Sunday, August 17, 2008

Who Is Christian?

As I have mentioned on Twitter, I have been watching loads of docus on Netflix Watch It Now function. I have seen docus on things from spelling bees to abortion and EVERYTHING in between!
Sadly one thing I have watched over and over again in countless docus is a running theme of people using the name of Christ as a valid reason to spread hate and violence against one or more "types" of people. Of course the most known would be The Nazi Regine but very sadly there are many bible belt churches that also use the same tactics. One, who's website address is Godhatesamerica.com and Godhatesfags.com. They protest outside of any gay rights type gathering and also any patriotic gatherings holding colorful signs with heartwarming slogans such as:

God Hates America
Thank God For 9/11
Our Troops Will Burn In Hell
God Hates Fags
Too Late To Pray
Fags Die God Laughs

There are others that I'm sure you can imagine for yourself. This particular church is run by a man who is a former attonrney having lost his licence to practice law in state and federal court due to being found to having no sense of morality. This is saying a lot since in America the most "unusual" things are protected by Constitution. And of course even though this group says they hate the American government and should not have to abide to the laws of the land, they to want their freedom of speech as afforded to them by, well, can you believe it! The laws of this land!
They all say that the Bible is where they get their slogans and justification from yet I missed that part of the Bible and I have read it MANY times.
Also I find it curious that the most remembered and revered religious leaders have been the ultimate example of whispering their message to those who would receive it and submission NOT screaming hate above a crowd and saying the Bible backs them up. I also found that those who hate something so badly in someone else is usually the thing inside of themselves they are most afraid of.
Do those people actually think that using that means of "preaching" is really going to bring people back to God? Most people have a distance between themselves and God because they feel unduly guilty about a part of themselves in the first place, so I'm sure telling them they are going to hell for mourning the loss of a loved one who was killed in a hate crime or in the military is really the way to bring them back.
While the LDS church does believe in pretty strickt things I have not once ever heard ANY kind of literature, talk, or reference to using hate as a form of reestablishing our right to live a certain way. Quite the opposite. I have only heard a message of deep love for ALL people. To be the ultimate example of Christ so that people that know you will want to know Him. To essentially disappear and let God do the work. Truly love the sinner and not the sin.
Okay lots of people to be PC say that type of thing, but to me, I mean it. If I have found out that someone I love or someone I meet is living in a way that mainstream Christians consider a "sin", I can not say I love them any less. If I did then I would have to hate myself and every other person who has ever lived save one and not even He EVER told any sinner who was ever placed before Him that they were hated.
I am one of the furthest people from perfection and until I reach that point in life (HA HA HA HA), I can never truly judge anyone else. And to be honest I am SO grateful I don't! I do not want that job and I consider it a GREAT blessing I will only be called to partially judge myself. I learned a very long time ago that "in the quiet heart is hidden the sorrows that the eyes can't see, who am I to judge another when I walk imperfectly?"
For some reason people tell me very personal things about their lives, things not even their family may know (why I DO NOT know!) and through that I have been blessed to know some very hard things that people have gone through. And for every person who has sought my confidence there are hundreds of thousands who have not, but I know that each one of them carries something (or many things) with them that would explain the reason for perceived "sin". What I am saying is no one but God and the Savior know enough about any other person to have the tools to correctly judge any other person let alone say who is and who is not going where or how to get there and in my exp, sadly, the people that spend time pointing fingers forget that they have three of their own pointing back at themselves.
So in my way I am telling them (on my blog only I read) that I am pretty sure that only the Savior and Heavenly Father are worthy to tell their sibling/child what the content of their soul contains
I think that id people in the world spent as much time, money and effort loving things as they do hating, then most of these problems would just take care of themselves or no longer exists.
In summation I want to say that the number one thing Christ asks us to do as His disciples is bear His name and I can honestly say that I DO NOT BELIEVE that Christ would EVER say to another person that He hates them and they are going to hell. I just don't see it. I do see Him loving others for what they are and forgiving what their not. In my vision of Him I only see things as they were described in the Bible. Seeking out those who are downcast in society because someone who is pretty low has very little bride to break and lovingly showing them God's great love and how much He wants to hold us in His arms again. I know faith without works is dead, but I have a hard time believing that anyone who sincerely seeks out forgiveness from Christ would ever be turned away or else even the best of us is doomed. I am NOT counted anywhere close to the elite of God's fold but I do know that if I live a life trying my best that in the end I really will be carried the rest of the way. I know that every other person here has the same benefit and I can't figure out why some people think that God is hate and not love, when the Bible says that love is the best gift He can give us and we can give each other. Without love there would have been no creation (you parents out there know how hard it is to get a baby into the world and then care for them, imagine a universe and then unique world to create!) and for sure no salvation. I can't imagine being asked to feel the sins of people who hate me and gladly suffer every hurt imaginable to "save" them. That is love. Love not hate. So, I guess what I'm saying is the world has enough hate without another person adding to it. Like my lads from Liverpool say, "All you need is love, love is all you need."

Yours, K.

All so noteworthy is this. In the town where this church is based (Topeka, KS) there was a young man who was in the US Army who was killed in Afghanistan. He died on his 22nd birthday. He was a former HS football player and the school was going to retire his jersey as a way to honor him and this church showed up with all their signage and chanting about how happy they are that this young man is dead. In response to this on the day of his actual funeral the local Harley Davidson Vets Association showed up to chant too, with the engines of their Harley's. The widow of this solider said that was the only way she was able to make it through having her new husband die and then having this church use his death as a pathetic way to draw attention to themselves. I point this out because while there will always be a Fred Phelps to try and drag us down, that anyone, though unlikely, can prove that we can always overcome the worst of the world just by being kind to each other.

0 comments: