us all raining on her parade.
As far as biblical schizophrenia, yes, the bible verbatim contradicts itself. You can sit here and spew off countless biblical quotes at me, and I will agree, rather than deny that they contradict one another. But not every Christian is a carbon copy of what you see on the page. I'd never assert that every Republican or every Canadian, every black man, or every math student is a carbon copy of one another, so it boggles my mind that Christians are pigeon holed into a stereotype. Sure, there are a TON of very public and even very private Christians who miss the point and broadcast bigotry, negativity, and self-righteousness. But the Christian community is as diverse as any other and there are a LOT of Christians who spend every day trying to find the right way to live, to take care of others, to encourage without infringing upon or suffocating the beliefs of others while still following the nudging part of their hearts that keep them trying to fill Christ's sandals.
Back to my original point, if we can't see beyond the social futility of ANY fundraiser to solve world hunger (you can't put a band-aid on cancer and expect everything to be ok), maybe we can at least acknowledge the personal benefits undertaking such a venture has on developing character, discipline, and conscientiousness. And I am more impressed with Skittles desire to support her youth group in this than I am in her own personal venture. From someone who's spent a lot of time in the past working with youth, it takes a lot of personal energy, time, and effort to organize or help run this sort of event. It seems like not eating would be a simple thing--just don't eat. But the behind the scenes is a lot of work; and often work that doesn't get acknowledged by anyone. From my own personal experiences, I'd venture a guess that Skittles does a lot at her church that no one sees, no one acknowledges, no one rewards and are her private offerings to a silent God.
But I didn't realize being a Christian meant we had to hide enthusiasm. I'll have to make a note of that in the margins . . . and promptly ignore it. I refuse to hide my enthusiasm about anything i'm passionate about, and my faith is no exception.
Chuckster, I don't expect or ask that you pat Skittles on the back, and certainly not me for that matter. But why not afford her the right to speak her enthusiasm?
Just another senseless rambling from your friendly neighborhood Bluebird. :) *yeah you know you like it*
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