9/11 - Part one

[kyburg]

"I find it strange that the last place I can really quote Jesus these days is in American churches. They don't want to hear 'overcome evil with good.' They don't want to hear 'those who live by the sword die by the sword.' They don't want to hear 'if your enemy hurts you, do good, feed, clothe, minister to him.' They don't want to hear 'blessed are the merciful.' They don't want to hear 'love your enemies.'"

- Tony Campolo, quoted in Christian Week magazine

Comments

[fallofrain.livejournal.com]

A sad truth in this day and age.

[muimi07.livejournal.com]

Though I'm no longer Christian myself, I do love those words as words to live by. And yes, where did they go in this day and age? >_<;

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

Although I don't agree with the religion itself (non-Christian), I do agree with the quotes and the sentiments.

But that's me.

C.

[lorriejharris.livejournal.com]

Those sentiments are not just Christian, but are the basis of almost all religions. And while non-Christian, myself, they are good ideals to live by.

[littleamerica.livejournal.com]

I don't know what to think of Tony Campolo, exactly; I wish he'd name names when he makes accusations like that. He's the one, though, who has a story about going to a Christian college and saying to the assembled masses, essentially, "Africa is starving and dying and most of you don't give a damn" and getting a letter from the college asking him not to come back and criticizing his choice of words. I remember his story being quoted in one of Philip Yancey's books, but I can't remember which one. What's So Amazing About Grace?, maybe.

I suspect he's right, though, in general; I'm afraid most churches are full of people who like to be told in one way or another "I spoke to God the other day, and He told me to tell you that He agrees with you." And the current political climate being what it is, with an evangelical Christian of some stripe in the White House, after eight years of [whatever you'd like to call the Clinton Administration], most evangelical Christians are more comfortable agreeing un-critically with the President and his foreign policy decisions [read: war] than not. The rest is just implications and conclusions.