Justifying Your Actions

As a child, I was raised attending church. I faithfully attended nearly every Sunday, essentially from the time I was an infant until I graduated from high school. I've attended sporadically since then, although not as faithfully -- and definitely not as much in recent years because I somewhat question religion.

The summer after my sixth grade year, I attended church camp. I remember having a really good time, swimming in the lake, dancing to old country songs, and having a crush on the absolute cutest boy I'd ever laid eyes on, but I don't remember a ton else about camp...except the lyrics to a song we learned: One Tin Soldier.

The chorus of the song still sticks with me today:

"Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away."

The past two weeks have been two of the more difficult weeks I've experienced in recent memory. In fact, I can pretty much say they've been about the worst I've had in years, save for the week we lost Pop.

So, what's the connection between this song and the last two weeks? The person who's made the last two weeks so difficult for me has done so and then used the fact that she's a Christian to defend her actions.

I'm no longer the devout Christian I once was and it's largely because of people like this individual. I have an incredibly difficult time listening to someone claim to be a Christian and then watching them do things that are SO un-Christlike that it's nearly impossible to fathom.

If there truly is a god, I have to believe that, when the judgement day comes, he's going to have a field day with people like this -- those who do horrible things and then claim to be doing them in his name. It's just so wrong.

So, as the song I learned so long ago implies, go ahead and do whatever you will to me...and do it in God's name. Do it. I may never be able to see you encounter the consequences of your actions, but I truly believe that you'll eventually have to answer for your behavior. Somehow, someday, somewhere.