Linda Crawford
“How Linda Changed Her Mind
About Christianity”
Worship Leader: Elizabeth DeCoux
Accompanist: Dr. Gary Smart
Special Music by Dr. Gary Smart
(Don’t forget to move your clocks forward Saturday night! Daylight Saving Time Begins at 2 a.m. today!)
Linda is not a Christian and never will be. Through most of her life she believed, with Karl Marx, that religion, especially Christianity, was “the opium of the people.” When she and her husband retired here, to the Bible Belt, that negative opinion was reinforced by the fundamentalists all around her.
It took several years of membership at BBUUC to change her mind. She met fellow congregants who practiced compassion, inclusion, and rationality and yet identified themselves as Christian. She was confused at first: weren’t all Christians judgmental, divisive, and rigid? Apparently not. She discovered that there is a large community of progressive Christians in this country. We non-Christians can reach out to them as allies in building what we both want: a sustainable and peaceful world that treasures truth, reason, and justice.
About Our Speaker:
Linda Crawford was brought up in a secular Jewish home by an atheist father and an agnostic mother. She is herself agnostic but married a man who eventually identified himself as a Christian. To support him, she began attending the new BBUUC Christian group. The education she gained there made her realize that there was a different kind of Christianity: a Christianity of love rather than hate, of action rather than simply belief, and which embraced doubt rather than certainty,
About Dr. Gary Smart:
BBUUC has been beyond blessed to have Dr. Gary Smart a part of our congregation for over 18 years. He has brought his amazing musical gifts to our community in worship, holiday celebrations, and concerts, along with introducing us to many wonderful musicians from an array of his students and colleagues. His career has encompassed a wide range of activities as composer, classical and jazz pianist, and teacher. Dr. Smart has spent two residencies in Japan, teaching in programs at Osaka University and Kobe College. He has also taught in Indonesia as “Distinguished Lecturer in Jazz” under the auspices of the Fulbright program. From 1999-2003, he served as Chairman of the UNF Music Department. Gary Smart is currently a Presidential Professor of Music at the University of North Florida.