What if what they say is true…
I remember a praise song from years ago while working with Christian youth groups and summer camps. The refrain was “what if what they say is true”. It was written from the point of view of a doubter of Jesus and the Christian faith, who begins to wonder if the “miracles” of Jesus Christ are real. The music is beautiful, and comes together with a very soft chorale. I recall sitting in rooms with my eyes closed, humming along (my singing voice is awful) and feeling the spirit of God.
What always bothered me about the song, however, was the way that it uses a fear tactic. The song suggests that something bad would happen if a person did not accept the Christian Faith; in other words, “what if I was wrong to not be a Christian”, or “I have been ignoring the truth that these Christians know”. I never did like the way that it was trying to lead people into a belief in God not through the wonderment and majesty of God, but for the fear of being wrong. What’s more, the song was being used with teenagers and young adults to pull them into the faith.
In Bill Maher’s recent documentary, Religulous he also encounters people who seem to cling to their faith in Christianity not because of how beautiful religion it is (and even as a Baha’i I must admit that is a beautiful religion), but out of fear of what would happen if they did not.
This concept was one of the things that led me away from Christianity. I did not like being told, and being expected to tell others that the only way to God was through Jesus Christ and the Christian Church. As a Baha’i, while I do believe that Baha’u’llah was the messenger of God for this age and that people should know about Him, I know that declaring oneself as a Baha’i is not the only way to God. There are many beautiful religions on this Earth, and I believe they all come from the same God. It is a shame that some have used religion as a method of dividing rather than uniting the human race.
> (and even as a Baha’i I must admit
> that is a beautiful religion),
I think that "even" is a typo here. Abdu'l-Baha says:
"the breezes of Christ are still blowing; His light is still shining; His melody is still resounding; … and it is the same with those souls who are under His protection and are shining with His light.
(Some Answered Questions, 152)
Touché – often when asked if I believe in Christ when explaining the Baha'i Faith, I must tell people that I cannot be a Baha'i without believing in Christ. For all my talk of viewing religion's as one, I inadvertently showed that it is easier said than done to not see such divisions.
Thanks for the beautiful music, your comments are much needed. They are sad but true. Looking forward to meeting you. Bahai from Sun Prairie