Hat tip The F Word.
The other day this New Orleans talk radio program did a whole show on Obama's pastor and some of McCain's buddies (Haggee?) and about what people thought. So, on the topic of some people's religious views, this woman called in and said that in the aftermath of Katrina, she worked sorting food donations that were coming in from around the country. The donors apparently didn't realize that the food bank would break packages down into the smallest possible units (I guess to get widest possible distribution). Time and time again, when this woman opened the packages, she found that people had tucked notes inside their food donations, notes telling the already devastated recipient that Katrina was the wrath of god visited upon a sinful people.
I really do hope those gay scientists, now that they've isolated the gene, can find the cure.
(with apologies to any REAL Christians out there; I get so frustrated with the other kind)
Way to kick people when they're already down.
ReplyDeleteSo what is the recipient supposed to do when they get something like that: feel guilty for the storm, the need for food, the attempt to rebuild their lives?!?! Are they suggesting that the recipients are to blame for what happened and for trying to live here again?!
And they call themselves Christians, people of mercy and love!
Yeah, I couldn't believe that! I guess promulgating their worldview is so paramount for them that the damage they could be doing to someone else was just insignificant.
ReplyDeleteEither it was insignificant and secondary, or else they WANTED to be hurtful. Maybe they truly are sadistic. Scary thought.
I don't quite understand what they hoped to accomplish, just in a purely theological sense, either. Did they actually think someone would read their notes and say, "Oh, you are soooo right, I get it now, thank you Jesus, let me be saved..."
It reminds me of the guys who whistle and honk at women on the street. When has ANY woman responded by saying, "Oh, yes, right here, right now baby?"
In both cases, I just wonder what on EARTH the people were EXPECTING in response! And the reason I wonder about that so much is that IF there is NO logical hope of seducing someone to your side with such boorish behavior, then there must be another agenda.
Maybe they just don't think at all. Maybe they just do.
It seems to me that the polar opposite of such a hurtful version of Christianity might be the one demonstrated by the Amish following the Nickel Mines schoolhouse shooting incident. I found the book "Amazing Grace" breathtaking. The Amish shared the donations they received with the killer's widow and also attended the killer's funeral. The book gives great context. What we got on CNN was just sort of, oh wow, they say all is forgiven and that's it...but in the book it explains that they are able to offer forgivness within the greater context of their culture, that they offer forgiveness with the understanding that eventually we ALL have our turns at needing to be forgiven (forgiveness born of humility!), and that their forgiveness is not some magic eraser of trauma but rather an ongoing process undertaken only with MUCH assistance from others.
"Amish Grace" the book:
http://www.amishgrace.com/
Amish as Beliefnet's 2006 most inspiring person of the year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZkSUpphLk0&feature=related
via Bill Moyers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAmeJHXcw4w
Powerful medicine (as a native American friend says). What would Jesus do, indeed.
No kidding!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the links and the perspective from their culture. It shines a new light on forgiveness, and makes it seem possible.
Hiya, Droudy. Thanks for checking back. The last couple of days have been nuts. Talk to you soon.
ReplyDeleteTake care.