Would You Like Fries with That?

Pastor Tom today again cites "the wires," by which I assume he means World Net Daily I don't begrudge him using references with biases, just why not share the reference?

So I don't know how much stock to put in the story he mentions (since I could only find three sites on-line and they reference each other, and one site says the boys are twins who were 11 over a year ago, while the recent WND post lists them as 11 and 13 now). I am willing to concede that it is not a good thing if a government is meddling in the religious beliefs of its citizens to the extent that these sites say that Egypt is. Indeed, there are certainly Islamic states around the world that are religiously repressive and that is very bad indeed. I admire the courage of these young men to stick to their guns and take the consequences; civil disobedience at its best, breaking an immoral law.

Still, inherent in Pastor Tom's position (not just from this one post) is that Christianity is the superior religion AND governments would do well to propagate it and defeat Islam (which he sees as inherently violent). Whether force-fed or spoon-fed, any religion becomes distasteful. I prefer the free marketplace of ideas, unhindered by external expectation or obligation.

There was an agnostic professor in the Christian college I attended who kept his job because of tenure although at the time the school was working hard to reclaim its conservative Christian heritage. I remember him challenging us to consider why the administration felt compelled to require all students to take courses where they were taught one narrow type of theology. He would ask us, "If Christianity is so wonderful, why isn't it attractive enough on its own? Why must students be force-fed?" It was a good question then....it still is now.

Blog you later,
Pastor Ian