I can't take the hatred...

I'll probably get a lot of flack for this post, but here goes anyway.

Yesterday, I read a long, heated argument on someone's Facebook page about whether or not it was possible to be both a Christian and a Democrat.  The man who was arguing that it was not possible was quite belligerent and seemingly very un-Christian in the expression of his views.

This morning, popping up all over my Facebook newsfeed is a link to a video that claims to have proof that President Obama is a Muslim.  I watched the video and was deeply disturbed by the double threads of fear and hatred that were woven throughout.

I am also beginning to see posts referring to the Ft. Hood shooter, Major Malik Nadal Hasan, in terms that equate what this one man has done to what any Muslim would be capable of doing.  Things like, "I'm not surprised," and "What did we expect?"  Of course, these kinds of comments are founded on the assumption that all Muslims are terrorists.

I guess the thing that bothers me the most about all of this is when it is Christians who propagate it.  It is as if somehow we have mixed up our patriotism and love for country with our faith in King Jesus. 

How can we follow Love and hate those who are not like us?  How can we pray for our enemies when we are so busy demonizing them?  How can we hope for Muslims to ever know Jesus when we are so busy killing them? 

I just don't get where Jesus is in this way of thinking.  I can't take the hatred...

Comments

[Kirk Jordan]

I enjoy the somewhat peculiar experience of being a Christian who is a Republican and who works for a Democratic administration. And it is no fun seeing a lot of Republican garbage from this new vantage point. There are certainly some positions taken by the Democrat Party that I cannot reconcile with a Christian vision. But I know that that same thing can likely be said of both Republican positions and practice. (Which is why I voted Libertarian in the last election :) Really though, politics has to do with managing the Polis (the city), but the administration of our hearts is a far greater enterprise.

[Todd Erickson]

well, you know, all of the white sunday school teachers are actually serial killers who haven't been caught yet.

[Kay H.]

I can't take the hatred either. We are a loooong way from the footsteps of Jesus in all of this. The church (or some very vocal groups within the church) seem to be on a feeding frenzy that Obama is the antichrist, that Democrats are demonic, and that this whole administration is bringing in the end of the world. It all sickens me. This "Christian voice" out there is on a quick slide in the wrong direction.

[Kandi W.]

Eric, thank you for posting this. And if you get some flack, I've got your back. I've gone to FB several times over the last few weeks with the intent of taking my page down and then letting it go...I am evidently a well-balanced kind of gal b/c I've got about 350 friends and whether they consider themselves "liberal" or "conservative" or some other label, it sure feels like a good percentage of them are haters one way or the other! I'm so glad you could articulate exactly what I have been thinking.

I wish everyone could read "What's so Amazing About Grace" by Philip Yancey...changed my life a few years ago.

I was reading a blog this morning...a good friend of mine is on a Compassion trip in El Salvador this week and one of the other women had posted on her blog about meeting this woman who had been tattooed by a gang, right on her forehead. Because of it, she couldn't really even leave the little area where she lived which was just a few shacks, couldn't get a job so couldn't feed and care for her children, but worse it branded her for life as what she had done in the past...and this woman with Compassion had said to her through a translator something like 'we are just like you...by grace we are saved from the sin that makes us not worthy, but by grace we have Jesus and so we are here to tell you that we love you and we will help you'...so moving and so who I want to be.

Anyway, rambling now...just read this and wanted to say thanks for saying something about the thing that has been bringing me down!

[Hollie Lisk]

interestingly enough my sunday school lesson this week is on this very subject, and studying from James 2:1-18.

One time while traveling to california, I was in the airport and noticed outside the women's restroom was a man handing out brochures from behind a portable table. The table was filled with flyers and literature and such. When I got to the table I noticed that all the literature was about how evil Catholics are and how all of them are going to hell. And it was all hateful. This really bothered me and I felt like I had to say something. So, I told him, if you would spend more time sharing the love of Jesus instead of this hate...you would then be making a difference for the kingdom of God.

discrimination can be tricky too....like assuming that all people that go to a big church, wearing nice clothes, can't really be true Christians and really know God...assuming they are just "playing church". Well that's not true either.

There are no outcasts of God.

This was a great post. oh How brave you are!! :)

Thank you for the confirmation.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=627374079]

Short, concise and to the point. No the hatred that is being tied to Gospel is it's undoing, just as "Jesus plus anything is a subtraction". Nicely done. You will find far more support for your position than you might think.

[Teena in Toronto]

Happy blogoversary :)