Sunday, July 24, 2011

About that Norway massacre

Okay, it's been ages since I commented on anything my cousin posts because we usually don't agree on anything other than we love each other and consider each other not just cousins but friends.

Anyway, she posted about the massacre in Norway proclaiming that this is why fundamentalism is dangerous.

So, point number 1.) This is pretty much a blanket statement.  It doesn't cover the truth.  It's calling names without really considering individuals.

2.) Isn't just about anything dangerous?  Following Christ certainly is.  You could get killed for it.  Christ certainly is.  He got crucified.  Plus, he's the lion of Judah, not tame, but good.  God is very much dangerous.  He is very loving and forgiving, but because of his love he also judges sin and those who do not turn from their sin and give their lives to Christ.

3.) Just because one wacko bombs a bunch of Muslims does not mean that you can label him as a fundamentalist.  It's like the guy that shot up Tuscon, AZ.  He's a left wing, pro-Nazi communist who hates Republicans and America, and yet they still have the audacity to blame Sarah Palin for the shooting.  I'm sure whoever bombed the Muslims, even if he is right-wing and "Christian" is no fundamentalist.

4.) I consider myself a fundamentalist.  I'm pro-life, Republican, a creationist who believes in six literal days, I believe tattoos are sin, etc.  Do you see me bombing any abortion clinics?  Am I burning crosses in my backyard?  Do I claim all theistic evolutionists as heathens?  No.  I take very seriously 1 John 4:8 which says he who does not love does not know God because God is live.  Many other fundamentalists like John MacArthur or Ken Ham or Todd Friel are probably outraged that more murders have been committed in the name of Jesus.  I sure am.

5.) Hitler, KKK, the Crusades, Eric Rudolph: what do they all have in common?  They are all people who have committed murders, pogroms, ethnic cleansings, and yes, bombed abortion clinics in the name of Jesus.  I am ashamed of these people, but these are the exception, not the rule.  All people are sinners.  All Christians are sinners, and they will all do embarrassing things.  But you cannot be a Christian and heartlessly hate people and murder them, even Muslims or politicians you can't stand.  Sorry, Calvin, not even Michael Servetus.  You can't even kill Uriah, David.  If you are taking part in murder and hatred, then your relationship with God is not doing very well at the moment, and you need to repent and ask God to change your heart.  God can forgive you and bring you to a new place, but you cannot wish for the death of others.

6.) Fundamentalism is not the issue.  Religion is.  True Christianity believes the fundamentals of the Bible.  They believe it means what it says.  They believe it still applies to today.  They believe that Jesus is the only one who saves from sin, that those who don't believe in Jesus will perish in their sins (yes, forever), and try as hard as they can to get as many people to believe in Jesus and to live for him before they die.  People who follow a religion, however, add rules that you have to follow to be saved.  Religious people can't rely on Jesus alone for their salvation, they must look to themselves and what they can do.  Religious people look to man and not to God.  And if they make themselves their own gods, then of course they must rid the world of crazy Muslims because they certainly can't trust the real God to do it.  No, these people who bomb people or wish the death of others aren't being fundamentalist, they are following their own religion because they have no patience with God's timing.

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