Tag: christianfaith

Featured, Grace, Jesus

Is your God big enough to handle your doubts?

4 min read

Abraham and Sarah are old, like really old. God appears to Abraham and tells him the most ridiculous thing ever. You will have a son. Abraham bursts out laughing. Like Abraham really laughs until he collapses on the floor. Like seriously, Lord? Are you for real? Nah, you are joking. Do you know how old I am? Have you seen Sarah lately? Dude, Sarah is old, like old. Everything with her has gone south. Are you kidding me? Abraham informs God (God rolls his eyes) that he already has a son. Why do you need to give me another one? I have this one. Where is he? Bring him here? God tells Abraham, Nah, this one will not be your heir. Isaac the son I will give to you will. (Genesis 17:15-22)

The same Abraham had thirteen years before slept with his maid to satisfy Sarah’s whims. A passive man and adulterer. Many years preceding this event, he had conspired with his ‘sister’ to lie to Pharaoh. God gave Abraham a sinner made righteous a promise, a magnanimous promise.

Sometime later, God appears to Abraham and Sarah. Abraham is savvy enough to know these aren’t the usual guests. He says to Sarah quick make some roti (chapati) and let me get the young man to make some beef curry. They make the dishes and serve the guests. Like a butler, Abraham stands silently as his guests eat. As they eat, the main guest asks where Sarah is. Sarah is in the tent, eavesdropping. The guest says to Abraham, next time this year, Sarah, your wife will have a son. Unlike Abraham, Sarah laughs within herself. “Like I am old, but have you seen Abraham? Can I even enjoy making love? I am too old for such things”, Sarah laughs. The laugh wasn’t audible, but God heard it. Why did Sarah laugh? The guest asks Abraham. Is anything too difficult for the Lord to do? But Sarah denies it, making her a liar. (Genesis 18:1-15)

Sarah doubts, is a liar and thirteen odd years before she made Abraham sleep with Hagar and give her a son. Years preceding this incident, she was a co-conspirator with her husband when they lied to Pharaoh. Sarah is a sinner indeed.

Continue reading “Is your God big enough to handle your doubts?”

Schulter Etyang
Culture, Featured, Jesus

On the incompatibility of democracy and religion

6 min read

My second post of the year is on democracy and religion. What a way to start the year! I should post on New Year’s resolutions and how to make sure you fulfill them or how to fast effectively in this fasting season—the foods to eat or not, the jokes to crack or not, the places to visit, how to stay off social media, etc. I should share our moving home stories with you, the brutal blows this home keeps giving us. How we spent the Christmas season and New Year’s excited yet exhausted from the move. But nah, I’m writing to you about the world as I see it.

Hey, enjoy the ride. You are here you may as well read the post.

Here we go.

Last year, I wrote a short Facebook post pointing out India’s path to religious ethnocentrism—a phenomenon that’s taking place in supposedly democratic countries—countries that are supposed to allow divergent views to flourish within the parameters of law and reason, the cornerstones of democracy.

Here is the post

India, the world’s most populous democracy is trying its hand on RELIGIOUS ETHNOCENTRISM. Where Hinduism (religion) is going to be used as a criterion for nationality (Indian) excluding 200 million Indian Muslims and 28 million Indian Christians and others.

Same as Trump with Make America Great Again.

Same as Johnson with Brexit.

Same as ISIS with Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi

Same as Hungary with Viktor Orbán. And the list goes on.

The results? Religious intolerance and persecution of the “other”.

What say you proponents of religion in a democracy?  Are they compatible?

As usual, such posts elicit passionate responses. A Christian brother responded passionately objecting to me equating President Trump to ISIS and Al Shabab. He argued and rightly so that Trump hadn’t committed atrocities as ISIS and Al Shabab have. We continued to engage over Facebook messenger and this year he sent me a lengthy response.

As I responded to him, I thought there was enough material in my responses to turn them into blog posts. I have redacted his name and altered or made clear some points.

This was his initial response to my post.

I don’t know what Johnson and Orban stand for or what you don’t like about them, but mentioning Trump along side (sic) ISIS, Boko Haram and Al-Shabab is very absurd to me. Mention to me one thing he did that lines up with what these other thugs did. I’m going to say something now and you or other people that read this may roll eyes and think I’ve gone nuts . . . . Trump is the best thing that happened to America in a long long (sic) time and he is actually just as he promised making (sic) America great again. He is definitely not the most eloquent of presidents, doesn’t have the ‘qualifications’ as we know, not a good history, he is rugged, with too many rough edges but he is God’s tool at these season  (sic) to disrupt and keep at bay the plans of wickedness and evil that wants (sic) to sweep over the US. I hope he wins one more term and you will see after he’s gone and if a democrat (sic) takes over, that’s the beginning of the downhill into the drains for America. There you go, I said it!!! Pick up the stones now people.

Continue reading “On the incompatibility of democracy and religion”

Schulter Etyang