To begin with I want to state clearly that I think that any church protesting at a child's funeral because the state they live in supports gay marriage is horrible. I think that the Wesboro Baptist Church protesting at the funerals of twenty murdered children is no less than evil. That being said, I have serious qualms about one of the ways my friends on the Internet are fighting back.
I received an invitation to sign a petition that is being sent to the President that asks him to declare the Westboro Baptist Church a hate organization, therefore taking away their rights as a church. I agree that something has to be done. Someone should sit them down and talk to them about the all loving and all forgiving savior that they say they follow, but President Obama is not the person to do it.
Before you get up in arms, I am not making some kind of critique of the President. I am saying that it is not the President's job to determine what is a valid church and what is not. You may have heard of a concept called the separation of church and state. Even though it is tossed around for some silly reasons (your kid can't pray over his lunch, that is a violation of the separation of church and state, or some such silly complaints...) this is what the separation of church and state was made for. The government doesn't have the right to tell a church whether it is a legitimate church or not. There are many churches out there that probably were not formed for the right reasons, but the government can't make that decision. In fact, really, only God can tell what is in the heart and make that call.
Even though I would not be sad to see hate mongering churches go the way of the Dodo, government determination would be the wrong way to go. Just imagine for a moment that President Obama is so enraged that someone would be that hateful as to harm the families grieving over their babies, and decides to ratify your petition. OK, he decides to say that church is not a church but a hate group. How many other petitions would follow? You know how well all we religious brothers and sisters get along. How long would it be before one church asks for another to be declared not a church?
In my first call, I was in a really small southern town. Our little Presbyterian church was proud to have a female associate pastor, so every time I preached they would put my name and sermon title on their message board. So, every time I preached the local Church of Christ, which had it's own radio program at noon on Sunday, would preach about how evil the Presbyterian church was because they let a woman speak in church. We were all going to hell, etc... That was hateful and directed specifically at me! However, I would not ever dare ask anyone to invalidate their ministry. They still fed the hungry, and did their best. OK, yes, I think they had some serious things wrong with their theology, but as I have said before, we are ALL sinful people. We all hold wrong ideas. We all make mistakes. As my brother's bumper sticker in High School read, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."
And then a really scary thought: My own denomination is very divided over the ordination and marriage of homosexuals. Every time it comes up both sides threaten to leave the denomination if they don't get their way. What if the government could tell a church whether or not it was a church. One side would argue that the other is theologically wrong and shouldn't be a church. The other side could say that their opponents were prejudiced and hateful. Aren't those the same accusations against the Westboro Baptist church? I know, and love, and minister to people on both sides of this argument. I strongly believe that one side is wrong, but that doesn't make them not Christians. It doesn't make them any less our brothers and sisters. One day Jesus will correct us all where we have wrong, hateful, or prejudice thoughts. One day Jesus will return and fix the mess that we have made of the church and religion, but we are very arrogant if we say that WE can determine which churches should and should not exist.
By all means tell anyone you know who would be hateful enough to picket funerals that they need to have a long talk with Jesus about love and forgiveness. Make your voice heard on the Internet, or TV, or wherever you can. But please don't have emotional knee jerk reactions. That is what the hatemongers are doing. A petition to the President is not going to accomplish anything, nor is it the wise way to deal with the problem. To be honest I don't know what the wise thing is. Actually, I think it is hilarious that hackers keep attacking their web site and twitter account. Maybe that is the answer.
What I do know is the Christian response should be to shower those families that lost their children (or wives, or husbands, or parents) with the love of God. Support them. Uphold them. Send cards, e-mails, flowers and let them know that they are loved. That is what will combat the evil and hate of the narrow minded. Drown out their hate with love.
Grace and Peace to all of you!
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