THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

AN INSULT THAT I AM SICK OF | 2004-11-07

Everybody but me is allowed to be touchy. Every time I say anything about religion, everybody has a license to go through the roof.

Except me.

When you preach to me about what Christianity is, you are right on the edge of saying I am not a Christian. It never occurs to anybody that that could be an insult.

I am very, very tired of that insult.

I used to have to take it when constituents preached at me, but I am retired, and I will take it no more.

If you preach at me, you need a VERY good excuse for it. You are free to question my history, you are free to question my theological interpretations. But you are NOT free to imply that I am not a Christian, or that your faith is serious and mine isn't.

If you preach at me, back it up.

My opinions on politics or religion or anything else are my opinions and you know it.

When you preach at me, you are expressing an opinion. But I will tolerate no more self-appointed Prophets.

COMMENTS (2)

#1 Hank Parnell | 2004-11-08 20:22

Bob, if you want to be venomously and irrationally hated, you ought to try NOT being a Christian, or even religious. You're not even counted as HUMAN then. If I hadn't been born in a secular society, I'd have been smoke and ashes long ago.

Religious people are wonderful folk. Whenever they control the law and government, first they kill off everybody who doesn't believe, then they go to killing each other over whose interprettion of the sacred texts is correct. This is a large part of human history in a nutshell.

As a non-religious non-Christian, I find your version of faith refreshing, and have nothing but respect for it. I have always agreed with the Golden Rule and tried to live by it. Probably why I've never gotten anywhere in this life, but...if there were more Christians like YOU (or my old paternal grandmother, who would LITERALLY turn the other cheek), I wouldn't feel quite so out-of-place in a "Christian" society full of "Christian" charity and etc.

#2 Horace | 2004-11-09 01:10

Read your Bible, Bob.

John 3:16 says: "If thy brother insult thee, do not smite him, lest he be bigger and stronger."