The Intolerance of Christians

I selected that title more as a matter of irony for what I am about to share rather than claim again Christians for their intolerance of others. Historically Christianity may have had its issues in the tolerance department, yet as a religion its tenets are among the most open and respectful of other faiths. We typically respect the individuals right to disagree. We do however have the intellectual honesty not to simply claim that all beliefs are right and that therefore those who disagree or who do not have faith in Christ run the risk of being outside the will of God, if in fact the truth claims of Christians turn out to be correct. Yet the claim is still made that by merely asserting that there is a right and a wrong view religiously (or spiritually to use more popular language) that we are in fact already intolerant bigots.

With that in mind let me put before you two news pieces. One that has people worried about reprisal and one that no one seems too concerned with. First you have the theory that the meaning behind the phrase "the disciple whom Jesus loved" is in fact a homosexual relationship (far too much can be found here: http://www.jesusinlove.org/). Then you have the publication of a book on the child bride of Mohammed is pulled by Random House for fear that violence may result. Now a linked article on jesusinlove.org claims that depictions of a gay Jesus are destroyed when displayed. Yet no reputable news source is sighted for such an incident.

My point in this is simply that if find it ironic that we are called upon to lift up Islam as a religion of peace while Christians are routinely shunned as hateful, while the only violence that I see directed through a religious lens these days comes from an Islamic source. I really wish that more people in our nation had the capacity to reason through questions like this rather than simply condemning or accepting without understanding the broader implications of what they are doing.