Today, the accusation of being a “cafeteria believer” is flung around with the same zealousness as the term “heretic” was at one time. Passionate traditionalists troll online discussion boards and blogs seeking to attack women and men who do not give their full assent to each and every teaching of the “Chosen religion”, (Be it Muslim, Christian or “other”).
Self-appointed gatekeepers of orthodoxy believe it is for the glory of God and the good of the church that all questioners be denounced.
They are the rebels who do not take a strict approach to following their faith. It implies that the person in question cherry-picks which of the principles of their belief system they intend to adhere to and assembles their personal dogma from what makes sense for their ego.
They posit that any attempt to follow every rule in Scripture (no matter how obscure or outlandish) to the letter is impossible and that pretty much every religious person is a cafeteria Christian/Jew/Muslim of some kind no matter how fundamentalist they claim to be, and cafeteria faith is really the only tenable kind.
And yet, the accusation of hypocrisy contained in the term “cafeteria religionist” makes perfect sense on a theological level. If you believe it’s your God, and your God is infallible, you can’t throw out some of the rules, just because you don’t like them.
Religions of all stripes has clear-cut rules for its followers. “Cafeteria Believers” are “Believers in name only,” and ignore any aspects of religious doctrine that they disagree with, such as proscriptions against abortion, birth control, divorce, gay marriage, marriage for priests, and ordination of women.
People who are accused of being Cafeteria Believers may be quite committed to their faith, but are choosing to interpret its tenets through their own particular lens. They will focus on those parts of Scripture that support their interpretation while ignoring those that they find to be in conflict with their approach. They tend to follow the teachings found in an episode of “The Simpsons”;
| Have you ever sat down and read this thing? Technically, we’re not allowed to go to the bathroom! |
| —Reverend Lovejoy, The Simpsons |
Religions today tend to embrace a “fast food” approach and have proceedings that are supposedly presented as entertainment first and worship services second. Music is seen as pleasant and sermons are supposedly short, allegedly focused on “happy” topics like love and peace rather than serious topics which demand that worshipers actually consider difficult ideas, like personal sin.
These types of religions are like fast food because they both taste or feel good and come with a toy or prize, but do not go very far in providing actual (physical or spiritual) sustenance. The problem here is that modern society overall wants easy rewards and that fast-food religion is part of this trend. The downfall is that fast-food religion emphasizes what the congregation likes rather than what they need for salvation.
It might be better if we remembered that the “People of the Book” were given the ten commandments… not the ten suggestions.
I believe Christ is my intercession to being able to speak with the Lord God. The old Testament is full of laws. When Christ was born as man is born, he intercedes for me so the laws do not control every action I do or do not take.
This probably does not make sense to most but, it does to me.
2med