I am writing this post in response to a “discussion” I just read on facebook that got me a bit disturbed. I think one of the things that disturbs me so much is when judgmental things are said in the name of Christianity. Well, I am a Christian too, but I don’t believe in the hate you are spreading, so keep my name out of it.
The discussion began when a guy from school who I unfriended months ago, made a comment about the boy scouts. I took time several months ago to unfriend quite a few people. Mostly it was people who I friended for school, we were in the same class or we were working on a project together. But we never actually became real world friends. I knew I was about to be done with school and a lot of these people already were through with school. I really did not enjoy reading their negative comments or what they ate for breakfast each morning so I cut them loose. Don’t get me wrong, I kept most of my friends- I want to know what they are doing this summer and what post- graduation life is bringing their way. There were a few though, that I just could not take any more.
The only reason I saw this discussion was because 2 people I am still friends with (in the cyber world and the real world) commented and I was curious to see what all of the fuss was about. The discussion was long and heated. I wanted to comment, but since this person is no longer on my list of friends I did not see the option to chime in. So I decided to write here instead.
Why is it that people want to pull out the parts of the Bible that suit them and “prove” their cause, but fail to see the big picture of the whole book? While they are showing you why it is OK to discriminate and why it is their duty to point out other people’s sins they skip over the parts where we aren’t supposed to judge others. That we don’t need to worry about the splinter in someone else’s eye when we have a plank in ours. That we all sin- constantly. And that sin is really only whatever separates us from God. How can I point out your sin when I have so many of my own to deal with? If we all got what we really deserved how awful would that be. God is so gracious to all of us, why can we not be as gracious with each other? All Jesus (as in Christ from which we get the word Christian so I guess that is who we should follow) asked us to do was love each other as we love ourselves and to love Him. All of the rest of it I leave to Him to handle. Maybe if we read the Bible with only that in mind- loving one another- we would not find so many ways to exclude and harass our brothers and sisters.
I can not for the life of me figure out how people find so many ways to fight with each other, to judge each other, discriminate and hate each other. It especially irritates me when they do it in the name of Christianity. There is so much beauty in the world, yet it seems we have to find ways to make life ugly. I do not like being lumped in with this hypocritical, judgmental group who blame and instigate. My son came in and we talked and he said, “So, do you quit saying you are a Christian?” I actually had to think for a second before I said, “No- I have to say it and then show that I am not like that. Just like I am not going to shove my beliefs down your throat, but just show through my actions who I am and you can draw your own conclusions.” Actions speak louder than words. But the actions of those who want certain groups of people to have less rights and not be acknowledged as human make me angry. It makes me sad for the human race and it makes me lose hope. And hope is the one thing I cling to. I think I will stop writing for today and start praying.
