Store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven
where moth and rust cannot destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Atheists and the call to deliberately offend


I just saw a post by some atheist who says that now is the perfect time to overwhelm the Muslim world with offensive cartoons and movies and what have you regarding Mohammed. We in the West should deliberately offend Muslims so much and so often, he says, that they realize they simply cannot protest enough to stop it all and they will simply quit.
The blogger resents a White House response of being careful lest Muslims do some serious damage to the West.

"What Jay Carney . . . are saying is that the free expression of our opinions should always take into consideration whether there might be someone, either next door or at the other end of the world, who could possibly take offense . . . This, by definition, would make our speech no longer free"

I can't blame this atheist for being ignorant of yet another option, that of Christianity, As the New Testament teaches, "Though I am free and belong to no man I make myself a slave to everyone. While everything for me is possible to do (I'm already forgiven), not everything is the right thing for me to do, for I am to love my neighbour as myself."
Neither the blogger's option of, "Let's offend people to the point of desensitization," nor Jay Carney's option, of, "Let's tread lightly lest we offend and they hurt us," is the way to go.
Love is always the better option. 
Yes we have the right to offend, but how is that going to help anyone?
"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute you."
Jesus

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