Tuesday, June 9, 2009

People on the fringe

For the record, I think that we give too much space to fringe people and to responding to fringe people trying to show we aren't in agreement with them.

Case in point: Shooting an abortionist, even if it closes down his clinic, is no solution. Neither is his death something to have looked for or even sought in prayer. His repentance was something to be sought. Now it will not happen. However, we've spent a lot of ink in pro-life and conservative Christian circles beating that horse. Fruitcakes with guns do not represent me. This also the claim that many Muslims make. I'm getting a little irritated that the media and the government buys that fruitcakes with guns don't represent Muslims, but they don't agree that they don't represent Christians. And if you're keeping score, the fruitcakes claiming to be Muslims have killed a lot more in the last 10 years than the ones claiming to be Evangelical Christians. Since 2000, I think they're up in the several thousands range. So far, we've got the guy in Kansas killing one, the guy in East Tennessee that shot up the liberal church, but I still think we're under 10. So, even if pseudo-Christians with guns are closer to Christianity than pseudo-Muslims with guns are to Islam, who's more dangerous?

Case in point: It is perfect expected that when you pray, you be honest with God. After all, if God's worth praying to, He already knows what's in your heart and mind. So if you wish bad things to happen, you should tell God that. And then you should ask God for the strength to show the same love that Christ had: that you would suffer and die to see that person brought to repentance. Not that someone would shoot your enemy or anything else. But now, we're having to distance ourselves as Baptists from a Baptist pastor who expressed a desire to see the President dead if he doesn't repent. Now, I'm sure truly persecuted Christians would like to see something happen to end their persecution, but in all the reports I read of Chinese Christians being persecuted, of Christians in Muslim countries being persecuted, of historical persecutions, I don't see them praying for their persecutors to die. So where do we American Christians who have it so easy get the right to pray for Tiller or President Obama to die? We don't get that right. We get the right to pray they get right before God before God's judgment comes on them. However, some of us will do anything to get in the media.

And we need to stop it. And I think we need to start ignoring it. Rather than denounce it or anything else, just ignore it. Every time we have to denounce something, we draw more attention to it. It's like reporting the names and methods of serial killers. They want to be known, so they do some evil deeds, and they get reported on, and so they get what they want. Which drives the next nut job to do the same thing, or even step it up a notch, to get more attention.

So, what happens next? Well, the next guy will try to bomb an abortion clinic (again) resulting in more accusations at the pro-life community, and the next preacher on the fringe will call it good, and we'll go through this whole mess again.

Of course, meanwhile a Muslim will murder Americans, possibly soldiers fresh home from boot camp, and it'll be ignored. The President will condemn the abortion shooter, but ignore the Army shooter. The one who made a living killing babies will be lauded as a hero, while the man serving his country will go down to his grave quietly, barely heralded. Federal marshals will protect abortion clinics while recruiters are open targets.

Oh, wait, we won't let that part happen again, will we?

For the record: I'm not part of the lunatic fringe, and neither are 98% of Americans. 1% wants to kill everybody less conservative than they are, the other 1% wants to kill those less liberal. The rest of us, honestly, could probably get along. If we could talk about something other than the ridiculous behavior of the other 2%.

Doug

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