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I'm currently enrolled in a highschool/college online program thing that's supposed to be Christian. It's complicated to explain, and when people ask "Where do you go to school nowadays?" It's awkward because I have to say, "I'm taking classes online".
But that's not the full story. I'm taking classes online...primarily meant for homeschoolers.
For background, I was never homeschooled. I'm from the Southeastern US, where everybody's a cultural Christian. So for elementary school I was able to go to a "Christian" school and everything was fine. In middle and high school I went to a school that was more secular but gave lip service to Christianity, being in the South where such things are sort of required by cultural consensus. I got put into this program due to some of my behaviorial issues and academic stress.
So you'd think we'd have pretty much the same values, right? Well, for the most part, yes. But where we disagree has brought difficulties. I'm not in danger of being kicked out for having the "wrong" views, but it's led to some heated debates in the past. I think it mainly stems from the fact that as homeschoolers, they're taught differently from what I've been taught and they never really had to "discern" messages given to them. Like they believe everything they hear because they've never been given "wrong" wisdom. And yet they seem pretty normal, it's just that I'm in a minority opinion.
The thing is, I used to be this staunch conservative in high school, but getting out of that environment made me more moderate. On top of that, I finally came to Christ for real, rather than just being a cultural Christian, and despite having gotten out of a depression based on being lonely, I'm glad that I wasn't the "conservative" I was before (I would have just been an embarrassment to real conservatives).
Here's a good list of our disagreements:
1. They're homeschooled, like I said before. That means that they know all about co-ops, youth groups, and...courting. And I think some of them like Quiverfull and have 8 or so siblings, which I think is just an absurd amount of children. And all based on ONE VERSE TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT!!
2.They are young-earth creationists. I eventually decided to take the view of theistic evolution since I found it to be more sound than young-earth creationism. Hearing about its origins with Ellen White helped solidify this view. After Christmas break the class has to basically criticize evolution, so this is sort of a sticky situation for me.
3.They believe the Crusades and other related events were "the will of God". Yes, I know, history tells us that the Crusades made the Byzantine Empire weaker and the Ottomans conquered them more easily because the West had weakened them. But that's not what they were taught. It's a similar story with stuff like Columbus and Cortes. They think that even though the leaders may have behaved a bit inappropriately, they still prefer to whitewash them and accuse anyone who wants to criticize them as just trying to discredit Christianity. Personally, I think it's best to be objective about history, but instead they want to give what they think is "a biblical view", which basically translates to saying that any criticisms of this or that event in which Christians look bad are mostly unfounded. Sometimes they have good points with this (I agree in that secular academia has definitely whitewashed Islam and is unfair to Christianity), but I think it's wrong to respond to a double standard with ANOTHER double standard.
4. They make us do projects criticizing other religions. I don't have a problem with this per se, and I understand the point of it. But sometimes the criticisms seem to be nothing more than "This religion is bad because it isn't like Christianity", and other forms of circular reasoning. I would rather criticize doctrines, theology, and the outcomes of adhering to these things. They'd take that, too, but sometimes it seems like they will get wrapped up in saying that this or that is just superstitious. Like it's more, "THEY BELIEVE IN DEMONS!" or, "the Bible says not to do this thing that they're doing!" Well, DUH. And plus, saying that "the Biblical worldview is superior" just seems arrogant to me. I'd rather say "more satisfying" because I believe that's true, as a Christian.
5. They are (almost) all WASPS. This all fine by me, but what it leads to for these people is this sense that "Western civilization is 'Christian'. Western civ. is 'the best' because its people are Christians"...well, what about the other people in the world? Are there no Christians outside the Anglo-sphere? That's not literally true, of course, but it's just arrogant to assume that just because England and America were prosperous that it's because they were Christian, or that God has "blessed" America/England. So, He's blessed JUST THEM and NO ONE ELSE (but Israel)?!?! And you can't just assume that the Anglosphere has been 100% Christian all the time! What about all the times that the West WASN'T being very Christian. Hypocrisy on the part of a society is kind of inevitable. I, on the other hand, am cautious about idealizing and whitewashing parts of history. It's just dishonest. As a Southerner, I know that even though my culture is nominally Christian, that doesn't make us perfect or blessed. We're poor, have the highest drunk driving and teen pregnancy rates in the country, etc. We have a Christian consensus, but how come WE aren't on top in our nation? Where's our blessing? Oh, wait, that's right. That's not how God operates anymore!
