Which "Christ" do you follow?
Yesterday morning, I did a quick web glance before leaving for school, and my eye (not surprisingly) was immediately caught by a posting called Our Creator is NOT a Murderer on the Sollicitudo Rei Socialis webblog. I didn't have the chance to do much more than skim it, but checked it out in more detail when I got to school.
Not that I couldn't guess what it was responding to .....
The director of the evangelical Christian organization Repent America has said that, essentially, New Orleans was a sinful city and, while we should pray for the folks hurt in the devastation -- really, they brought it upon themselves.
Sollicitudo Rei Socialis was posting about a petition involving people of various faith traditions, all of them affirming an all-loving Creator ... stating that the signatories "do not believe that the Creator of all things would destroy whole cities, kill hundreds if not thousands of innocent people, and damage our whole nation's infrastructure as punishment for purported sins."
I used the Sollicitudo press release/posting as the opening prayer for my classes and, at the questioning of my first class, I went to Repent America to find out more of what was said. (By the way, when you get to the RA website, you are given two options: Christians, Enter Here. All Others, Enter Here -- my Benedictine Hospitality really liked that!)
According to Repent America's press release:
"Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city," stated Repent America director Michael Marcavage. "From 'Girls Gone Wild' to 'Southern Decadence,' [an annual festival held by the New Orleans gay community] New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. From the devastation may a city full of righteousness emerge. ....
"We must help and pray for those ravaged by this disaster, but let us not forget that the citizens of New Orleans tolerated and welcomed the wickedness in their city for so long. May this act of God cause us all to think about what we tolerate in our city limits, and bring us trembling before the throne of Almighty God."
[God] sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45)
This just days after we study in our textbook that one of the reasons that some people didn't like Jesus during his life was because he "taught that God accepted the sinners and outcasts."
Even the kids picked up on that. After all, N'awlins isn't the only sinful city in our nation. "Besides, wasn't Jesus' message about love and forgiveness?"
Reminds me of a post-9/11 article in the satire newspaper The Onion, where God holds a press conference: "Responding to recent events on Earth, God, the omniscient creator-deity worshipped by billions of followers of various faiths for more than 6,000 years, angrily clarified His longtime stance against humans killing each other Monday." It's a very tongue-in-cheek article .... but at the same time, it very much hits home.
"Look, I don't know, maybe I haven't made myself completely clear, so for the record, here it is again," said the Lord, His divine face betraying visible emotion during a press conference near the site of the fallen Twin Towers. "Somehow, people keep coming up with the idea that I want them to kill their neighbor. Well, I don't. And to be honest, I'm really getting sick and tired of it. Get it straight. Not only do I not want anybody to kill anyone, but I specifically commanded you not to, in really simple terms that anybody ought to be able to understand."
Which Christ do you follow?
Yeah, I'm a nun. But in my mind .... the God of a "secular" spoof newspaper far outweighs the God of a righteously judging "Christian" individual.
===============
To view the petition, visit: http://www.petitiononline.com/katrina/petition.html
Not that I couldn't guess what it was responding to .....
The director of the evangelical Christian organization Repent America has said that, essentially, New Orleans was a sinful city and, while we should pray for the folks hurt in the devastation -- really, they brought it upon themselves.
Sollicitudo Rei Socialis was posting about a petition involving people of various faith traditions, all of them affirming an all-loving Creator ... stating that the signatories "do not believe that the Creator of all things would destroy whole cities, kill hundreds if not thousands of innocent people, and damage our whole nation's infrastructure as punishment for purported sins."
I used the Sollicitudo press release/posting as the opening prayer for my classes and, at the questioning of my first class, I went to Repent America to find out more of what was said. (By the way, when you get to the RA website, you are given two options: Christians, Enter Here. All Others, Enter Here -- my Benedictine Hospitality really liked that!)
According to Repent America's press release:
"Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city," stated Repent America director Michael Marcavage. "From 'Girls Gone Wild' to 'Southern Decadence,' [an annual festival held by the New Orleans gay community] New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. From the devastation may a city full of righteousness emerge. ....
"We must help and pray for those ravaged by this disaster, but let us not forget that the citizens of New Orleans tolerated and welcomed the wickedness in their city for so long. May this act of God cause us all to think about what we tolerate in our city limits, and bring us trembling before the throne of Almighty God."
[God] sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45)
This just days after we study in our textbook that one of the reasons that some people didn't like Jesus during his life was because he "taught that God accepted the sinners and outcasts."
Even the kids picked up on that. After all, N'awlins isn't the only sinful city in our nation. "Besides, wasn't Jesus' message about love and forgiveness?"
Reminds me of a post-9/11 article in the satire newspaper The Onion, where God holds a press conference: "Responding to recent events on Earth, God, the omniscient creator-deity worshipped by billions of followers of various faiths for more than 6,000 years, angrily clarified His longtime stance against humans killing each other Monday." It's a very tongue-in-cheek article .... but at the same time, it very much hits home.
"Look, I don't know, maybe I haven't made myself completely clear, so for the record, here it is again," said the Lord, His divine face betraying visible emotion during a press conference near the site of the fallen Twin Towers. "Somehow, people keep coming up with the idea that I want them to kill their neighbor. Well, I don't. And to be honest, I'm really getting sick and tired of it. Get it straight. Not only do I not want anybody to kill anyone, but I specifically commanded you not to, in really simple terms that anybody ought to be able to understand."
Which Christ do you follow?
Yeah, I'm a nun. But in my mind .... the God of a "secular" spoof newspaper far outweighs the God of a righteously judging "Christian" individual.
===============
To view the petition, visit: http://www.petitiononline.com/katrina/petition.html
posted by Steph Youstra at 6:35 AM
3 Comments:
If that were true, nothing bad would ever happen in Washington!
And yeah, what's up with there being only one kind of Christian?
I LOVE!!!! that Onion Post. It's my all time favorite and really sums up the message of the Christ I follow ... Love.
I totally agree that God is good and loving and forgiving and doesn't want to kill people, but I guess people just get a little confused when on one hand you have vindicated Job, who didn't do anything wrong, and all the poor suffering people Jesus healed, and on the other you have stuff like Isaiah 45:7 "I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe, I am the LORD, who do all these things." What are we to make of such multiple perspectives on God?
Post a Comment
<< Home