Christians in the park

   Christians make me nervous. Christians in large groups, celebrating their Christianity make me even more nervous. Christians in large groups, celebrating their Christianity in public parks make me really nervous.
   There were a bunch of Christians doing this very thing this past Saturday morning in Victoria Park. I was running through the park in the morning and heard some music coming from the band shell, wondered what was going on, and then remembered---oh yeah... Christians.
   The fellow who'd organized this group of Christians had been in the paper and on T.V. recently because he'd been asking city hall to raise a Christian flag on city hall property to mark this special day and gathering. I guess city hall had originally said yes but then changed its mind. This may have had something to do with controversial remarks this fellow had made about kicking Muslims who wanted to practice Sharia law out of the country. This same fellow coolly predicted there would be 5,000 people in the park on the weekend to help celebrate.
   You could almost predict the outcome of all this. Nowhere near 5,000 people showed up, it was probably more like 500. Hecklers made an appearance and a couple of women started necking, provoking a response from the guy who arranged the whole thing. And that was about it, as I understand. There is a danger, of course, in reporting more or less only what the paper reported but it did seem like one man's brief moment in the sun, in the name of the Son.
   When thinking of large groups of historically organized Christians I am hard-pressed to come up with examples that don't cause my emotions to run the gamut from mild nervousness to a case of the full-blown heebie jeebies. The list, without much thought and as quick as they popped into my head, includes the Ku Klux Klan, the Amish, Mormons, Nazis, the Spanish Inquisition, the Catholic church, not to mention the Crusaders, the Salem witch hunters and people responsible for the obliteration of the Aztecs, Incas and North American First Nations. Saving the worst til last...T.V. evangelists.
   I imagine if you're a Christian and you're reading this then you're not taking to it too kindly. This doesn't bother me. It doesn't bother me because if you're a true Christian, as I understand it, you have a "turn the other cheek" mentality and will not take me too onerously to task on anything I've said here. By which I mean you won't hit me. Unless, of course, you possibly belong to one of the above groups...
   The fact that Christians make me nervous is a very personal thing and I imagine it stems from the feeling I'm just about to have something foisted on me whenever I'm around them. They occasionally even show up at my door, bearing books or pamphlets, extolling their brand of Christianity. They're harder to get rid of mainly because they're...well...nice. I am at the age now where it seems quite alright to be gruff and non-appreciative of telemarketers, door-to-door sales persons and rude shopkeepers but, because of their niceness, it is harder to be this way with Christians.
   I am one of those people who believe that Jesus may never even have existed, that he is a myth. I say this because there is apparently no secular record of an historical Jesus ever having existed. This statement is refuted all over the place (all you need do is Google "was there an historical Jesus?)  and what you end up with is scholars refuting other scholars so you really need to make up your own mind on this. If there actually was a Jesus, I believe his life was vastly different than the one portrayed in lore. In the two thousand years since he was said to have existed we have had to essentially rely on a word-of-mouth interpretation of the events back in those days. I also know that no two persons' recollection of an event will be the same and that no subsequent re-telling of a story will tell the same story exactly all over again. This is why I have doubts. I trust people as far as I can throw them. Because they are people.
   The funny part about all this is that I totally respect much of what Christianity stands for and much of what is said in the Bible. A lot of it makes sense. Jesus and his parables resonate with me. I am a pacifist by nature and appreciate the non-violence talked about in the Bible. My objection to Christianity is when there appears to be an agenda attached to it.
   I object to Christianity being used as motivation for killing people. I object to Christianity being used to make money. I object to it being used as part of a political agenda (see first two objections). I object to it being used as a means toward self-aggrandisement. I object to athletes making stupendous plays and then crossing themselves and pointing to the heavens, as if to give credit to God (unless, of course, they are willing to do the same thing when they drop the game-winning catch...).

   I appreciate people being Christians quietly, going about living virtuous lives with little mention made of their spiritual beliefs. If there is mention made of Jesus Christ it is perhaps because someone asked them, out of curiosity, why they are so happy, or motivated or driven or calm. I think all Christians need to do is "live the life" and I will, over time, lose my nervousness about them!