So we are debating two topics here (1) "anti-Christianity" bias of the "liberal" culture. and (2) self-righteous extremism versus good natured faith and perseverance, right?
(1) On Anti-Christian bias
By and large most people have a hard time living in a world made up of abstract ideas than concrete realities. So it is not so much that Christianity is being rejected as it is some Christians who are being rejected. It just makes it easier for the opinion to be formulated as "anti-Christian".
This is as true for Christianity as it is for all other belief systems. It is unlikely that farmers who sympathized or joined various Communistic uprisings had an understanding of Marx or Engel. Equally, the most ardent opponents of Communism rarely despised the social values and the philosophy of Communism; they hated what the soviet union was doing to its citizens. It is the concrete here-and-now real world outcomes that counts, not the philosophical values.
In America, and in the West in general, "Christianity" has a lot of very bad baggage with it. While Christianity as a doctrine of love and compassion for one's fellow man is a calling that all of us should answer, many of the most predominant Christians have done the opposite and have been next to pure evil. So the question is, what use is a religion that cannot even prevent its dedicated followers from most heinous acts?
In contrast, in the West, Buddhism is golden. I have *never* found an American Buddhist who was not a gentle kind soul (not to mention often well read and well educated). Put religious issues aside, would you prefer to be surrounded by a 100 devout Christians or a 100 Buddhists?
The opposite is true in the far East. Korean and Chinese Christians I have met are very nice people. Likewise, I do not find the pure far east Buddhism as practiced to be particularly noble. The educated "liberal" people in the far east do not find Buddhism such wonderful religion. It carries with it too much baggage for them (not to mention the recent Buddhist monk scandals). Again, it is the real world results that counts.
The "anti-Christian" bias you see is the rejection of the people who represent Christianity and what *they* stand for.
(2) On Extremism
My favorite all time movie trilogy is Godfather. In it you see Michael Corleone transform from a good natured law abiding patriotic idealist into a cold blooded crime boss who even kills his own brother. Near the end of the last episode Michael has a "dialogue" with dead corpse of Don Thomasino, "Why was I so feared and you so loved? I was no less honorable. I wanted to do good. What betrayed me? My mind? My heart?" It is a very good question worth investigation.
By all accounts, Michael was the most noble of all characters in the movie, a reluctant ruler who was passed on the reigns of a kingdom he did not wish to have. But his idealist nature was his downfall. He played the game by the rules and this made him inflexible and inhumane. In contrast his father balanced his ideology with humanity. You can see this even in the opening scene where he strokes a cat. The difference between a "persevering hero" and a "cold blooded monster" is less often the ideology than humanity. Only those who somehow manage to keep a balance between conflicting demands and stay human can claim faith and perseverance. The rest are killing machines.
Sun Tzu |
