Re: Christian intolerance editorial

Nope (IMHO)

rfaussette@aol.com wrote:

> What do you think about this story, Keith? Do you think it should be
> taken at face value?rich
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Keith Miller <kbmill@ksu.edu>
> To: asa@calvin.edu
> Sent: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 12:16:38 -0600
> Subject: Fwd: Christian intolerance editorial
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> > Columbus Dispatch ed. page
> >
> > Tale of 2 Smiths holds a moral for all Christians
> > Monday, March 21, 2005
> > LEONARD PITTS
> >
> > When the man came to, he asked why Smith had beaten him unconscious.
>
> > "Because I'm Christian," Smith said.
> >
> > The anecdote comes from a story alleging prisoner abuse at
> Guantanamo > Bay,
> > Cuba, written by my colleague, Miami Herald reporter Carol
> Rosenberg, > and
> > published Sunday before last. Her report, based on recently >
> declassified
> > notes taken by lawyers representing the captives, included other >
> claims of
> > religious intimidation. Prisoners say their American captors kicked
> and
> > stomped Qurans, cursed Allah and denied them pants, kno wing Muslims
> are
> > prohibited from praying with bodies uncovered. A man who refused to
> > surrender his pants said he was gang-tackled, beaten and >
> pepper-sprayed.
> >
> > Still, it's Jumah al Dossari's alleged encounter with a military >
> policeman
> > he knew only as Smith that leaps out.
> >
> > Why did you beat me until I blacked out? he asked Smith. "Because
> I'm
> > Christian," Smith said.
> >
> > Yeah, I know. Dossari's probably no Boy Scout. Maybe had his hand in
> > some
> > major nastiness. Maybe isn't telling the truth.
> >
> > But his character is beside the point. And as for truth, well, this
> > account sure jibes with those of other Muslim detainees who
> described
> > brute-force attempts to make Christians out of them.
> >
> > Add to that last year's whiny complaints that saying happy holidays
> as
> > opposed to Merry Christmas somehow threatens the foundations of
> > Christendom. And the caterwauling crusade to force public display of
> a
> > rock bearing the Ten Commandments. And recently renewed attempts to
> > force
> > schools to teach so-called creation science.
> >
> > What you get is an unsettling picture of intolerance and arrogance >
> under
> > the guise of faith, renewed proof that religious people are often
> the
> > worst advertisement for religious life.
> >
> > Then, there's Ashley Smith.
> >
> > She is the 26-year-old woman from Duluth, Ga., who was taken hostage
> > this
> > week by accused rapist and escaped Atlanta courtroom shooter Brian
> > Nichols. Smith knew even before this what trouble is. Four years
> ago, > her
> > husband was stabbed and died in her arms. And The New York Times &
> gt; reports
> > that she has a history of arrests for shoplifting, drunken driving
> and
> > assault.
> >
> > Then, says Smith.s family, she found God and, through God, change.
> They
> > say it was what she knew about hurting, about life at the end of
> your
> > rope, that enabled her to reach out to Nichols. By her account, she
> > talked
> > to him about God. She encouraged him to think about his purpose in
> the
> > divine design. She reminded him that the people he is alleged to
> have
> > killed were loved. She made him pancakes. In a word, she ministered
> to
> > him.
> >
> > And he, in response, let her go.
> >
> > Compare this Smith with the one at Guantanamo. It.s hard to imagine
> a
> > starker contrast.
> >
> > I am loath to question anybody's bona fides where religious beliefs
> are
> > concerned. St ill, if the Smith at Guantanamo Bay embodied the faith
> he
> > professed, might not Jumah al Dossari have wound up asking different
>
> > questions?
> >
> > Might he not have said, Smith, why do you treat me decently? Why do
> you
> > respect my religion when the others don't? Why did you stop them
> from
> > beating me?
> >
> > Then it would have made sense, would have been a stirring
> affirmation, > for
> > Smith to reply, "Because I'm Christian."
> >
> > As it is, this Smith affirms only the niggardliness of spirit that
> so
> > often masquerades as faith. I could spend the rest of the day >
> explaining
> > why niggardliness and faith are mutually exclusive, could fulminate
> in
> > righteous rebuke of religious bullies who see faith as a license to
> > mistreat instead of as an obligation to serve.
> >
> > But it is enough, I think, to point to this other Smith, making >
> pancakes
> > for a man with a gun, seeking humanity in the despicable.
> >
> > I can.t put it any better than she already did.
> >
> > Leonard Pitts Jr., winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary,
> > is a
> > columnist for the Miami Herald.
>

--
===================================
Walt Hicks <wallyshoes@mindspring.com>
In any consistent theory, there must
exist true but not provable statements.
(Godel's Theorem)
You can only find the truth with logic
If you have already found the truth
without it. (G.K. Chesterton)
===================================