This Is Why People Hate Christians!
15 comments | posted Jul 19
Tuesday May 22, 2007. Jerry Falwell's funeral is held at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Although a somber occasion, the air is abrasive with the prattling of reporters, the clicking of cameras, and the shouts of protestors. The following are pictures I took yesterday of a group of people from Westboro Baptist Church. They were there to protest the funeral of Jerry Falwell.
The pictures and video speak for themselves:
Thanks to
Matt Addington
for his photos
and
John Harney
for the video footage.
Please not that NONE of us at Not The Average Ministries share the views of the protesters in this video!
>
15 comments
You must be logged in to post comments.
Erratic Muse says:
This makes me think of something Gandhi said. It was something along the lines of "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ"
It's true though... Jesus would never act like the woman in that video... I found it shocking how cruel and ridiculous the things she said were. I cannot comprehend how someone could profess Christianity and then show such hate toward other human beings.
...it's depressing really.
posted Jul 28
Aaron Martin says:
Well, this may be one reason people dislike Christians. But the world will never like Christians because we preach the truth that sin doesn't want to hear. Any time you profess Christ the world will hate you.
posted Jul 21
Comment replies (11)
neolythic says:
But we don't have to be hateful and try and get folks to dislike us. The pics above are a bit removed from what i would consider "loving christians".
posted Jul 22
Marco says:
This is not 'Christians'. This is religious fanatism. These people are (at least to me) in the same league as muslims who think terrorism is an excellent idea to bring their ideas across.
@Aaron Martin: That's just complete rubbish. Loving Christ is perfectly fine. I love Him too. I however despise organised religious bigots who claim to know everything like God Himself told them. As far as I know He's been pretty damn quiet for the past 2000 years. What preachers and priests say has just about as much importance to me as what I read on the internet.
What I hate the most about especially American Christianity is the complete ignorance of everything Jesus said. They put the Christ in Christian to shame with their judgmental an discriminatory crap. Or even Bush who claims on national TV that 'God is with him / the Americans' and that everyone who isn't with him is some sort of evil demon from hell.
American Christianity surely has a lesson or two to learn about what Jesus said about tolerance and judging other people. Did these people even actually READ their bible?
To people like the ones on the above pictures I'd say: Deus tantum me iudicabit. Pricks. Yuck.
posted Jul 22
JØRDAN says:
@Aaron
I dont think that people disagree or eliminate the idea of Christianity simply because its truth and its "not what sin wants to hear". More so today than ever people are looking for truth, something to fullfill and bridge a void that they have within themselves.
People today are in a search for truth. That's undeniable. People don't hate Christianity because their sin doesn't agree with it. People hate it because of the hypocritical Christianity seems to come across today. Example: see above photos.
People find truth in the tangilbe things of the world today. The things we see. Money, cars, computers, etc. It's hard to step out in faith and believe in something unseen, especially when the people (in photos above) represent something of "truth" that you don't really see a need for. Sometimes, I can't blame people for abandoning the idea of Christianity when things like this come up. This isn't why I chose to believe this way, and it saddens me that the passions and desires of my heart are associated with these people.
2000 years and christianity still runs strong. Jesus must have done something right to get a lot of people to believe and follow what he said, not what he protested. He set out in love, NO MATTER WHAT. Jesus hung out with people who hated sin. Tax collectors, murders, and prostitutes to name a few. I have a lot of non-believing friends. But, that doesn't mean they hate me, in fact I think most the world is looking for love. And only in the love of Christ may we find the truth we have been looking for.
I think most Christians are disgusted at the site of this fundementalist viewpoint when people go out and protest things like this. I personally get sick to my stomach and try to disassociate myself with things like this. Christianity is truth for those who have found it and understand it. But, for everyone else, it seems that the idea of Christianity is protesting, televangelism, money, power, and destroying abortion clinics.
posted Jul 22
JØRDAN says:
VIRB CUT OFF THE REST OF MY COMMENT ABOVE.
HERE IS THE REST..
I don't believe this is a conflict of "my truth vs. your sin". It is a matter of the failure to show the love of Christ. That is why the world hates us. We go around professing this truth, yet condemn everything we don't agree with and kill in the name of Christ. Where is the love in that?
If we keep professing this truth yet our actions don't match up to our words, we have failed as believers. The issue of Christianity doesn't boil down to right and wrong. It is not a checklist to get into heaven.
Christianity is based from love. Yes, there are absolutes and things that we MUST believe and follow that God said for us to do. But it's more than truth and sin and pointing out the wrong things people do. It's about love.
posted Jul 22
Gil says:
I agree with Jordan... I'd like to point out something... Isaiah 29:13. God is upset once again with Isreal because of this..."The Lord says:
"These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men."
posted Jul 23
Josh says:
I think a lot of times American Christians forget that Jesus really came down on the pharisees for belief in thier own righteousness based on the law. There is so little room for grace and mercy in the messages that the loudest groups promote, that we have a hard time showing that we follow Jesus as a group. Hosea 6:6 is a great example of what we need to hear all the time.
I really recommend "They Like Jesus but Not the Church" by Dan Kimball. I'm working through it now, and it's been great for understanding.
posted Jul 25
David Miller says:
Great point Josh! I have not heard of that book, but will be checking it out soon. That God will teach us to correct each other out of love rather than to feel superior or self righteous has been my prayer for years. Unfortunately it is much easier to make a sign than form relationships and speak in love.
posted Jul 25
JØRDAN says:
DItto what David said....
Thanks for posting that book, I am going to definetly check it out.
posted Jul 31
Celeste says:
@ Marco
Not to skirt all the other issues, I just want to point out one thing. You stated that you place Muslim extremists in the same league as the fanatics shown here. I just want to ask that you be careful in statements like that. The difference that separates the two so exponentially is that one is taught that to do such things IS righteousness(read Sura in the Koran), while the others if taught to do such things are taught in error.
posted Aug 3
Vyouth says:
"I dont think that people disagree or eliminate the idea of Christianity simply because its truth and its "not what sin wants to hear"."
"@Aaron Martin: That's just complete rubbish. "
etc...
Guys, Aaron's comment is biblical. We are told the world will hate & despise us because of what we are.
This is not to say that EVERYONE shouldn't detest what these christians are doing- though, at the same time, the first response/comment shares a very important message- are you going to use this moment to elevate yourself, or humble yourself?
Also, David- if I occasionally link to your blog posts, can I cut/paste a short excerpt?
.K
(vyouthatx.org)
posted Aug 28
Celeste says:
The media will only ever use Christians. Whether for their support by way of using manipulation, or by, as in this case and others, they showcase the few in order to paint a picture of the body as a whole to position the rest of the public to hate what they think we stand for. Then you ask, are these that their showing ACTUALLY a part of the body? Sadly... maybe... so many are mislead easily because they are never taught truth, never taught that they should seek truth on their own, and so they never actually know what they profess to believe.
So the question is.... do we blame them? their pastors? their parents? the cultural climate they were raised in? the flesh? the enemy? In many cases they're a mix of all of them.
Then how can we respond with love and not with hate? Our tendency is to judge and criticize and in so doing creating an even greater division within the body. Us Christians who know better ought to evaluate our own walk and ask, are we in our own walk living in such a way that people know what a Christian who is seasoned in the word and daily walking with the Lord REALLY is.
Stand and be counted... I'd encourage anyone reading this not to use this as a way to see how much better you think you are than them, but to pray for them and to evaluate your own walk and what reason you are giving people to know that the hate that is so presented is not fruit, but flesh.
posted Aug 3