Sources Say…Part II
I was hoping for more responses to the quote. Oh well.
The pastor of my church had this (or a similar quote by the same person) up on the screen one Sunday, and asked if we thought it was true. Pretty much everyone said yes. (Not that we hate America, but we agreed that there were serious moral problems in the areas the quote mentioned.) The next slide he showed revealed the author: Osama bin Laden. People were shocked. Had we just agreed with Osama bin Laden?
Yes, we did. But that is OK. Why? Because there is truth in many places, even from people and situations that wouldn’t lend themselves to truth all the time. What bin Laden said about America was very true in many respects. We do have moral problems in our country. (So does every country.) In one of my last posts, I referenced a petition by Ted Kennedy. A commenter pasted a wikipedia entry telling about a shady incident in which Senator Kennedy was involved. My thought was, what does this have to do with anything? Truth is truth. Whether it comes from a pastor, a lawyer, a criminal, or a hobo has no bearing on the fact itself. If a criminal says, “The sky is blue.” His past has nothing to do with the fact that the sky is, indeed, blue. That is one of the points I wanted to make.
In regards to the content of the quote (as well as my political posts), I should mention that although I agree that America has many problems, I must agree with the commenters who praised America. When I write these posts about the government, it is about that–the government. Not the country as a whole. I love America. There is no country I’d rather live in. I criticize the government because I do love this country and I get frustrated when her leaders do bad things.
To recap this post and the last:
1. Truth can be found in many places.
2. I love America.
Chad Zaucha responds:
Posted: January 15th, 2007 at 2:45 pm →
Where did your pastor go after sharing the quote and revealing its source? What was the message?
Rachel responds:
Posted: January 15th, 2007 at 3:18 pm →
I loved that sermon Wendy. Very thought provoking. Whoever thought that Rob would be quoting bin Laden at church?
Playtah responds:
Posted: January 15th, 2007 at 3:18 pm →
Pastor Rob used it for a series on modesty called “Living A Revolutionary Life in an Abercrombie & Fitch World”. This specific sermon was about viewing women as consumable products. (Thanks for remembering, Rachel!)
I personally think it’s a great example for a different subject that he’s taught on, about how all truth is God’s truth. He talked about how, for example, he traveled to a Muslim country and saw a half-built house. He asked his guide why the house wasn’t finished, and the guide told him that in this culture, the people don’t borrow money, they build as they have money. Rob said that he affirms that truth–the idea of not going into debt. Basically he was saying that Christians don’t have the market cornered on truth. God’s truth is all around, and we can claim it where we find it.