We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
“I’m Angry, Too”
A reader (thanks, Jen!) sent us this blog post by Rachel Pieh Jones, an ex-pat from Minnesota living in Djibouti. She has some incredibly insightful and sad thoughts about the hateful responses to the recent protests and threats going on in other countries (and our own). We hope that as Christians we can contribute thoughtful and loving voices to all of this hate.
From her blog:
I’m not going to make a movie. I’m not going to kill anyone.
I’m going to ask my Muslim friends how they feel about the film and current events. I’m going to apologize on behalf of a man with whom I share nationality, if nothing else. This might sound foolish but yesterday one of my husband’s friends apologized for the murder of Ambassador Stevens. Another American living in the Middle East was at a store when the shopkeeper apologized for the burning of the US embassy in Egypt. It isn’t foolish. It is humble and that’s a good thing, its humbling and that’s also a good thing.
I’m going to pray and I’m going to hope and I’m going to trust and I’m going to pursue the path of peace.
Category: General
Tags: Hate Speech, Non-Violence, Peacemaking, Politics
Related Reading
Take America (& the World) Back for God?
Kai Schreiber via Compfight Recently Missio Alliance has hosted a series of posts entitled “Christianity and Violence.” Since Greg has written quite a lot on this topic from the point of view of pacifism, we thought it timely to weigh in on this topic. The following excerpt is quoted from his chapter, “Taking America Back…
Can Christians serve in the military?
Question: Jesus ministered to military people (e.g. a centurion) and didn’t tell them to leave their military post. So do you think Christians can serve in the military? I believe it’s a Christians duty is to serve their country, aid the wounded, defend the oppressed, protect our families, stand for truth and justice, and kill…
Does the Old Testament Justify “Just War”?
Since the time of Augustine, Christians have consistently appealed to the violent strand of the Old Testament to justify waging wars when they believed their cause was “just.” (This is Augustine’s famous “just war” theory.) Two things may be said about this. First, the appeal to the OT to justify Christians fighting in “just” wars…
Quotes to Chew On: Religious Violence
“The myth of religious violence promotes a dichotomy between us in the secular West who are rational and peacemaking, and them, the hordes of violent religious fanatics in the Muslim world. Their violence is religious, and therefore irrational and divisive. Our violence, on the other hand, is rational, peacemaking, and necessary. Regrettably, we find ourselves forced to bomb them into the higher rationality.” ~William Cavanaugh,…
A Response to Tony Campolo on Fighting the Powers
While I have nothing but admiration for Tony Campolo, I differ with his views on how Christians are to be change agents in the world. He has always been a strong proponent of Christians bringing about change by political means. I, on the other hand, am not in principle opposed to Christians engaging in politics,…