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 By Rev. Henry Green - We are rapidly approaching a date that, if we are not careful, will become a date to commemorate fear and hate instead of casting out fear and overcoming hate with the real courage of the constitutional rights of religious freedom and property rights for everyone!
The World Trade Center site, now known as Ground Zero, has become, in recent days, a center of hostility and hate instead of a place where we might be able to teach tolerance and respect. Let us turn off the voices of fear. Let us reject those who incite violence. Let us respectfully follow the laws of our land and a real reading of the constitution. Let us not turn back the clock to the hateful actions that led to the events of 9/11/2001. Let us not turn the clock back to the days of Joseph McCarthy. We are better than this and we have the power to act in ways consistent with love instead of hate. If we live by the law of an eye for an eye we would all go blind.
Muslims are not more or less tolerant than anyone else. Yet, that fact does not excuse people who claim to be Christian to take actions that intentionally incite less tolerance because some small group of people in the Muslim community acts with intolerance or are seemingly insensitive to someone’s imagined injustice. If you value your freedom of religion, you better protect theirs. For, you may be next if someone decides they don’t like your religion. Martin Niemöller, a conservative German pastor who first supported Adolf Hitler, but later realized the evil he was bringing to the world and the nationalization of churches, said, “First they came for the Communists but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists but I was not one of them, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews but I was not Jewish so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”
You can possess all the “truth” in the world, but if you are all about hate, then your “truth” means nothing at all!
I am a Christian and call myself a follower of Jesus Christ. That confession has some very specific implications for everyone who chooses this identity. Some of these implications were mentioned earlier when I spoke of Jesus’ lessons on love. 1 John 2:5b-6 says, “This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” (NIV). This is not up for discussion and it is not up for debate. The people who call themselves Christian and advocate for hate in our communities are not following the teachings of Jesus.
Prayerfully and respectfully,
Your pastor,
Henry
I am sad and ashamed of some people who call themselves Christian, some who intend to use the date of September 11 to exhibit hate by burning the Koran. This is shameful and outrageous and anyone who would support such a thing is either ignorant of history or intentionally supportive of actions designed to incite more evil and violence. Hate is not a Christian virtue and the role of any responsible Christian community will be to remind their followers that “God is love” and that we are to “love our enemies.” These are simple truths we learn from our Holy Book, the Bible. Another lesson taught in the Bible by Jesus is, “love your neighbor as yourself.” How is it possible to say you are a follower of Jesus when you do not follow what he says? How is it possible to love our Muslim neighbor and burn the Holy Book of that neighbor? |
