Growing up in Kansas I spoke English as it should be spoken. Elsewhere people spoke in strange tongues. As a young boy I travelled to visit family in New Orleans and found people saying things that sounded funny. The city was even called by a different name -- “N’awlins”. They called me “honey chile’”. Then in high school I went to New York City. Talk about accents! But Noo Yawkers are nothing compared to the folks who lived a little farther north -- in Boston. I can’t even begin to describe what they sounded like. It would take a degree from Hahvahd to figure them out. Of course even they didn’t have the awful accent English people prided themselves on. When I visited Oxford I quickly realized everyone spoke in that “phony” English accent -- probably just to show they were better than everybody else.

As an adult I find a lot of people remind me of the naivety of my childhood. They go through life thinking they are the only ones who are free of an accent. They have yet to realize there is no such thing as speaking without an accent -- or holding a belief that isn’t colored by one’s personal experiences and is as definite as a southern drawl.

Many of us have been cornered by religious or political fundamentalists who are rabid in their belief that anyone who dares to deviate from what they proclaim as truth is headed straight to hell. What often escapes us, though, are those on the left who often appear open minded and liberal, offering a world free of imposed values. Because our media culture so often reflects this attitude, we -- and those who hold it -- often fail to recognize that neutrality is just as much a value as is certitude. The person who says we are free to choose, believe and live by whatever we desire mistakenly think they alone are speaking an accent free language.

There is no such thing as neutrality. Affirming that “all roads lead to heaven” is just as definite and narrow minded as saying “Jesus is the way”. Tolerance is not the opposite of intolerance, but rather just another rigid place on the spectrum of choice. A free spirit’s advocating the choice to live in whatever manner one chooses is just as imposing of values as is a police officer announcing that unfortunately we were clocked doing 45 mph in a 25 mph zone.

Most of life is lived with built in consequences. I can choose to believe it makes no difference if I change the oil in my car every 5,000 miles or every 50,000 miles. Unfortunately, my Toyota doesn’t understand this, and believing the latter will result in a consequence I do not wish to experience. The whole world works in a definite manner. There is much room for variety, differences, and shades of gray. Yet there is a bottom line to every aspect of life. Cars require oil.

We can not live without holding to a specific set of values and beliefs. The real question is whether the values and beliefs we hold are the right ones? I dare not ignore the claims of one who spoke in the accents of a Jewish rabbi two thousand years ago, and who speaks to the hearts of people today in an accent familiar to New Yorkers, Southerners, Bostonians and Kansans alike. What are the consequences if Jesus Christ is right?