6. They're all these staunch conservatives (like I used to be). It's just repugnant, hearing them say, "Oh, I agree with you, we Christians shouldn't take sides in politics", and then say in the same breath, "Those liberals are so sinful and evil! Christians should all vote Republican!" And they seem to think that Christians NEED to get into politics. No, they don't! I was "into politics" for a while, and it drove me insane and made me bitter and depressed. I will never go back into politics again!
I'd love some non-American Christians to opine on this last one.ard Christians in Europe especially are kind of "undercover" and aren't moralists. Well, we Americans like to pretend that Christians who do that either don't exist or aren't "real" Christians at all. I'm sorry for our America-centrism.
Also, Christians everywhere in the Eastern Hemisphere, I'm sorry that we're not doing enough. Instead of helping you we're just staying in our country, ranting about the horrors of abortion and gay marriage, like they're the most sinful things EVER. I'm also sorry that we're ignorant of our faith's roots and history.
7. (Most of them) are strict Protestants. The kind that think their denomination is the "most true" and hail Martin Luther as a hero, in some sense of the word. They acknowledged his anger issues and anti-Semitism, but it was sort of that idea that saintly intercession, monasticism, icon veneration, etc. should not be practiced because it is "un-Biblical". I've learned that there are true Christians all over the denominations, and while they'd admit such as well they'd probably say something like, "but the Protestants are the most Biblical!" They seem to see Protestant individuals as extensions of the Bible, but they'd never literally say this.
And of course as the person with the minority opinion, it's always my fault for stirring up disagreements. It's never anything serious, but I highly doubt any of them would have the gall to apologize for their words or actions. I've had to do it my whole life, and they get off scot-free because they're "good Christians".
How should I deal with these people? The worst part is that the programs exams will be like, "List five good things about the Crusades", or "Say how the Bible supports capitalism" (I didn't even talk about how much they think that capitalism is "supported by the Bible", but you can see how stupid that idea is). Basically, they ask me to give THEIR opinion on some view, like it's the ONLY opinion a Christian can have on the subject. They wouldn't silence me, but when there's one specific view being endorsed by the tests, and I get a bad grade for not answering THEIR WAY, then you can see what the problem is.
It's just tough dealing with these people, my classmates and the teachers in this. On one hand my faith has really been strengthened by these challenges, and I don't think I'd be a legit Christian today if it weren't for this program, but at the same time I don't want to be forced to think their way. I can't. I'm a Christian, just not their brand of Christian.
But that's not the full story. I'm taking classes online...primarily meant for homeschoolers.
For background, I was never homeschooled. I'm from the Southeastern US, where everybody's a cultural Christian. So for elementary school I was able to go to a "Christian" school and everything was fine. In middle and high school I went to a school that was more secular but gave lip service to Christianity, being in the South where such things are sort of required by cultural consensus. I got put into this program due to some of my behaviorial issues and academic stress.
So you'd think we'd have pretty much the same values, right? Well, for the most part, yes. But where we disagree has brought difficulties. I'm not in danger of being kicked out for having the "wrong" views, but it's led to some heated debates in the past. I think it mainly stems from the fact that as homeschoolers, they're taught differently from what I've been taught and they never really had to "discern" messages given to them. Like they believe everything they hear because they've never been given "wrong" wisdom. And yet they seem pretty normal, it's just that I'm in a minority opinion.
The thing is, I used to be this staunch conservative in high school, but getting out of that environment made me more moderate. On top of that, I finally came to Christ for real, rather than just being a cultural Christian, and despite having gotten out of a depression based on being lonely, I'm glad that I wasn't the "conservative" I was before (I would have just been an embarrassment to real conservatives).
Here's a good list of our disagreements:
1. They're homeschooled, like I said before. That means that they know all about co-ops, youth groups, and...courting. And I think some of them like Quiverfull and have 8 or so siblings, which I think is just an absurd amount of children. And all based on ONE VERSE TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT!!
2.They are young-earth creationists. I eventually decided to take the view of theistic evolution since I found it to be more sound than young-earth creationism. Hearing about its origins with Ellen White helped solidify this view. After Christmas break the class has to basically criticize evolution, so this is sort of a sticky situation for me.
3.They believe the Crusades and other related events were "the will of God". Yes, I know, history tells us that the Crusades made the Byzantine Empire weaker and the Ottomans conquered them more easily because the West had weakened them. But that's not what they were taught. It's a similar story with stuff like Columbus and Cortes. They think that even though the leaders may have behaved a bit inappropriately, they still prefer to whitewash them and accuse anyone who wants to criticize them as just trying to discredit Christianity. Personally, I think it's best to be objective about history, but instead they want to give what they think is "a biblical view", which basically translates to saying that any criticisms of this or that event in which Christians look bad are mostly unfounded. Sometimes they have good points with this (I agree in that secular academia has definitely whitewashed Islam and is unfair to Christianity), but I think it's wrong to respond to a double standard with ANOTHER double standard.
