Rebekah, The Missionary.

Most of my friends know I lived and taught in Japan for three years. What many forget, or don't know is that I was a missionary for those three years. Yes, you heard correctly. A Christian Missionary. "On Religious Mission" was stamped into my passport. I represented The United Church of Christ (UCC) as a teacher at the Christian girl's school, Kobe Jogakuin, in Nishinomya.

Now, yes, I taught English, not religion, and yes, I wasn't going door to door trying to save people, but the fact remains; I was a Christian in a 99% non-Christian society, and the idea was that I was going to also share that fact with those I met.

And, about two weeks into it, I freaked out. Was I getting paid out of that offering plate that went around at church (that I didn't always put money in)? I had lots of questions, who was I to tell other people what to believe? How presumptuous could I be? I should quit.

I didn't quit. Here is how it made sense to me. I believe that all religious faiths are based in basic truths. I want to expose myself to and learn about as many as possible in my short time here on the planet. In a country like Japan, which is polytheistic, being a Christian is difficult. One must "give up" all other beliefs, gods, worship, all for Christ. This, in a way, almost negates their ancestry. Obviously, it isn't easy to do. In Japan, Christians are thought of in a similar way to how I think of the Amish; very strict beliefs and codes of behavior, no veering off the straight and narrow path, always chaste and pious.

I'm none of those things. My moral code moves around. I make mistakes. I'm far far far from perfect. I came to terms with and came to embrace my being a missionary as an opportunity to give the people with whom I came into contact a different but still accurate picture of what a "Christian" is.( And, I found out that my salary came directly from the school. They paid the church board, and the church board paid me.)

On to the present. Most people think of Christians these days as gay-bashing, right wing, neo-conservatives who are trying to stick their holier-than-thou value system down every one's throat. That is, most people except the Christians who are not gay-bashing, right wing, neo-conservatives. And, there are many of us.

Here is the mission statement from the UCC. There is a concentrated effort being put forth by many churches to fight the negative opinion of what a Christian is. The reason we are not as strong as the right wing, bible thumpers is that we aren't backed by the power of big government, an entire political party, big business or often, even those for whom we fight. However, we continue on. The UCC has evolved from the Congregational Church; one in which there is no hierarchy, and one which is one of the oldest and most established protestant churches in the United States.

You might remember the brouhaha over an ad campaign during the holidays at the end of last year. A TV ad showed people of different ages, races, genders, and pairings, trying to attend a church. Bouncers were outside with a velvet rope, allowing only the "chosen" to enter. The voice-over ran, "Jesus didn't turn people away, neither do we." Major television networks refused to carry the ad, but it got national attention anyway. The ad was created and run by the UCC.

Don't give up. Even though I believe that everyone is responsible for his or her own beliefs, and I believe that everyone is entitled to those beliefs, whether or not I agree with them, even when I find their beliefs repugnant and reprehensible, I don't believe another's beliefs should dictate my own.

Thinking people, whether Christians or not, need to come together to make this country a better place, rather than laying blame.