On Christians and Chocolate...

I heard someone say once that God's reputation is woefully tied to how Christians represent Him. And Christians do funny things. Just to clarify, I definitely include myself in this group. We get ALL hung up on some issues and are really apathetic about others. God's been working on my heart about this a LOT. One of my Facebook friends posted something during the Chick-fil-a debacle, and I'm going to straight out quote him - maybe I'll tell him, maybe not. :)

" For all these Christians who voted in favor of this (North Carolina gay marriage ban) why aren't they petitioning to ban divorce as well? That's against "the laws of God" too, just read Matthew 19:6 and Mark 10:11. They can't even use the "well, it's in the Old Testament so I can ignore it!" excuse on this one."

Boom. Roasted. You know it's true. 

Or during the VP debate last week, my FB feed was filled with my Christian-ey friends saying things like "Joe Biden is so rude and disrespectful, I just want to punch him in the face!" Now, I enjoy mocking political ridiculousness as much as the next guy. If I'm having serious cognitive dissonance over these statements, though, I can only imagine what people who aren't sold on "the whole God thing" must think. 

THEN, there are those issues that only liberals and/or celebrities and Al Gore get excited about, like global warming and the Republican agenda against Sesame Street. Back in April I read. "It's Earth Day! Or, as evangelical Christians like to call it, Thursday." (Yes, this will be my FB status on Earth Day 2013. Please pretend I'm witty and original.)

Seriously though, the issue that's ripping my heart out right now is child labor. It started with reading this: 

The inconvenient truth about your Halloween candy

and this

Buying ethical Halloween candy

and this

Nestle child labor violations

So, what's a girl to do with Halloween right around the bend? I won't be buying any candy, as I am the Scroogey lady who turns out the lights and pretends we're not home on Halloween night. However, by just walking around trick-or-treating with my four-year-old, am I just causing more demand for candy, chocolate, workers and very probably trafficked kids? And why am I even wrestling with something so small as giving up non-fair trade candy? Shouldn't this be a no-brainer?       

Sorry, God. When it comes to being like You, I'm just terrible. I'm sorry Your reputation is so woefully tied to how I represent You. But don't give up on me - I hope by tomorrow, next week and next year I'll a little bit more like You and little bit less... well...like me.