An Apology

This blog originally posted Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Category: Religion and Philosophy

I was reading the paper on Sunday and saw a picture that absolutely disgusted me. A funeral in Kentucky for a soldier who died in Iraq was being attended by a group of protesters. They were waiving signs that said 'God Hates You' and 'You are Going to Hell'. Reporters, interviewing the protesters found that they were representatives of a local church who believe that 9/11 was God's punishment on the U.S. for homosexuality.

Last fall, I went to the National Youth Workers Convention in California and there were protesters there too. They had parked a large truck out front covered with huge signs that said 'God Hates Fags' and such in large red letters on white background.

Let me start by apologizing for their conduct. I'm sorry and I ask for forgiveness. Please know that they do not represent all Christians, in fact, they don't even represent a majority of Christians. Jesus had nothing but love and guidance for those who were in sin. He reserved his harsh attacks for the obnoxious religious leaders who tore others down with their legalism, who preached one thing to the people and then did worse themselves. Kinda makes you wonder what he would say to those protestors.

Jesus hung out with prostitutes, traitors, and other 'sinners'. It's there in the book. He says that he came for the sick and broken. It's there. He invites you to come to him, because his burden is light. Hatred and vitriol are not what I find there.

Paul travelled to different cultures throughout the Mediterranean, teaching of Jesus to people who weren't Jews, knew nothing of God or His promised Messiah. Did he hold up signs saying 'You are going to Hades' ? Did he stand in the temple of Aphrodite and say 'God hates fornicators' ? NO. He went to them in love. He had compassion on them. He shared the truth in their language. He went to them and accepted them. Don't get me wrong, he certainly instructed the churches and believers to clean up their act, but these were people who voluntarily chose to follow God's way. However, to people who didn't know and hadn't chosen, he took a different tack.

The most common bible verse that every non-Christian knows is 'judge not, lest ye be judged'. That's great, but they don't know what follows it. It says to take the log out of your own eye before pointing out the splinter in your brother's eye. That means that I need to do some cleanup in my own life before judging someone elses. I'd certainly like to take a look into the lives of those protestors. There had better be no pornography in their house, no bad internet sites visited, no adultery in the church, no incidents of molestation, theft, gossip, slander, infighting, divorce, drunkeness, or any other things that the Bible calls sin.

Please, accept my apology for them. They do not represent me or the God that I follow.