Breaking from old perceptions

By guest author Aaron Smith

I was fascinated when I saw this headline on npr.org:  ‘We Hurt A Lot Of People,’ Westboro Pastor’s Granddaughter Says.

Two people bravely leave a hateful, oppressive, allegedly Christian group, trying to right the wrongs of their past.  This made me think about how I have changed my mind, in a Christian context, regarding attitudes I’ve harbored in the past towards groups and lifestyles.  While I would not say that the culture of my upbringing even touches that of the Westboro Baptist Church, some sentiments I had in my younger years were distantly related.

Sometimes I wonder if I those attitudes were solely products of my environment and conservative suburban 80’s era childhood, and now my new environment has allowed me to overcome those notions.  Perhaps a sillier thought I have is wondering if I am a better or worse Christian for seeing certain “moralities” through a justice-over-written-rule Kohlberg’s Sixth Stage lens. 

Photo by cometstarmoon