"Misusing Jesus' Name"

I'm linking to an excellent piece from Ethics Daily regarding war and how it is justified as being consistent with the teachings of Jesus.

The writer, Jim Evans, is pastor of Auburn First Baptist Church in Alabama. Despite being in the middle of a red state, he takes issue with how war can be called "a Christian thing."

Here is the key thought:

"But what are we supposed to do when unscrupulous and self-serving pretenders, wrap themselves in the cloak of Christianity and misuse the name of Jesus for their own benefit?"

Of course, the GLBT community deals with this on a daily basis. Instead of claiming war as a vehicle to peace, "fundamentalists" and conservatives use hate and call it a form of "love."

Just because you put a label on something doesn't mean that changes the actual nature of it. War is war, not peace. Hate is hate, not love.

Any faint claim the United States may have had to being a Christian nation was lost when our military invaded a sovereign country and took it over by force, imposing the United State's will on the people of Iraq. Clearly Saddam Hussein was an evil ruler and horrible atrocities were being committed in Iraq, but who gave American the moral authority to decide the fate of that nation?

It amazes and sickens me the things that our government condones in the name of “security” and, even more laughably, “freedom.” Would Jesus torture anyone to find out information from them? Even writing that sentence is preposterous, isn’t it? Despite that, our nation’s leaders are justifying those actions out of one side of their mouth while proclaiming their faith in Christ from the other.

No wonder Christian “leaders” feel empowered to hate and politic for discrimination! Given what the U. S. government is getting away with, trying to shove gays and lesbians back into the closet probably doesn’t seem like that big a deal.

It IS a big deal. It would be wrong under any circumstances, and double-dog wrong when Christ’s name is attached to it.

Of course, people can justify anything they want while on this earth, but it will be a whole different ball game when they stand before God trying to pitch how they were serving Him while hating an entire group of his children.