Most vacations involve some sort of trip journal for me… as
this is an atypical vacation, this will undoubtedly be an atypical trip
journal.
My first observation is the Irish are very welcoming. Each person I ask directions from stops and
answers. Of course I have almost died 3
times while crossing the road (I keep forgetting they drive on the left side of
the road here).
The pub conversations are lively and engaging. Most people ask me “What brings you to
Ireland?” I still don’t have a good
answer. Once, I tried the honest answer,
“I read some guys book. I liked it. I met some people on the Internet, and we all
decided to meet up in Belfast.” His
response was, “I hope they don’t kill you.
The Internet is full of crazy people and flying across the ocean to meet
an author sounds like you are crazy.” I
admire the Irish dry humor.
Last night was our first event for IoG. We met The Duke of York pub to get to know
each other. Given the conversations,
this is going to be an interesting week.
The diversity of people here is really phenomenal.
Observation #1: First rule of IoG: Don’t talk about IoG.
I hope my journal will not violate anybody’s trust. One of my first observations was many of the
participants were not comfortable with others knowing they were at this
event. Not all, but enough that posting
names & photos of participants would be poor judgment. The reasons seems to fall into two camps:
1) Some of us haven’t come out of the closet yet about our doubt.
Regardless of if I call it “emergent”, “progressive” or “doubt”…
many participants have friends and colleagues in mainstream Christendom that
would judge them as “unholy” for participating in an event like this. Sadly, I’ve seen too many people who explore
this “emergent” faith trolled by mainstream Christians on the Internet. Some of the participants at this conference
work in mainstream Christianity and are frankly scared of the Internet trolls
who don’t show grace.
While I’ve never been trolled for this… I can personally
identify with the concerns. I came out
to my parents (conservative Christians) about my emergent faith earlier this
week when they asked me “what are you going to Ireland for?” The instant
response was “I’ve read about emergent Christianity”… we immediately moved to
the don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy and started talking about the weather. My heart
is heavy that I can’t have a real conversation about what I’m going through
with people I love.
2)
Concerned colleagues will think they are a crazy
Christian
Some of the participants, myself included, have circles of
friends and co-workers that look down on somebody with faith. I love where I work. I work at one of the
most tolerant places in the world. A
public University. People will fight
openly for equality of any race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion… any
religion except Christianity.
Christianity is too “mainstream” and frankly has done some pretty
horrible shit in the name of God. Where
I work the only label that really causes reputational harm is “Christian”, the
other labels are badges of honor and intellect.
Observation #2: Keep an open mind
I had some mind-blowing conversations last night. One moment I was talking with an individual who
asserted witnessing a miracle. The next
I was talking to a person who doubted the Christianity they grew up in, and
flew here because she wanted a safe place where she could ask questions and
experience her doubt without judgment. I
pray that participants will grow comfortable with their doubts. I pray they will keep an open mind. I pray they will return home and be a safe
harbor for others to express their doubts.
God is big enough for our doubts.
I’m pretty sure he can handle it.
Observation #3: Christians in Rehab
Everybody I talked to last night had a story that went
something like “I was a pastor…” or “I grew up a fundamentalist…” or “My
parents thought me Christianity…” and then ended with “… I have doubts about
the rules and rituals but still believe in the same God”.
I only got to talk to about 10% of the participants… but I
wonder if anybody goes from agnostic/atheist into ___ (what do you call
whatever this is? Progressive?
Emergent? Radical?)… or if people
in whatever this is are just Christians in Rehab.
Enough for now… I’m sitting at a café and it is obvious the waitress
wants me to turn off my computer… How American of her…
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