You Gotta Be Kidding Me

This week, one visitor to my blog proclaimed, Evangelicals scare me worse than Muslim extremists, and this is coming from the keyboard of a southern Christian.

For him, and for all those who agree with him, I would recommend that you read this article, or one of dozens like it from various news sources.

When was the last time you saw evangelicals carrying out these sorts of attacks? When was the last time the evangelicals stormed the news media outlets violently demanding fair treatment? Did evangelicals bomb NBC over the Book of Daniel? Have evangelicals used violence in response to Rolling Stone's for its blasphemous cover depicting rapper Kanye West as Jesus Christ? No, in fact, evangelicals have traditionally been very non-violent. These evangelicals that he is scared of poured millions of dollars and man hours into hurricane relief this past fall, and millions more into tsunami relief just over a year ago. These evangelicals are the ones operating drug rehabiliation centers and soup kitchens.

This visitor appears to be eager to make evangelicals look like the second coming of Attila the Hun who do things worse than fly planes into building, firebomb embassies, and suicide bomb bus stops. But in so doing, he either participated in the use of rhetorical devices that he scorned, or has no clue about relative dangers in the world. Either way, it seems that his comment would have been better left unsaid. Something about "Keeping your mouth shut and letting people think" comes to mind ... but I would hesitate to apply it to this visitor for this reason.

I rather think this visitor was using hyperbole (a rhetorical device similar the understatement that the visitor was repudiating). After all, if he was really more scared of evangelicals than Muslim extremists, why doesn't he leave this country where evangelicals make up a large contingent and go live in a country where Muslim extremists dominate. If he is right, wouldn't his family be safer there? You never know when the 6th grade boys Sunday School class might break out into a riot and burn down the neighborhood. Perhaps then his southern Christianity will look a little different to him. My bet is that he isn't more scared of evangelicals than Muslim extremists. He just thought it would strengthen his rhetoric. Of course, who knows. He never responded to my question about it.

And while I am here, having read many discussions in the past several weeks, it seems to me that it is time that we start pointing out the hate and disrespect that is directed towards Christians, even by those who claim to be part of us. The fact that Christians voice their concerns about moral issues does not automatically equal hate.

Let's not be afraid to point out the hypocrisy of those who use hateful words to point out what they consider hateful words. And while we are there, let's not be afraid to evaluate our own speech for hateful words. Neither let us shy away from saying the tough things that people need to hear but don't want to hear.

It is not loving to let little boys play in the street without confrontation and correction. Nor is it loving to let people continue down self-destructive paths without confrontation and correction. To quote commentator Patrick Buchanan, there is a war for the soul of America. It won't be won at the ballot box. It will be won in the human hearts by way of the pulpits of our land getting serious about God's truth for this age.

Think about it ...

[Stream of consciousness now over.]

See my friend Pat's blog for some interesting comments on this general topic.