Christian protesters devalued their own messagesBy Ryan Palmer
In last week’s edition of the Snapper, there was an interesting article about the Christian protesters who were rallying in front of the Student Memorial Center.
Even though the article was a thorough summary of the event, I felt blessed that I had the opportunity to witness the group first-hand and hear their various arguments and ideas about the flaws and sins of society.
As I stood on the sidewalk and listened to the “witnessing” which seemed to devolve into bantering and shouting, a series of thoughts began to permeate my mind. This “Christian” movement seemed rather volatile and explosive, as if the air was filled with gaseous fumes and we were all holding matches; these “Christians” appeared to be more like extremists, rather than “missionaries.”
After doing a little research and a great deal of reflection, I came to a few alarming conclusions.
First, these “Christians” fit into a particular Christian sect, known as Fundamental Evangelicals or more commonly referred to as “conservatives.” This sub-culture, within the Christian world, aligns itself with specific beliefs and doctrines which follow a “literal” approach to bible interpretation, legalistic lifestyles and dogmatic theological positions. Despite its re-surfacing into modern culture, it is certainly nothing new, in fact it is quite ancient.
Now take a brief step away from Christianity and move into an even more explosive topic, Islam.
Naturally, as in Christianity, there are varying sects of Islam, the more infamous are the fundamental and conservative. This sect of Islam, which is viewed with a great disdain in America, is the reigning philosophy with groups such as the Taliban who were claimed to be the root of terrorist actions.
It is interesting to note that the ideology in Fundamental Islam is the exact same as Fundamental Christianity: literal interpretation of the Koran, legalistic lifestyle and dogmatic theological positions.
Naturally one may say, “Are you trying to make a comparison to Fundamental Christians and Fundamental Muslims?” Well actually, yes, I am. Both of the groups are extremely dangerous entities. Both groups execute brutal actions and use their theology to justify the consequences.
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