Can I ask you a question? A real question that at first you might
just slough off, but I would like you to take the time to think about
it. Do you think you are better than other people because of the
country you live in? Really think about that. Here is another
question. Do you think you are better than other people because of
your religious or non-religious affiliation? Are you better than
people because of your race? Your looks? Your skills and abilities?
Your income? Your youth? Your gender? What you own? What you don't
own? Your political party? Your friends? Your family? Is there
anything you can think of that separates you from other people that
somehow makes you think you are better?
If we are honest, there is always something. For me, I know I
tend to think that my association with a democratic country makes me
better. Also (and this is painful to say) being a Christian has at
times given me a serious superiority complex. If you are reading this
and you are not a Christian, maybe you are thinking, “Yep, that's
what religious people do! They all think they're better than everyone
else for their beliefs.” In which case I would ask you to do some
self-examination regarding that very thought.
There is a need in the human psyche to draw these lines. To build
ourselves up because of our affiliation to groups. Part of that
building up process involves tearing other groups down. When I think
about something like sports I can sometimes be confused as to why
people get so into it. It is just a group of people who are put
together to win at some competition that really means nothing at all.
So what is the appeal? It doesn't take long to see that this isn't
about the sport itself generally, but the inner ego of the fan. When
“their” team wins then they feel better about themselves for
being associated with that team. In the Olympics we somehow attribute
the skill levels of a few people in our country to the value of our
nation as a whole and everyone in it. And I personally find it
scary.
But I'm not writing this to talk to you all about my
opinions on sports. I am writing this to people who somehow feel that
being a bigot is something they are entitled to. And do you know what
has really set me off? Christians responding to Isis.
Now your mind might first go to the
bigots that you perhaps feel make up Isis. After all, they're the
ones going around performing acts of genocide against Christians and
ethnic minorities. I would like to affirm that I do not wish to
belittle those acts whatsoever. They are horrific and barbaric. Are
they acts that are taught in the Qu'ran? To the outsider it certainly
appears that way (though many Muslims will tell you that this is up
to theological interpretation). But it is not the bigotry that makes
up Isis that has really gotten under my skin.
I am maddened by
the hypocritical bigotry that Christians are taking part in
shamelessly. Somehow I have basically seen Christians portray this
message across Facebook in the past few weeks: Muslims are all evil.
Done. Doesn't that feel good to demonize them all?! They're all a
bunch of terrorists just waiting to perform acts of Jihad. Maybe we
should tell them to get out of Canada which is “ours.” Because
we've been here forever, haven't we?
Let us apply that logic
elsewhere now. Americans. Yep. Let's go there. They have a large army
and no gun control. You know what that means, right? They're all
hateful puppets of their government who think the only solution to
any problem is to shoot and kill people.
Now men. This is an easy
one. As we all know, men are responsible for the vast majority of
rapes in the world. They also perform violent crimes far more than
women. This is because all men are driven by sexual motives and could
snap on women at any time as a way of demonstrating their power of
the “weaker” sex.
Christians. Famous among those who are not
Christians for being holier-than-thou rule-imposers whose goal in
life is to see the unholy people of the world damned to hell
immediately. We push our faith down people's throats and hate gay
people.
Wait. That last one was a little too close to home maybe.
I know plenty of people who are okay hating Muslims. I know plenty of
people outside of the USA who take pride in hating those within it. I
even know women who feel that bigotry towards men is justified in
light of the bigotry that women have experienced from men over the
centuries. But we know better when it comes to Christians, don't we?
We're not all bigots. Yes, there are a few Christian bigots who hate
instead of love as they go about their “holy” crusades, but the
Christians I know aren't bigots! Are they?
Somehow we have
forgotten something in the church. Not all of us, but some of us
have. And that is that there is no more “us” and “them”
(Galatians 3:28). This is not about sweeping statements about
specific groups of people! It is about sweeping statements about
humanity as a whole. There are people out there who are far more prone to hate because of the culture that surrounds them. Look at countries riddled with civil war for generations. Children growing up there have a different way of thinking than people who grow up in peaceful nations. Islam is a religion that does not promote love, and so we see extremist groups and individuals coming out of it. But none of us, no matter who we are, can escape the thoughts
of hate that we are predisposed towards. We all have them to some degree. Looking at the crusades do we determine that war is a Christian doctrine? No. Hate is a human characteristic and anyone
of any belief is capable of taking part in it. People with Christian affiliation have done it in the past. Non-religious people have done it in communist countries. Isis is doing it today. And that was why Jesus
came. To show us another way. To love us in a crazy and all-consuming
way that shows us the stupidity of our inherent hate for other people.
If God
can love the lowest of the low, yes, even forgive the very people who crucified him, then we should too. Let us not forget
that the whole of humanity does not deserve God's grace, and that
includes you and me. But God in his infinite and boundless love chose
to give grace freely so that all
would be saved (John 3:16), not just the ones that are easy to get along with or who we feel are like us.
God loves the members of Isis who are out beheading children for the
sake of promoting hate. Yes. He even loves them.
So before you
post, comment on, or even read another article about how evil Islam
is, take a moment and remember that evil is in all of us. Some of us
have had the joy of seeing our propensities to hate changed through Christ. But for those who haven't, well, we have the joyful task of inviting them to
have Christ change their hate into love too, and not damning them for it for not yet being "one of us."
