Seattle First Baptist offers a version of Christianity that I can get behind: welcoming, progressive, aware of injustice and willing to do something about it.
When I lived in Seattle, the church just a few blocks away from my house was in regular trouble with the U.S. government. Why? Because the church was part of the Sanctuary movement. It hid Salvadoran refugees who would otherwise have been murdered by the U.S.-backed terrorist government in El Salvador. Catholic Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen refused to pay half his taxes on the basis that he would not support the military, and while I disagreed with him on his anti-abortion stance, I respected him because he was consistent in his message that all life was sacred--and therefore, the death penalty and war were wrong, too.
Today, it is good to be reminded that there is more to Christianity than the hate mongers who preach messages of intolerance and fanaticism. Sometimes, I lose track of that because those are the people who are shouting the loudest right now.
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1 comment:
Thank you for the nugget of hope. I've lost faith in the Faith of The People too. I try to shout back...I try to shout LOUDER... but in the end, I fear I only look like them... wild-eyed, crazy, and oh-so-sure-I'm-right.
There's got to be a better way. There have to be people willing to stand up and say so. Thanks for being one.
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