I Am Tired Of Truculent Christians

Of course, the very title of this post makes ME a truculent Christian of sorts, and so I must be tired of myself. Which I am, so there. But setting that little irony aside…

Here we are, in the long shadow of yet another Christian Holy Day. Easter looms on the horizon, supposedly the zenith of our religious observances. It’s theoretically the day we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, the propitiation of our sins and the new freedom we have to speak directly with God as God’s redeemed children, no longer fallen from Grace.

In practice it seems to have become yet another excuse for American Christians of a certain flavour to stomp about like spoiled children, demanding that everyone everywhere say “Easter” instead of “Spring”. Now, I admit that I understand part of where they’re coming from. I found this Christmas season slightly rankling in the marked absence of the word ‘Christmas’ and the overly pointed misuse of the word ‘holiday’.

But to me there is a difference, however subtle, between wistful mentioning and temper-fit throwing. And over in the world of Facebook I’m constantly being assaulted by temper-fits in forums and status updates. People are announcing their intentions to quit activities if Easter isn’t officially acknowledged, even though said activities are wholly secular in nature. Every three or four hours a status update comes along, belched from the bowels of whatever trollish creature makes up those annoying viral paragraphs. It says something along the lines of “I am [declarative statement of strident nature]. I [believe in or want] this particular thing that many of you do not find appropriate or appealing. Only 7% of people will keep this statement in their status for an hour. If you are one of those who agree with this statement, copy and post to your status.”

For awhile there, those statuses were innocuous about loving fathers or supporting cancer awareness. (It’s apparently now quasi-heroic to merely mention cancer to another person.) Now they’re all about not being afraid to say “Easter”.

Good for you. Easter Easter Easter Easter. Now how about you quit quibbling over other people’s word choice and start living your life as though you have the joy of salvation NOT the bitterness of your old self? Because your very truculence belies the point of this holiday.