Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Coexist?....... it's hard for me to see how
So to be brief, a guy showed up on campus today to preach. Yes, he was here with skewed motives, and yes he rubbed several people (basically everyone) the wrong way. But, I can handle him. I can pray for him. I can show love. I proceeded to be pushed to the ledge of Love and Peace and stood staring Evil and Hatred for my God and Savior in the face. Soon after the guy started talking a very angry 'mob' surrounded him and began to insult, harass, and do everything, short of physical assault, to him. And while I understand the message, in which I condone none of it, the group associated him with every Christian out there. They took his view of God and made it the same as the view of every Christian. And the pure hatred that ensued has really shaken me. Maybe it's because I'm from the South. Or maybe because I have been blessed to be around amazing people, but I had no idea that people can hate God as much as I saw today. If this happened at TROY there still would be arguments, but I believe that they would be more trying to convince the guy preaching of His Love and Mercy than what I heard today. I'm not going to post the things said about God today because I really don't want to think anymore about them much less see them in written down. But what I do want to write down is of this notion that we should be tolerant of each other's religions. Well, by what I saw today that group that preaches this needs to trash their coexist graphic-tee's and peel their bumper stickers off their cars because the source of Hate in this world is not the intolerant Christians, it's the Fear surrender. I lost a lot of respect in people who I thought could at least understand and respect what I believe, even if it wasn't the same thing they believe. What was gained (and what might have been the whole purpose of this) was a deeper understanding of the love of Christ and how he can possibly put up with us silly humans. NO ONE is going to tear me away from the Cross, NO ONE. I want to end this post with a reminder that we are called to be separate from this world. So when 'that guy' is letting you know how awful the God you serve is.....LOVE as He LOVED.
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Oh wow, I hit campus late today. My roommate and I (she's the campus minister for Intervaristy) were talking about creating "Bullhorn guy" kit. It would involve frisbees, hula hoops, etc, and a poster that reads something along the lines of "God is Love" and possibly baked goods. So that we can just have our little alternative less angry approach. Perhaps that's tonight's project, that guy usually sticks around for a couple days.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that happened though. I think people come to these conclusions about our God, not because of Him but because of those poorly representing Him. Quite often when people say they don't like the Church, or Christianity the best question to ask is "who?" and "what did they do?" followed by "I'm sorry they did that, that's not who our God is".
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ReplyDeletewow i passed by but i didn't know what was going on (I thought it was political) so I didn't even stop. Things like this makes me sad...sad to see how people can say and do ugly hateful things in the name of God. My God is a God of LOVE, infinite, everlasting, amazing love...and unfortunately that its not what was shared today. Like Maggie, I have talked to so many people who have such a wrong idea of God, and the church...so sad. When I was in Cuba, things like reading the bible or praying in public was forbidden in my school. We (the christians) were told soooo many horrible things- sometimes by our own teachers- to try to make us step away from God...so, I completely agree with you, we cannot let anything or anybody tear us away from the Cross...and we should always remember to do as God has commanded us...to love one another, as He has loved us. Even when its hard to love...especially when its hard to love...
ReplyDeleteNo one on this planet can absolutely prove their faith as being truth, or declare another person's as being wrong. That's why it's called "faith". That said, there's absolutely no reason to argue over it. What good can possibly come from it? Neither party can ever win.
ReplyDeleteDon't let those people upset you, Pierce. I know my way of thinking probably even bothered you at times--even though I never meant for that, I'm sure it would. You standing there and listening to them was more so a display of coexistence than anything. I've always felt like nobody can fully understand their own beliefs until they become familiar with others'.
Hopefully people can one day understand that no matter which God they worship, or if they don't worship any God, we're all capable of doing GOOD. Only when we try to settle the impossible-to-settle debate is there an issue.