Dan,

I agree that the Christian faith and the term "Christian" has become watered-down and misunderstood. My pastor uses the term "Christ follower" now. It may just be semantics, but it makes a point and avoids the "religion" and emphasizes the relationship with Jesus Christ.

Now as to "why it matters..." If you do away with moral absolutes, if everything is relative -- including morality -- then the nation is headed down a dangerous path. Someone on the regular slowtwitch forum has a sign-off that says something like "today's heresy is tomorrow's truth." To a "liberal" that might sound optimistic. To me, it sounds terrifying.

Consider this "poem" by a guy named Steve Turner. Really think about it. What should we believe in?

CREED:

We believe in Marx, Freud, and Darwin
We believe everything is OK as long as you don't hurt anyone,
to the best of your definition of hurt,
and to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy is OK.
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything is getting better
despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated
And you can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there's something in horoscopes, UFO's and bent spoons;
Jesus was a good man just like Buddha, Mohammed, and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher,
although we think His good morals were bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same--
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.

We believe that after death comes Nothing
Because when you ask the dead what happens, they say nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied,
then it's compulsory heaven for all excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Khan.

We believe in "Masters and Johnson."
What's selected is average.
What's average is normal.
What's normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between warfare and bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors
and the terrorists would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good.
It's only his behavior that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust.
History will alter.

We believe that there is no "absolute truth"
excepting the "truth" that there is no "absolute truth."

We believe in the rejection of creeds, and the flowering of individual thought.

If chance be the Father of all flesh, disaster is his rainbow in the sky,

And when you hear: State of Emergency!
Sniper Kills Ten! Troops on Rampage!
Gangs go Looting! Bomb Blasts School!
It is but the sound of man worshiping his maker



Peace --
Ray