Christianity

Celtic cross

I regard myself as a Mick (a Catholic) but have never had much time for organised religion.

This disdain has been reinforced by the treatment of our local Bishop recently. It's probably a good time, in the light of this, to have a look at the values I regard as Christian, and assess how well I've been living them.

Obviously, readers of this can judge me only by what I post, so you'll have to look at the material below considering content over the years and whether my statements and opinions are consistent with this.

My definition of a Christian -

A Christian lives with joy, laughter, kindness and hard work.

A Christian reaches across colour and class lines.

A Christian risks his/her freedom in an effort to secure justice and peace for all.

A Christian loves respects and listens to children, but does not idolize them, or shelter them from truth.

A Christian challenges comfort, silence, complicity, and the easy way out.

A Christian believes in every person's potential for good, regardless of background or labels.

A Christian encourages everyone to unlearn the violence and greed we have become used to and practice peace making and reconciliation.

A Christian engages in serious study of the gospels, mining their wisdom for tools to dismantle injustice.

Christians dwell in community, living simply and sharing.

Christians struggle towards freedom and work to build a just and peaceful world.

We're frequently reminded that this is a Christian country, often in the context of criticism of other values, specifically those of Muslims. These values should therefore be Australian values.

Bill Morris is a Christian. Maybe that's the problem for the organised church.

What do you reckon?