The Times, They Are a Changed

Sometimes I ponder how incredibly different things are today compared to other times in history or even to just a generation ago. I know people say the more things change the more they stay the same, and perhaps that is true on some levels, but some things are very different. Not necessarily better or worse in some cases, but different. I would suggest that perhaps the things that are the same are the very things we deny.

Classism is a bane of humanity and we willingly wag or finger at historical examples and examples in literature and boast at how enlightened we are now. However, classism is perhaps even more rampant now because it exists in the face of so-called enlightenment.

Examples abound, sadly. Consider churches that hold memberships to country clubs for their clergy. Country clubs by their very nature are exclusionist based on class. Colleges, especially private ones, are also examples of institutionalized exclusionism. But wait! Does this mean that any arena wherein ability to pay is inherently classist? Of course not. Capitalism works on many levels when it comes to exchange of goods and services for whatever the market will bear. But both of these examples are things which professing Christians pursue, practice and uphold when we shouild be willing to offer these things- namely a Christian environment and fellowship- to anyone who needs them. Something about that just seems plain wrong.