In the wake of a terrible tragedy such as the Orlando massacre of June 12th, people look for answers. They point fingers. They try to interpret and make sense of the events. Presently, some people are focusing on the weapon used and what that means. Some are zoning in on the shooter's identity as a Muslim and the implications of that. Others are emphasizing the fact that it took place at a gay nightclub and what this means about the status of the LGBT community. This process brings out the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Because of the shooter's religious persuasion and the nature of the venue where it happened, radical Christian extremists are quick to offer their thoughts, and to me they are among the most reprehensible. They represent a serious either misunderstanding or disregard of the example of Jesus Christ. They are also deeply hypocritical to the extent that they do not realize that through their rhetoric they show themselves to be every bit as much misinformed, misguided, radicalized extremists of their religion as those within Islam are to whom they point their fingers.
Case in point are two examples currently trending on social media. The first is a Baptist pastor named Roger Jimenez, who said of the Orlando massacre, "The tragedy is that more of them didn’t die. The tragedy is — I’m kind of upset that [the shooter] didn’t finish the job!” (see: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/06/14/pastor-refuses-to-mourn-orlando-victims-the-tragedy-is-that-more-of-them-didnt-die/). Even if you believe that the victims were, as he called them, "Sodomites," who are doomed to hell if they do not repent, even if that is your view, does not the Bible state that the Lord "is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9), or has that verse been removed since I left ministry in 2008? You know, sometimes I fancy that in the line to get into heaven, there will be a place to fill out a job application. After all, surely the principle of a person not eating if the person does not work will ring true throughout eternity. And I fancy that one of the jobs listed will be something like "Hell's Trap Door Operator." This will be the spot that as people who are doomed to hell pass, someone will have the job to pull the lever. If they are true to their rhetoric, then people like Pastor Jimenez would be eager to sign up for the job. But what will be unknown to all the applicants, is that some jobs, such as this one, are listed in order to screen out people who do not belong in heaven. Anyone who would desire such a job will not see heaven!
The other example is the perennial Christian gaffer, Pat Robertson. He weighed in on the massacre in Orlando by focusing on the shooter's connection to "radical Islam" and concludes, "The best thing to do is to sit on the sidelines and let them kill themselves" (see: http://www.snopes.com/2016/06/15/pat-robertson-orlando-shooting-comments/). I have no words to describe how unconscionable I find these remarks. I am sure Jesus would have said the same, right? He would have said, "Away from me prostitutes! You deserve your abusive pimps and deadly STDs! You may never touch me over here on the sidelines!" He would have said, "Gather up all the adulterous women--women only, mind you!--and give them all large rocks to stone themselves to death far away from the sidelines where we sit." He would have said, "Lepers be gone; you must go rot and die among yourselves while I stay safe on the sidelines!" I'm sure he would have said, "The best thing that could happen is for all these mentally ill people to kill themselves far, far away from the sidelines." No doubt he would have said, "All tax collectors and sinners, please just go ahead and do us all a favor and kill yourselves, and if you need weapons to do it, just ask."
A thousand times no! I believe if there is one verse that would sum up Christ's reaction both to the shooting and to the responses to it by Pastor Jiminez and Robertson, it would be found in John 11:35, "Jesus wept."
Because of the shooter's religious persuasion and the nature of the venue where it happened, radical Christian extremists are quick to offer their thoughts, and to me they are among the most reprehensible. They represent a serious either misunderstanding or disregard of the example of Jesus Christ. They are also deeply hypocritical to the extent that they do not realize that through their rhetoric they show themselves to be every bit as much misinformed, misguided, radicalized extremists of their religion as those within Islam are to whom they point their fingers.
Case in point are two examples currently trending on social media. The first is a Baptist pastor named Roger Jimenez, who said of the Orlando massacre, "The tragedy is that more of them didn’t die. The tragedy is — I’m kind of upset that [the shooter] didn’t finish the job!” (see: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/06/14/pastor-refuses-to-mourn-orlando-victims-the-tragedy-is-that-more-of-them-didnt-die/). Even if you believe that the victims were, as he called them, "Sodomites," who are doomed to hell if they do not repent, even if that is your view, does not the Bible state that the Lord "is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9), or has that verse been removed since I left ministry in 2008? You know, sometimes I fancy that in the line to get into heaven, there will be a place to fill out a job application. After all, surely the principle of a person not eating if the person does not work will ring true throughout eternity. And I fancy that one of the jobs listed will be something like "Hell's Trap Door Operator." This will be the spot that as people who are doomed to hell pass, someone will have the job to pull the lever. If they are true to their rhetoric, then people like Pastor Jimenez would be eager to sign up for the job. But what will be unknown to all the applicants, is that some jobs, such as this one, are listed in order to screen out people who do not belong in heaven. Anyone who would desire such a job will not see heaven!
The other example is the perennial Christian gaffer, Pat Robertson. He weighed in on the massacre in Orlando by focusing on the shooter's connection to "radical Islam" and concludes, "The best thing to do is to sit on the sidelines and let them kill themselves" (see: http://www.snopes.com/2016/06/15/pat-robertson-orlando-shooting-comments/). I have no words to describe how unconscionable I find these remarks. I am sure Jesus would have said the same, right? He would have said, "Away from me prostitutes! You deserve your abusive pimps and deadly STDs! You may never touch me over here on the sidelines!" He would have said, "Gather up all the adulterous women--women only, mind you!--and give them all large rocks to stone themselves to death far away from the sidelines where we sit." He would have said, "Lepers be gone; you must go rot and die among yourselves while I stay safe on the sidelines!" I'm sure he would have said, "The best thing that could happen is for all these mentally ill people to kill themselves far, far away from the sidelines." No doubt he would have said, "All tax collectors and sinners, please just go ahead and do us all a favor and kill yourselves, and if you need weapons to do it, just ask."
A thousand times no! I believe if there is one verse that would sum up Christ's reaction both to the shooting and to the responses to it by Pastor Jiminez and Robertson, it would be found in John 11:35, "Jesus wept."
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