The Fruits of Tolerance Are Bitter
I attended secular schools until I was 23. During that time, I was exposed to the cardinal virtue of higher education in the late twentieth century: so-called "tolerance." Broadly defined, this meant non-judgmental, non-prejudicial acceptance of all viewpoints as equally valid and personally meaningful. If those who advocated it had given it a metaphorical identity, tolerance would be a tree, producing fruit of the best and sweetest kind. Such promises have been made before.
A recent situation brought this to mind. Pastor Timothy LaBouf of the First Baptist Church of Watertown, NY, recently led the charge in dismissing a female Sunday School teacher for the reason that she was teaching men, a clear violation of 1 Timothy 2:12. The lady, a Mrs. Lambert, had taught the class as a volunteer for 54 years. This action -somehow- caught the attention of the national and global media, and prompted a scathing news segment from no less than CNN, whose reporter could barely deliver the news, so breathless was she from her skedaddle to the Church of the Stone Age. I found out the news today and checked out the church's website by Googling it. Turns out the pastor has a blog on blogspot, and said blog has attracted incredible attention--89 comments post-news-story. Needless to say, the comments are scathing, malevolent, and just plain evil. People, it seems, breathe hatred for the Christian view of gender and church authority.
Take a look at the comments here. They are horrifying. Pastor LaBouf is called evil, a member of the Taliban, and a being desperately deserving of hell. From people who I am sure would profess to be open-minded and "tolerant," he is excoriated. Honestly, check the comments out. They are frightening. I've never seen such vitriol directed at a Christian--and all from a very common stance on women's roles.
We know this, but secular tolerance is no tolerance at all. It is a disguise for an anti-God, anti-Bible, anti-conservative program of hate and intolerance. The same people who will scream bloody murder when a derogatory remark is even hinted at by a Christian find no such derision available when a Christian does something they disagree with. Thus "tolerance" shows its true colors. Those who planted this tree promised peace and happiness. The fruit of this tree, though, has shown itself to produce anything but.
The fruits of tolerance are bitter indeed.
A recent situation brought this to mind. Pastor Timothy LaBouf of the First Baptist Church of Watertown, NY, recently led the charge in dismissing a female Sunday School teacher for the reason that she was teaching men, a clear violation of 1 Timothy 2:12. The lady, a Mrs. Lambert, had taught the class as a volunteer for 54 years. This action -somehow- caught the attention of the national and global media, and prompted a scathing news segment from no less than CNN, whose reporter could barely deliver the news, so breathless was she from her skedaddle to the Church of the Stone Age. I found out the news today and checked out the church's website by Googling it. Turns out the pastor has a blog on blogspot, and said blog has attracted incredible attention--89 comments post-news-story. Needless to say, the comments are scathing, malevolent, and just plain evil. People, it seems, breathe hatred for the Christian view of gender and church authority.
Take a look at the comments here. They are horrifying. Pastor LaBouf is called evil, a member of the Taliban, and a being desperately deserving of hell. From people who I am sure would profess to be open-minded and "tolerant," he is excoriated. Honestly, check the comments out. They are frightening. I've never seen such vitriol directed at a Christian--and all from a very common stance on women's roles.
We know this, but secular tolerance is no tolerance at all. It is a disguise for an anti-God, anti-Bible, anti-conservative program of hate and intolerance. The same people who will scream bloody murder when a derogatory remark is even hinted at by a Christian find no such derision available when a Christian does something they disagree with. Thus "tolerance" shows its true colors. Those who planted this tree promised peace and happiness. The fruit of this tree, though, has shown itself to produce anything but.
The fruits of tolerance are bitter indeed.
posted by Owen at 7:10 PM
2 Comments:
I only saw no blog. Broken link?
Also Just so you know, I linked here
from 9Marks. Owen, I read your piece
on Seminary series. Very good reading.
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