An Angry Christian

The Angry Christ-Follower- An evaluation of the fruits of bigotry and love

"You shall know them by their fruits" -Matthew 7:16

Part 1: Bigotry

"A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own." (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigotry)

The history of Christianity is riddled with examples of bigotry and intolerance. In 1492, the Catholic nation, of Spain explelled over 200,000 of her citizens for simply being Jewish. In 1692, the Salem Witch Trials were underway, in which many individual were tortured and killed because they were suspected to have been involved in the occult. Sadly, even the awful justification given, that God condemns witches(Deuteronomy 18:10), was undoutebly false...as many were likely suffering from Alzheimers Disease. Reguardless, these are only a few examples(others including the justification of slavery and the treatment of the Natives) of the intolerance justified by the Christian faith.

Today, Christianity is still, often, much the same. While, the Westboro church, is undoutebly the fringe, it is still representative of an underlying bigotry towards homosexuality. Now, let me explain, that I am in no way making a statement on whether homosexuality is right or wrong, but instead using it to make a point.

Many Christian, believe in the necessity of bringing homosexual people to repentance. I believe this is understanable, given Biblical Passages on the matter(Romans 1:25-27 for example), but what is not understandable is the unChristian approach.

For example: Many of my brethern believe in the fire and brimstone style of preaching. They believe, that by preaching the "Sin of Homosexuality" they will lead them to repetenance. Unfortunatetly, they cause more pain, why? Because, the style of preaching is devoid of love. The love that Christ showed.Now, many would object at this point. Many of my brethern, argue that they do show love, "hate the sin, love the sinner"

That is fine and dandy when dealing with adultrey, pedophillia, etc. But, homosexuality is different, at least from what I know from those I have spoken to. These friends of mine, feel their sexuality is unalterable, it is a part of who they are. It should be no suprise then, that the individuals, those I have talked to, often feel alienated by the church. Instead of preaching against the sin, one is infact preaching against the individual. As such, it saddens to see the debate still focused on whether homosexuality is a choice...does the homosexuals testimony not matter.

Another example of bigotry in the church: Abortion. I personally object to it, on the basis that it devalues life(whether the fetus is a child or not, is not an issue in my mind), but that is a matter of personal opinion. Instead, the Religious Right feels the necessity of politicizing Christian, nad lobbying Washington to get rid of abortion. These people, corner Christians into voting for the Bush's of the world.

But what is even harder for me to accept, than this political Christianity, which Christ repeatedly rejected(John 6:14-15), is the time Christians spend protesting at the clinics. Whenver, I see photographs of these events...I always find myself pondering on the mother's soul. An abortion cannot be an easy decision, the mother undoutebly has been tried, but yet Christians feel the need to preach God's hate of the abortion. It's as if they are trading in the mother's soul for the protest. I ask, "What is the likelyhood you will see the mother at your next church gathering." What love!

The fruits of bigotry, are pain and division. That much is obvious. Instead of offering Christ's love, we show hatred.

In part 2, I want to look at the fruits of genuine ministring. For now, I will conclude with this quote from Mother Teresa. Please contemplate her words, and consider whether your actions feed the hungry or if they are part of the reason they suffer.

There is a terrible hunger for love.
We all experience that in our lives - the pain, the loneliness.
We must have the courage to recognize it.
The poor you may have right in your own family.
Find them.
Love them.

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