Apparently voters in a Pennsylvania school district are risking the wrath of God because they had the temerity to vote out, by a landslide, trustees that favoured adding Intelligent Design to the science curriculum. Don’t believe me? Well, just ask Pat Robertson (link courtesy An Average Guy’s Blog)
(link) “I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city,” Robertson said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, “The 700 Club.”
“And don’t wonder why He hasn’t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for His help because he might not be there,” he said.
Not to be outdone, Bill O’Reilly was so upset that voters in San Francisco decided against allowing military recruitment to take place in high schools, he invited Al Queda to attack the city.
(link) “If you want to ban military recruiting, fine. But I’m not going to give you another nickel of federal money,” O’Reilly said. “If I’m the president of the United States, I walk right into Union Square, I set up my little presidential podium and I say, ‘Listen, citizens of San Francisco, if you vote against military recruiting, you’re not going to get another nickel in federal funds.’”
That statement probably didn’t surprise those familiar with O’Reilly. But his rant didn’t end there.
“If Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we’re not going to do anything about it,” he continued. “We’re going to say, ‘look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead.’”
All right, that’s it! It’s one thing when Fred Phelps and his inbred congregation gets up and spouts off their hate. They’re crazy wingnuts who number no more than 150, and the overwhelming majority of Christians, while cringing, can take solace in the fact that the guy is nothing more than a nut. But Pat Robertson and Bill O’Reilly have an audience of hundreds of thousands. Pat Robertson himself claims to be a God-fearing man (I’m less sure of Bill O’Reilly, but my impression is that he claims some conservative Christian credentials as well, despite his (ahem) affection for falafels).
Let me spell this out: God is not a vengeful God. God so loved mankind that he gave up his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to suffer the worst we could throw at him, and absolve us of all our sins. He sent his son into the pits of Hell for three days to redeem us. This is not a God that throws natural disasters and terrorist attacks carelessly in order to make political points. God is an apolitical being that doesn’t share Pat Robertson’s, Bill O’Reilly’s, or my own agenda.
And, I’m sorry guys, but if you’re looking for God to do your dirty work on Dover, or for Al Queda to blow up San Francisco; if you so dislike people for the decisions they make or whatever, that you want them to die, then in your mind you have murdered them. You are murderers.
Don’t believe me? Well, you claim to know the good book, don’t you? How about this:
Matthew, 5:21-22: Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
It is time for mainstream Christians to stand up and speak out against these expressions of hatred by those claiming to speak for their faith. It’s time for us to rise up and take back our religion from the fundamentalist evangelists who have corrupted it. It’s time for us to say that what these people speak is not the word of God.
I am sick of so-called Christians who quote the Bible at me, but know not a thing about God’s love. I am sick of having my religion sullied by those who embarrass the sacrifice of Jesus. If I had the power to cast you out of the Church, and if it wasn’t such an unChristian thing to do, I’d throw you out. You have removed yourself from God’s love. You hold hatred in your hearts. You are not Christian.
But that’s not a Christian reaction. So instead I will pray to God that you see the error of your ways, to save yourself from your path to hellfire.