I'm Critical of Critcism

Not so very long ago, I listened as a man addressed a group of Christians. He was responding to the concept of whether or not the world was worse off for Christianity coming into existence. Wars have been fought in God's name, religious persecution; a fair amount of misery might be blamed at the feet of Christianity, so was it really worth it?

I of course argue no. That while people's attempts may not always go as I would like, their intentions were hopefully to further God's kingdom. In my view, it is the every day little decencies we perform that lead us to a belief in Christianity, not the wars and attacks that we're a little too quick to jump to.

Well, the leader's response was to start off with, "All due respect, but" and then went on to call this specific author he had named an imbelic, uncomprehensible, dumb, moron.

... : Uh huh...

Now, I have my opinions about people. There are actions that my friends and coworkers do that simply boggle my mind. I'm not stupid, I'm not flying off the charts, I'm what I refer to as: smart enough. I'd like to think I'm smart enough not to replicate this mistake.

Look, the specifics don't really matter. It was a respectable enough fellow addressing a group of Christians. Knowing that much alone, I would argue that most would agree that different actions probably should have been taken. Singling out one author and calling them unintelligent because they think differently? That we think things through in opposing manners? That's not being stupid, that's offering up a possiblity for debate.

Bill Maher and I think very differently. But he, in so far as I can see, is no dummy. There are people that have been President in the past few decades that I think were unwise in their policies and how they executed (sometimes, literally) those policies. But having acknowledge our differences, I wouldn't go so far as to call them evil.

In my book, God is love. Insulting someone and claiming they lack intelligence seems unloving; unkind, if you will. I like to think that we, as Christians, can be better than that.

I like discord. I don't like how it frustrates me when others won't agree, but I do appreciate that we can all see things differently. It just solidifies my beliefs in my head and sorts them out that much clearer.