At church this past Sunday, there was a dramatic reading of Matthew 4:1-11, the text in which Jesus, hungry in the wilderness for 40 days, is tempted by the devil. In the service, the choir sang a response praising God periodically during the reading. Then at the end, the devil is walking around the sanctuary, singing the very same song that the choir had been performing. It was quite affecting.
I was reminded of this a couple of days ago when I saw on YouTube a video of a young woman praising God for answering the prayers of “the believers”, that “God literally took Japan by shoulders and shook it.”
HE RATTLED THE ATHEISTS IN JAPAN!! (If you want to watch it, you can’t anymore, as Arthur explains.) Even though, or maybe because I now know it to be a hoax, I’m sorry to admit – as a self-professed pacifist – that I still wanted to reach into the screen and slap this person silly.
I was also reading Jo Page’s column in this week’s Metroland weekly about how the “New Atheists” should Give Faith a Chance and how “it is a kind of arrogance to look down your nose dismissively at the varieties of religious experience.” While I understand her point, I also recognize that representations of faith such as the faux one mentioned above do little to aid the cause of Christendom in the greater world, and frankly mortifies more than a few Christians – such as this one – to boot.
In fact, Arthur’s quote of the week dovetails nicely here: “I knew I’d struggle with the injunction to love my enemies when I first became a Christian. I just didn’t expect so many of them would turn out to be other Christians.” – Tapu Misa
I will opine that, noting pious-sounding language may be spouted by the devil, if I were to believe in a personalized Satan, it would be messengers like the person in the video that I’d be most worried about. I’m not saying she’s the devil in Christian clothing, but…
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And speaking of hell freezing over, I find myself agreeing with FOX News’ Glenn Beck. Yes, I’m surprised, too.
“Analysts from the Poynter Institute and The Blaze, a website set up by Fox News host Glenn Beck, told an NPR reporter that they found a short version of the video deceiving when compared with the full two-hour tape of a lunch meeting between NPR fundraisers and two conservative activists posing as a fake Muslim group.” Nevertheless, James O’Keefe, the same dude who edited versions of his videos to discredit the nonprofit group ACORN, still got NPR’s Ron Schiller fired. Read more HERE.
A Chinese woman, commented, it was punishment. She even wished japan would sink and disappear. Not a Christian thought.
It is often sad for me when I see/hear/read what is done/said/justified in the name of God. Now is the time for us to show our love, lend our support and pray for all in Japan.
How could anyone have, towards Japan and its people, any thought other than sympathy and compassion. Would like to share something positive. I came across a Facebook page with compilation of Twitter messages shared by the Quake hit in Japan. Gives uaus a feel of the Japanese mindset. – http://www.facebook.com/notes/jun-shiomitsu/japan-quake-as-seen-from-twitter-translated-by-me-so-quality-questionable/10150121176733830
I watched the video on YouTube and agree with Arthur that Poe’s Law makes it pointless, other than to confirm the viewer’s prejudices one way or the other.
What happened to the Japanese people can happen everywhere. I simply hope things won’t get worse for them. Nobody deserves what’s happening there.
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Happy day, Roger****
Disaster is an equal-opportunity destroyer. It doesn’t matter the country, race or creed. People like this (and the Westboro group) are influenced by evil. Your comments about a personalized Satan reminded me of the movie, The Passion, where the Satan figure slides through the crowd completely unnoticed, but leaving a wake of hate and hostility.
As the wife of a pastor and a self-professed follower of Jesus, I have reason ten times a day to want to dope-slap a few Christians!! And I, too, am a pacifist, so I don’t actually slap, I pray for patience with myself and with the ignorant, self-serving people who have access to the media (including the Net, where we all spout off from time to time) who profess to know what God’s judgment is, whether it’s “Katrina happening to punish sinful New Orleans,” “Earthquakes rocking Japan to punish heathens…”
How about “Glenn Beck is on the air because God wants to punish smart people?” Sorry, too flip for this season, I suppose, but you know what I mean? Amy
Thanks for the perspectives, Roger (and for the links!). I’m sure I’m a bit more sensitive about this than I should be, though I’m learning to pull my punches more often. Still, the antics of such supposed Christians annoy me more than political conservatives spouting nonsense, probably because I expect such politicians to be cruel. That’s kind of sad itself, I suppose.
When I was a kid I lived in Utah, and the Boy Scouts was taken over by Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS Church). This, so called religion, practices underage polygamy, they send the boy s off on missions to divide the underage sisters among the dirty old men of the clan. Now when these underage girls get pregnant, these same dirty old men, send them to the state to get their welfare checks . You should see some of the palace homes that are paid with welfare checks (not on just one of course). By the way this is the newest religion that was created right here in United States of America, I guess their also in AZ, CA, NM, TX, NV, CO, OK. When someone hides behind religion to do or say something that is wrong we should stand up and point it out (right the wrong). Someone should ask Glenn Beck about it, he seems to have all the answers.