4. They make us do projects criticizing other religions. I don't have a problem with this per se, and I understand the point of it. But sometimes the criticisms seem to be nothing more than "This religion is bad because it isn't like Christianity", and other forms of circular reasoning. I would rather criticize doctrines, theology, and the outcomes of adhering to these things. They'd take that, too, but sometimes it seems like they will get wrapped up in saying that this or that is just superstitious. Like it's more, "THEY BELIEVE IN DEMONS!" or, "the Bible says not to do this thing that they're doing!" Well, DUH.
And plus, saying that "the Biblical worldview is superior" just seems arrogant to me. I'd rather say "more satisfying" because I believe that's true, as a Christian.5. They are (almost) all WASPS. This all fine by me, but what it leads to for these people is this sense that "Western civilization is 'Christian'. Western civ. is 'the best' because its people are Christians"...well, what about the other people in the world? Are there no Christians outside the Anglo-sphere? That's not literally true, of course, but it's just arrogant to assume that just because England and America were prosperous that it's because they were Christian, or that God has "blessed" America/England. So, He's blessed JUST THEM and NO ONE ELSE (but Israel)?!?! And you can't just assume that the Anglosphere has been 100% Christian all the time! What about all the times that the West WASN'T being very Christian. Hypocrisy on the part of a society is kind of inevitable. I, on the other hand, am cautious about idealizing and whitewashing parts of history. It's just dishonest. As a Southerner, I know that even though my culture is nominally Christian, that doesn't make us perfect or blessed. We're poor, have the highest drunk driving and teen pregnancy rates in the country, etc. We have a Christian consensus, but how come WE aren't on top in our nation? Where's our blessing? Oh, wait, that's right. That's not how God operates anymore!
6. They're all these staunch conservatives (like I used to be). It's just repugnant, hearing them say, "Oh, I agree with you, we Christians shouldn't take sides in politics", and then say in the same breath, "Those liberals are so sinful and evil! Christians should all vote Republican!" And they seem to think that Christians NEED to get into politics. No, they don't! I was "into politics" for a while, and it drove me insane and made me bitter and depressed. I will never go back into politics again!
I'd love some non-American Christians to opine on this last one.ard Christians in Europe especially are kind of "undercover" and aren't moralists. Well, we Americans like to pretend that Christians who do that either don't exist or aren't "real" Christians at all. I'm sorry for our America-centrism.
Also, Christians everywhere in the Eastern Hemisphere, I'm sorry that we're not doing enough. Instead of helping you we're just staying in our country, ranting about the horrors of abortion and gay marriage, like they're the most sinful things EVER. I'm also sorry that we're ignorant of our faith's roots and history.7. (Most of them) are strict Protestants. The kind that think their denomination is the "most true" and hail Martin Luther as a hero, in some sense of the word. They acknowledged his anger issues and anti-Semitism, but it was sort of that idea that saintly intercession, monasticism, icon veneration, etc. should not be practiced because it is "un-Biblical". I've learned that there are true Christians all over the denominations, and while they'd admit such as well they'd probably say something like, "but the Protestants are the most Biblical!" They seem to see Protestant individuals as extensions of the Bible, but they'd never literally say this.
And of course as the person with the minority opinion, it's always my fault for stirring up disagreements. It's never anything serious, but I highly doubt any of them would have the gall to apologize for their words or actions. I've had to do it my whole life, and they get off scot-free because they're "good Christians".
How should I deal with these people? The worst part is that the programs exams will be like, "List five good things about the Crusades", or "Say how the Bible supports capitalism" (I didn't even talk about how much they think that capitalism is "supported by the Bible", but you can see how stupid that idea is
). Basically, they ask me to give THEIR opinion on some view, like it's the ONLY opinion a Christian can have on the subject. They wouldn't silence me, but when there's one specific view being endorsed by the tests, and I get a bad grade for not answering THEIR WAY, then you can see what the problem is.It's just tough dealing with these people, my classmates and the teachers in this. On one hand my faith has really been strengthened by these challenges, and I don't think I'd be a legit Christian today if it weren't for this program, but at the same time I don't want to be forced to think their way. I can't. I'm a Christian, just not their brand of Christian.
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