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Iraq Factsheets Taboo At Church
I was kicked out of a church this morning in Alamo, one of the richest areas of California. My crime: handing out factsheets on deaths & reasons for the war in Iraq.
This morning, I attended Creekside Community Church. The church is set in Alamo, an affluent neighborhood in the East Bay Area. Then I was promptly commanded to leave the grounds.
I had brought with me factsheets containing the number of Iraqi civilians killed since US invasion, number of US soldiers killed, number of WMD found (none), number of links between Hussein and Al-Qaida (none), and evidence for an imminent threat (none). At the bottom, I hand-wrote, "Jesus, my sweetest friend, what have we become?"
I didn't expect the fliers to be met with cheers or encouragement, but neither did I expect the severity of the reaction.
I was only able to hand out seven fliers. Two were thrown back at me. Another man threatened me, saying he would report to the church because what I was doing was "wrong."
Then, two church reps came over to me. One stood by with his arms crossed as if I was a physical threat. The other told me that my actions were completely inappropriate. "This is a place where we worship God," he said.
I asked, "Don't you think it's important to acknowledge the suffering in the world?" to which he replied that it was not the time or place to have this conversation.
I was not able to gather when or where he felt it WOULD be appropriate to discuss the terrible bloodshed of innocents in Iraq. He said I would have to talk to the Board of Elders who meet weekly. I asked when to go to the meeting. He replied that I was not welcome at the meeting and had to go through the church office who would get me in touch with an Elder representative.
I was escorted to the parking lot as he asked if I was "affiliated" with the church. I told him I grew up going to the church which was true. He nodded vaguely and steered me toward the parking lot.
I know the Right does not want to acknowledge they voted for a person who is willing to kill hundreds of thousands of people even as he is portrayed as a man of "moral values." But I was shocked by the intensity of animosity that these "Christians" displayed. Was intolerance a moral stance of Jesus?
I had brought with me factsheets containing the number of Iraqi civilians killed since US invasion, number of US soldiers killed, number of WMD found (none), number of links between Hussein and Al-Qaida (none), and evidence for an imminent threat (none). At the bottom, I hand-wrote, "Jesus, my sweetest friend, what have we become?"
I didn't expect the fliers to be met with cheers or encouragement, but neither did I expect the severity of the reaction.
I was only able to hand out seven fliers. Two were thrown back at me. Another man threatened me, saying he would report to the church because what I was doing was "wrong."
Then, two church reps came over to me. One stood by with his arms crossed as if I was a physical threat. The other told me that my actions were completely inappropriate. "This is a place where we worship God," he said.
I asked, "Don't you think it's important to acknowledge the suffering in the world?" to which he replied that it was not the time or place to have this conversation.
I was not able to gather when or where he felt it WOULD be appropriate to discuss the terrible bloodshed of innocents in Iraq. He said I would have to talk to the Board of Elders who meet weekly. I asked when to go to the meeting. He replied that I was not welcome at the meeting and had to go through the church office who would get me in touch with an Elder representative.
I was escorted to the parking lot as he asked if I was "affiliated" with the church. I told him I grew up going to the church which was true. He nodded vaguely and steered me toward the parking lot.
I know the Right does not want to acknowledge they voted for a person who is willing to kill hundreds of thousands of people even as he is portrayed as a man of "moral values." But I was shocked by the intensity of animosity that these "Christians" displayed. Was intolerance a moral stance of Jesus?
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only towards those of the ilk that threw you off the church grounds...if i were you, i'd defect from christianity if you give two wits about the tenets that jesus taught (compassion, suspicion of the rich, welcoming of the poor, etc)
everything else is just details, like, how to give all the contracts to halliburton....
Good for you.
Those christians don't like jesus because he's a person of color from the middle east. If jesus were alive today he would of shown up at that church leafletting, too!
While I am a traditional Republican conservative, I reject the neo-conservative ideology of George Bush and company. So today, I am ashamed to be an American.
But more than being ashamed, I am afraid. While I fear the radical Islamists and their terrorist organization, I am more fearful of the radical Evangelical Christians who now dominate the White House and the Congress.
I fear that in time that power wil cause them to use the courts and the Congress to create a country that oppresses those of us who have a different understanding of God. I fear that they will use their ideology of "God is on our side" to justify American military expansionism. I see very sad days ahead for America.
Today, the American flag that has flown proudly in front of my home will come down.
It no longer represents me.
But more than being ashamed, I am afraid. While I fear the radical Islamists and their terrorist organization, I am more fearful of the radical Evangelical Christians who now dominate the White House and the Congress.
I fear that in time that power wil cause them to use the courts and the Congress to create a country that oppresses those of us who have a different understanding of God. I fear that they will use their ideology of "God is on our side" to justify American military expansionism. I see very sad days ahead for America.
Today, the American flag that has flown proudly in front of my home will come down.
It no longer represents me.
If jesus were here today, he'd tell us to clean up our own mess.
IF he'd have known what we have become, he'd have come down from the cross and smite the romans on the spot.
Jesus died in vain.
IF he'd have known what we have become, he'd have come down from the cross and smite the romans on the spot.
Jesus died in vain.
Jesus' commandment was not to 'slay thy neighbor'.
We seem to label every Iraqi we kill an 'insurgent'....yet prior to our invasion of their country the Iraqis seemed to be leaving us alone. If there are a truly a large number of insurgents, I fear we have created them. I do not want one more American boy to give up his right to a future. ( Nor do I want young Iraqi boys to die for this non-cause.) The scary question is: can we make the hatred we created go away?
We seem to label every Iraqi we kill an 'insurgent'....yet prior to our invasion of their country the Iraqis seemed to be leaving us alone. If there are a truly a large number of insurgents, I fear we have created them. I do not want one more American boy to give up his right to a future. ( Nor do I want young Iraqi boys to die for this non-cause.) The scary question is: can we make the hatred we created go away?
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