"Lest you become like like little robots ..."

Sometimes I think that Christians have given up the faculty of their intellect. I'll give you an example: I was recently reading the posts of a debate on same-sex marriage when I became fed up with most of the arguments that the Christians were making. The bulk of their arguments were, "don't do it, because the Bible told us not to." It was as if all these kids placed their brains on a shelf, and submitted the Bible in its place. Don't get me wrong, I understand that we are called to put on the mind of Christ; I understand that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. However, Jesus did not say that "unless we become like little robots we will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

The impression that I get when I read some arguments made by Christians is that being a Christian implies that our blind faith is more ignorant than childlike. Ignorant in the sense that we neglect to want to understand the "why's" and the "why not's" of our Christian faith. We do things because we are supposed to, not because we freely (that is, with the full use of our intellect) choose it. I am tired of reading arguments made by Christians that lack credibility and "meat."

We have to be very careful, because it is this type of ignorance that leads to strict fundamentalism -- the type of fundamentalism that ruins relationships, builds walls instead of destroying them, and leads to a hatred of anything that is "not with us." I don't know who said it, but the following quote certainly convicts us on this issue: "The leading cause of atheism in the world today is Christians ..." It is my conviction that this type of fundamentalism is where atheism is nourished. Something must change. We ought to make a stronger attempt to discover the riches of our Christian faith; we need to become living witnesses of our dynamic, transforming, and challenging faith. Our intellectual ascent to the "why's" and the "why not's" of our faith ought to rise up in adoration of our loving Father, just as our hearts ascend to the beauty, love, and grace of the one "whom our hearts love." I will contend that our blind ignorance will continue to present Christianity as unattractive, tasteless, and dry. After all, who wants to be a robot anyway?