Final Blog Entry

I don't want to write this blog, anymore.

I started Thinking Through Christianity so I could create a place to have level-headed discussions about Christianity and culture.  I've tried to make a website that Christians and non-Christians could read for a well-balanced view of important issues, but this was a terrible idea.  No one wants that.

I've tried to clear up many misconceptions about Christianity, but I found that people prefer those misconceptions to the truth (because it fuels their own prejudice).  I've asked my fellow Believers to act with love toward non-Christians, but discovered, to my great shame, that many of them prefer to use Christianity as an excuse to be rude to others.  I've pleaded with my friends to stop looking down on certain people just because they watch Foxnews or CNN, but I have failed to convince anyone that this sort of bullying is antithetical to God's command to love our neighbor.

Atheists who visit my site criticize me for my faith.  Christians who come by tell me that they doubt my salvation and think that my version of Christianity is heretical.

Most of my readers are people I know from college who follow my work the same way they follow my Facebook updates.  I appreciate their patronage, but it shows me that the other people who visit my site have no reason to come back.  I've had thousands visit in a single day (when my work was linked to from a better site), but it only drew in crowds of people who criticized me and never came back.  I've succeeded in making people upset with my writing, and that wasn't my goal.

And why are they upset?  Because I won't push their own social-political agendas by calling Obama a secret Muslim terrorist or calling the Tea Party "stupid."  I don't think that being a Christian gives me license to speak hatefully toward those who disagree with me, but that's what people want to hear.

Overall, this site has greatly depressed me.  I have grown weary of hate mail and accusations of heresy (over the silliest things).  While attempting to discuss Faith in a reasonable and mature fashion, I have, instead, attracted the sort of people who don't tolerate that sort of discussion.  Writing this blog has reminded me of just how much hatred is out there and how much a rational thinking Christian is unappreciated. 

I wish I had never begun this project, because it has only made me more aware of the brokenness of our society.  It needs healing, but I have failed to encourage that sort of healing.  Sometimes a person can be sick for so long that they no longer care about getting well, and that's how we are.  We prefer our social divisions and our mutual distrust of each other, and people are not interested in caring about the other person in order to show them love.  People also prefer not to consider difficult questions as they relate to their faith, because these questions challenge them and make them uncomfortable.  As such, the things I have been writing have no place.

So, I plan to stop writing this blog.  I might find inspiration some day and pick it back up, but I probably won't.  Since I enjoy writing, I'll probably start a separate blog to detail my travels and other interesting parts of my life that I want to remember and share with you, but it won't be a place for any serious discussions.

Thanks for reading.  Some of you have gone out of your way to encourage me (you know who you are) and you are very appreciated; I almost stopped writing this a long time ago, but many of you have kept it going with your friendly support.  I just can't handle the negativity that it brings into my life, anymore.  I am encouraged knowing that Jesus Christ has promised to make all things new, because it means that this broken world will one day be fixed.  When that happens I'll have a lot to write about.

Bye!