|
By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Were it not so tragic, the irony would be delicious – if I weren’t so angry.
In case you missed it, Muslims are raising Cain about some recent remarks made by the Pope Benedict. He read from a medieval manuscript where another Pope basically trashed the prophet Mohammed for condoning violence.
The transcript I read also pointed out that the Pope mentioned that some branches of Islam have twisted Mohammed’s teachings to justify blowing up airplanes and killing more or less everyone who doesn’t agree with them.
Rather than listening to what was actually said, fussing, demonstrating or even just sending a nasty note, some Muslims around the world starting killing people.
Makes sense to me. Demonstrate your non-violence by killing folks.
Bleeding hearts everywhere wept with protestations that the Pope should apologize, make amends, quit causing trouble, etc., because he was encouraging intolerance. They claim it’s typical of how all Christians treat people of other faiths.
Then Rosie O’Donnell turns around and says Christians are more frightening than Muslims.
Now, wait one consarned minute.
Who, precisely, is blowing stuff up?
The old man who read from an antique book, or the people claiming to be non-violent?
And where, pray tell, were the can’t-we-all-get-along crowd when my faith was the target of intolerance by the aforementioned O’Donnell?
Although I’ve never been a big fan of Rosie O’Donnell, I generally make it a point to ignore confused, silly and rather spiteful people – I couldn’t help but be offended by her remarks about Christians.
She claimed that the world has more to fear from radical Christians than from radical Muslims.
There were only a few token protests by Christians reported by the national media. As usually, no one seemed worried about insulting Christians.
Maybe there wasn’t any airtime left after hand-wringing over the poor, misunderstood homicidal bombers.
Are the majority of Christians that dangerous? I doubt it. Had O’Donnell anything to fear, I think those remarks would have set it off.
I haven’t heard of any gunfights between the armed guards who protect the anti-gun O’Donnell and angry, radical Methodists. There haven’t been any Presbyterian car bombers targeting the studios where O’Donnell spouts her bile.
There have been no reports of Holiness snipers hiding in the bushes around her home.
And I pity the Baptist deacon who straps a bomb-vest to his wife and tries to tell her to blow herself and Rosie up.
Yeah, Rosie, we Christians are really scary bunch.
No celebrities or world leaders have called on Rosie to resign for her shots at Christianity.
Yet, some Muslims and a lot of new-world people want to lynch the Pope for reading from an antique text. Apparently Rosie’s hatred is okay, too.
It seems to have become not just accepted, but expected to tolerate any religion as long as it’s not Christianity.
If you doubt the pervasiveness of the “one-nation-under-anything-but-God” attitude, I would point to the young lady whose graduation speech was cut off last spring.
She talked about how her faith had helped her succeed in school, and that, the naysayers decided, was modern heresy.
The founding fathers wanted to guarantee freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. They rather explicitly wrote about the evils of a state-run church, or a church-run state.
At the same time, they recognized that without a strong foundation in faith, and the principles it encourages, a nation is doomed.
I consider both Catholicism and Islam wrong – and I’ll tell followers of either faith why I feel that way. My dissension doesn’t mean I’m going to burn their temples and churches.
The Muslim idiots who kill so indiscriminately are no more true Muslims than the Christians who cheat on their spouses and gossip about their neighbors.
The latter are no more Christian than the ‘devout’ Muslims flying airplanes into buildings to gain 40 prom queens and a vineyard.
Neither set of hypocrites is much better than TV people who haven’t got anything worthwhile to say, so they say something ugly.
Of course, everyone has a right to their own opinion, whether I agree or disagree with them.
I might consider their opinions scatterbrained, foolish, or idiotic, but I won’t kill them over their views. I’ll even try not to hurt their feelings when I disagree with them.
I suppose I should be worried about Miss O’Donnell’s feelings, but I doubt she will ever read this column. Most of us try to avoid reading things we know will disagree with the way we think, and she strikes me as one of those folks.
Besides, I am pretty sure I don’t have any readers in New York City who might pass this column on to her. Rosie, as a Christian, I forgive you for calling me a terrorist. More importantly, I know God forgives you.
I promise, you don’t have to be scared of me. I heartily disagree with you, but we’re both still Americans, where even Christians have a right to their own opinions.
You don’t need to be scared of me. You need to be scared of the zealots who want to kill us not because of our respective faiths, but because we’re Americans.
Oh yes, and unless you change, you really should be afraid of God.
Weaver is a staff writer at the News Reporter. He may be reached via e-mail at jeffweaver@newsreporter.biz, or via telephone at 642-4104, ext. 227.
 |
|
|