when christians are their worst enemies
editorial comments/layout and illustrations
by jennifer kiley
article aggregated from cnn
written by LZ Granderson, CNN Contributor
Tue July 24, 2012
blaming aurora theatre killings on judeo-christian bashing
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, right, said the theater slaughter is related to “ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs.”
For all of the rhetoric about Christianity being under attack in this country, oftentimes it feels no one does a better job of hurting Christianity than the people who call themselves Christians. Especially after a national tragedy.
pat robertson and jerry falwell (died)
For example, after the September 11 terror attacks, Jerry Falwell blamed the ACLU, as well as feminists, gays and lesbians, for lifting God’s veil of protection.
pastor john hagee
After Hurricane Katrina, Pastor John Hagee said he believed God caused the largest natural disaster in U.S. history to stop a gay pride parade in New Orleans.
pat robertson and jerry falwell (died)
Bodies were still being recovered from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti when Pat Robertson said the country was struck because it made a “pact to the devil.”
jerry newcombe said: “Tragedies like the Aurora theater mass murder happen because people no longer believe in hell, and unless the victims of such tragedies “know Christ” or if they “knowingly rejected Jesus Christ,” they’re on their way to hell.”
And just this weekend, as the nation is trying to heal from the theater shootings in Aurora, Colorado, Jerry Newcombe, a spokesman for the evangelical group Truth in Action, took time out of his day to inform mourners that some of their loved ones were going to hell.
rep. louie gohmert r-texas
Newcombe’s comments were made after U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, said he believed the shootings happened because Christianity is under attack.
He then wondered why “you know, with all those people in the theater, was there nobody that was carrying? That could have stopped this guy more quickly?” Carrying a gun, of course.
That’s right — a congressman who sits on the House Judiciary Committee is talking about a shootout in a dark room filled with tear gas and panicked, innocent people. And we ask ourselves why Congress is so dysfunctional.
rick santorum for traditional american values
This past winter, Sen. Rick Santorum, a devout Roman Catholic who made his faith central to his presidential bid, blamed higher education for the declining number of young people who identify as Christians. This might have struck young people looking at Santorum’s three degrees as … curious.
Dare I say, hypocritical? Hysterical? Dumb?
As in ignoring that Haiti sits on two seismic fault lines, but choosing to go with the pact-with-the-devil-to-explain-the-earthquake kind of dumb.
Of course, people of various faiths, agnostics and atheists make questionable statements all the time. The difference is this mantra of an “attack on religious freedom” is most often repeated by politicians and religious leaders of the Christian faith, usually when a political discussion about marriage or women’s reproductive health is taking place.
I’m fine with that.
jerry falwell speaks out through fundamentalist zealots blaming everyone
But I have a problem when a disaster claims innocent victims or causes a great deal of pain and loss, and instead of showing compassion, these so-called leaders of faith say the gays did it. Or the liberals. Or that gem Falwell served up — the ACLU. That kind of rhetoric not only violates Christ’s greatest commandment — to love — but is completely illogical.
As a Christian, I understand the importance of faith. But Jesus did not say you have to be illogical or inhumane to be a person of faith. If Newcombe and others like him would remember that, I doubt he would have chosen the day after the Aurora shooting to tell mourners their loved ones are burning in hell.
Reblogged this on OAK.
thank you. these are not chistians, they are posers.
It is so sad that these kinds of people don’t know that God is about love and personal guidance.
they have lost their way through hatred of others that don’t follow their self-righteous words. they distort what jesus taught. everyone has their own way of believing but it usually includes love and compassion for others and trying to find a peace within themselves. to harm the people who have lost people they love and care about from a senseless circumstance is so cruel. how do they live with themeselves? i really don’t know.
Couldn’t have said it better.
thank you. it was important for me to work on this post. people such as these need to be exposed. we don’t need their kind of hatred in this world. they abuse the values of what being a true christian is. my beliefs have nothing to do with this. but i know christians in my family who are loving and giving and generous and not judgemental in any way. they are quite gentle people.
I’m sure it breaks the Lord’s heart when people act as such. We need to love and show mercy and grace to all individuals. As my husband says, “It is only by grace that any of us can stand.” I thought this was a great post … this is a message that needs to sink in.