Is Christianity A Religion of Violence?
So many on the Right like to lambast Islam as a religion of violence. They point to rhetoric by fundamentalist Clerics as proof positive that Islam is, at its core, about violence. They make the charge that groups like the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and such as front groups for terrorism.
Now, setting aside whether these claims are true, one thing seems disturbingly clear: Christian Fundamentalism is equally bloodthirsty. And what's worse, the silence on such matters is deafening.
In a podcast, Max Blumenthal describes his experience attending a gathering of Christians United for Israel, and if you listen to it, its scary. These Christians openly pine for the wholesale slaughter of muslims, jews, atheists, and other undesireables. They have no problem with people who think or believe different being utterly destroyed.
And this isn't just some fly-by-night, backwater cult of snake-handlers and tongue-speakers. This meeting was attended by some political heavyweights like the disgraced Tom DeLay (which should speak volumes about what type of group this is), and represents a very large political movement.
I could comment on this, but I think the podcast speaks for itself. Take a listen.
posted by Libertarian Jason at 10:10 PM
2 Comments:
What I find most amusing about Max's transparent video is in the fact that he mentions that thousands came to see Hagee, but Blumenthal chose a very select portion of the "flock" to interview for his piece.
Anyone who knows Blumenthal's point of view on matters of organized religion, the Christian Right and Republicanism/Conservatism, would expect this from him, and he did not fail to be predictable.
Maybe Max can now show you an edit of more footage, with the doctors, lawyers, small business owners, teachers, scientists and the literally thousands of others who were there who were not speaking from an uneducated perspective and who were not doing interpretive dance in the aisles, and show that there is a movement of people who do not subscribe to "the rapture" and just believe that god's-will will be revealed one day, and until then, our lot is to work together for a common goal of survival.
Max forgot to include Hagee's comment while holding his friend Rabbi Aryeh Sheinbaum, an Orthodox rabbi from San Antonio when asked about eschatology, "we both know that one day when we're dancing in the streets of Jerusalem together, one of us will have to seriously reevaluate our beliefs."
That said to anyone else listening, that while Hagee is indeed a Christian and holds to the belief in Christ, he does acknowledge that maybe he does not know everything and that God's design is still truly unknown.
Max, an honest reporter would try to stay honest, but one with an agenda will always only find the facts that support his ends.
Well said, Johnny.
I might counter that such a comment is not an atypical response which is designed to distract from whether or not Christianity encourages such ideas or not. Are these people correct in their interpretation of scripture? Can anything they said be concretely proven false? Or is there something in the teachings of Christianity which can lead to the conclusions these people have reached? Just because you obscure the more unpleasant sounding interpretations of Christian thought, doesn't abolish their existence.
Sure, there are many reasonable Christians, just as there are reasonable Muslims. But the point is that the Religious Right, which is, by and large, hell bent on "supporting Israel" and "fighting terrorism", where you'll find the rhetoric that religions like Islam are _by nature_ violent. From the sounds of it (and trust me, I personally know many Christians that reflect the images shown in the podcast), I would say that Christians need to examine thier teachings....BEFORE casting stones at others. There is a large amount of hypocrisy from Christians on this matter, who barely take issue when people like Pat Robertson and Jerry "God Is Pro-War" Falwell, Fred Phelps, and other Christian "leaders" give moral cover to the likes of war criminals, gay-bashers, and abortion clinic bombers.
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