July 23, 2014

I've had the pleasure of seeing Rev. William Barber speak in person awhile back, and I will never, ever forget him. He is, bar none, the most genuine and passionate preacher I've heard in my lifetime.

When Maher went off on his usual what kind of God hates whole segments of society, Rev. Barber came back with the best response I've ever heard. After pointing out that if Glenn Beck really cared about the kids at the border he'd forget about the soccer balls and bring a rational, fair immigration policy with him, he had a few words for Maher.

Turning to Maher, Barber said "When it comes to atheism, I'm an atheist too when it comes to those folks that say God is on the side of bigots and on the side of those that hurt people." He put an exclamation point on it by saying "That kind of God? I don't know him either."

As a Christian myself, there is spiritual and sometimes even physical pain when I see people proclaim hate in the name of Christ. That's not who Jesus was, and it's not what he preached. He didn't call for tribunals of self-righteous haters to rain hell down on those who are different from them and he certainly didn't lead anyone to a mass condemnation of children. No. He led by example, and that example did not include leveraging governments and wealthy citizens to impose his will on others.

So Amen, Rev. Barber! I don't know that kind of God either. The one I know says this: "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

Evidently that isn't in the Bible those screaming lunatics at the border read, which is why both Rev. Barber and I would be considered atheists by their standards.

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