Why I'm Christian
It's guys like him. Michael Wilson is the minister at my church. The United Church of Canada is probably one of the more progressive churches out there, and I'm proud to be a member there. Not once has a message of intolerance been preached. All sermons are hopeful and acknowledge the rights of others to practice whatever religion they want and not denounce them as heathen or evil. And most importantly, I feel comfortable there. A lot of people I know are quick to dismiss religion as misguided and manipulative (and that, sometimes, is true) when a lot of people who are involved with it are good people who truly care about others.
Take, for example, a great sermon Michael preached a few months ago in response to this story.
He compared these idiots to the Pharisees of Jesus' day. He talked about John baptizing Jesus in the river Jordan when they (the Pharisees) came along and wished to be baptized as well. (The Pharisees were essentially the Jewish right-wing - read: opposed change in the religious system.) They wanted to be on the same ground as everyone else so that they could still feel superior to everyone else. They approached John, asked to be baptized, and he basically told them to screw off. "You snakes (or so it goes, roughly), here everyone is trying to change themselves and here you are trying to keep things the same. Out, you snakes!" Michael was all the more incensed at the fact that the students suing their university at the behest of his fellow Christians. "These snakes," he said, "wish to keep their fellow man in ignorance. They do not want any change in their neat, ordered structure. They'd rather just feel superior to everyone else than expand their knowledge, which is what they've been doing all their lives. These snakes are trying to keep things from changing, when changing is what so many more wish to do." But the best was still yet to come. He then told us of his neighbour's young 8 year-old daughter, Miriam. (This sermon was delivered in the winter, btw.) Michael was out shovelling his driveway when he saw that Miriam was shovelling a driveway all by herself. He then realized that she was shovelling the driveway of an injured elderly man who was unable to shovel his driveway himself. Michael called out to her, "Why are you shovelling your neighbour's driveway, too?" Miriam answered, "Because, God says we hafta help others!" Now here's the kicker, something that Rev. Franklin Graham or Benny Hinn would never tell you after reciting this story: Miriam and her family are devout, practising Muslims.
In a later sermon, of which subject I don't really remember, these few lines in particular stuck out for me: "It doesn't matter whether you believe that Christ hasn't come yet, believe in Allah, believe in Buddah, believe in Vishnu; God still loves you. We're all God's children." Oh yeah, that's why I'm a Christian.
Take, for example, a great sermon Michael preached a few months ago in response to this story.
He compared these idiots to the Pharisees of Jesus' day. He talked about John baptizing Jesus in the river Jordan when they (the Pharisees) came along and wished to be baptized as well. (The Pharisees were essentially the Jewish right-wing - read: opposed change in the religious system.) They wanted to be on the same ground as everyone else so that they could still feel superior to everyone else. They approached John, asked to be baptized, and he basically told them to screw off. "You snakes (or so it goes, roughly), here everyone is trying to change themselves and here you are trying to keep things the same. Out, you snakes!" Michael was all the more incensed at the fact that the students suing their university at the behest of his fellow Christians. "These snakes," he said, "wish to keep their fellow man in ignorance. They do not want any change in their neat, ordered structure. They'd rather just feel superior to everyone else than expand their knowledge, which is what they've been doing all their lives. These snakes are trying to keep things from changing, when changing is what so many more wish to do." But the best was still yet to come. He then told us of his neighbour's young 8 year-old daughter, Miriam. (This sermon was delivered in the winter, btw.) Michael was out shovelling his driveway when he saw that Miriam was shovelling a driveway all by herself. He then realized that she was shovelling the driveway of an injured elderly man who was unable to shovel his driveway himself. Michael called out to her, "Why are you shovelling your neighbour's driveway, too?" Miriam answered, "Because, God says we hafta help others!" Now here's the kicker, something that Rev. Franklin Graham or Benny Hinn would never tell you after reciting this story: Miriam and her family are devout, practising Muslims.
In a later sermon, of which subject I don't really remember, these few lines in particular stuck out for me: "It doesn't matter whether you believe that Christ hasn't come yet, believe in Allah, believe in Buddah, believe in Vishnu; God still loves you. We're all God's children." Oh yeah, that's why I'm a Christian.
posted by Derek at 9:49 p.m.
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