Am I the only one feeling like the anti-Christian rhetoric is ramping up? I admit to being a bit sensitive after last week’s Chick-fil-A dust-up. This weekend pushed my limit as an atheist twitterer gave a lecture on “The Real Jesus” who was simply a Jew who changed faith. It’s true that it doesn’t help that the left seems to embrace anything Islamic while openly denigrating Christians. But then there’s this article by Mary Elizabeth Williams in Salon attacking Olympic Gold Medalist Gabby Douglas after her win, not because of doping, or cheating or scandal, but because of her faith. Seriously.
If her performance in the women’s individual all-around didn’t blow your mind, you cannot possibly have been paying attention. Yet after her victory, one of the first responses that truly resonated for me was from a colleague who noted, “I would like her more if she were not so, so, so into Jesus.” Which raises the question – what is Jesus going to do now for Gabby Douglas’ career?
Jesus is a genie without the bottle. Didn’t you know? If you’re faithful enough, your wish comes true! Ugh. Talk about not getting it. The arrogance of people who don’t understand faith and attack it is embarrassing. But EmBeeDub is just getting warmed up. Look! Those Christians are everywhere!
So jam-packed is this year’s roster with them that Douglas didn’t even make the cut for the Christian Post’s “10 Christian Athletes to Watch.” But her newly minted status as a champion and her unguarded outspokenness about her faith are going to give her a new platform from which to preach. After her win Thursday, Douglas said, “I give all the glory to God. It’s kind of a win-win situation. The glory goes up to him and the blessings fall down on me.”
-snip-
And that clearly authentic image of a hardworking girl with strong values makes her a natural icon to her fellow Christians, just as it makes the somewhat less faithful uncomfortable.
At that point she really uncorks:
We are a nation that is lousy with Christians — a fair number of whom are not nearly as nice as Gabby Douglas. A lot of them aren’t super-clear on the whole “freedom of religion” thing and can get pretty gung-go about trying to shut down people with different beliefs. A lot of them are insistent that everybody in the world should conform to what they know for an absolute fact is the one and only truth. So even when Douglas is merely expressing her personal philosophy, posting #christmotivation quotes in her Twitter feed or talking about how she meditates daily on Scripture, there’s always that lurking hint of proselytism. Dear Christians: It’s a fine line between sharing your beliefs and selling them.
Very open minded. I read that and receive a simple message: Shut up about faith, Christians. Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see Mary Elizabeth Williams describe how she is forced to read Douglas’ twitter feed. If she doesn’t like it, why read it? Because tolerant EmBeeDub wants to silence her, that’s why.
But it gets better. In the very next paragraph, the poster child for not-getting-it, who just admonished Christians for not getting it, goes on to declare herself “Christian” before spending two paragraphs in an unintentional exposition of why she is completely clueless about Christianity, faith and God.
As a Christian myself (albeit one of those really freaky papist kinds), I’ve often wondered what it is about Christians like Douglas that unnerves me so.
Yep, she’s a concern troll. “Hey I’m a christian, too. So listen to what I’m saying because if anyone knows, a christian like me knows, and those Christians are freaky. Got it?”
And check out these logical gymnastics:
I believe in a grace that gives me the strength to muscle through the sufferings, and the gratitude to appreciate the blessings. That’s why the subtle implication, when an athlete or an artist says that God was with them on a winning day, seems so strange, and why, I imagine, it rings so hollow for others.
So, after acknowledging grace giving you strength and the gratitude to appreciate the blessings, you denigrate athletes who acknowledge that grace gave them strength while they’re expressing gratitude and appreciation for the blessings. Very compelling. This lady is a mental pretzel whose weak definition of faith is nothing more than a “feel good” pabulum that allows her to live without any critical reflection whatsoever while denigrating others. What’s glaringly obvious is that she isn’t a Christian.
Great article!