Chapters 5 and 6

Chapter 5 - I just encountered "chronological snobbery" this past quarter in school in my second writing class that focused on compassion and tolerance in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.  One focus of the reading of this class was the crusades which were painted in the light of being a horrible blemish on the Christian record , and I found myself falling into the trap of apologizing acts such as this.  It is things like the Crusades that are often pointed to when people accuse Christianity of being a religion that causes conflict.  It is unfortunate that often when looking at the issue of the Crusades there is a one sided take that only views the negatives and doesn't look at the Christians who sacrificed so much, and as the author points out some of the Crusaders were compassionate and courageous in their faith.  I think the main reason that Christians fall into this "chronological snobbery" is because they in a sense put blinders and dont fully understand the history behind such acts, leading them to apologize for things like the Crusades.  I think it is important that Christians put some emphasis into learning the history of their religion so that they can not only understand it, but prevent it from wrongly being used against their faith.

Chapter 6 - The story that stood out most to me was the Chuck Colson one.  It interestingly brought up a point that I hadn't really given much thought in that Colson is on of the few "celebrity" Christians who isn't a pastor and instead is just a church member.  As such he seems to give a refreshing view of the church.  I really like when he said, "Church isn't something to be endured, it's something to be entered into joyfully" (145).  I think one thing that really does hold both churches and individual members back is this sense that church is just some chore that must done every week.  It is such mindsets that hinder people from taking the step to become involved and participating in church activities/outreaches.