Rodney

Every times I hear somebody say "Christians believe...," or ask "What do Christians believe," I ask, "Which Christians?" Because there is plenty of disagreement.

In the public eye, evangelicals currently hold center stage, because they are active and growing in numbers and increasingly involved directly in politics. For many people not familiar with Christianity, "Christian" means evangelical.

But that's not the only kind of Christian there is, and the only kind of Christian belief there is. The standard packet of conservative/evangelical beliefs aren't necessarily held by the majority of Christians.

And _this_ Christian says: the Bible is not the holy and inviolate word of God; it is, instead, the spiritual history and collected spiritual wisdom of a people. And there is much in it to live by, adhere to, and adopt the spirit of.

We take these old lessons and try to apply their spirit to the modern day; but to many of us that does _not_ mean following unthinking allegiance to 3000-year-old rules that were developed in a particular time by a particular culture.

That's the other type of Christian. The only "slippery slope" to this type of Christian is to fail to see Christ in new situations, and to insist that God's approval can only be won by blind adherence to strict rules set for old situations.