Interesting night on Mill Ave. Brandt was talking to one guy – Ryan was his name, I think. But the man got mad when he wasn’t allowed to hold the mic, so he gave the PA a good kick and walked away. Later he stopped by the corner in a car to mock us, then got stuck in traffic so we were able to get his license number.
One of our friendly neighborhood atheists called out on their bullhorn that it was a “divine appointment” that our PA was kicked. Isn’t that awesome? They have finally admitted belief in the divine, they are no longer professed atheists, but simply agnostic, not knowing whether there is a Creator or not. Just like the person who would look at a building and wonder whether or not there was a builder.
We brought the turtle duck out, the replica of a transitional species. The Skeptic Tank is not impressed with our sense of humor.
Another guy, who generally hangs out with the skeptics, talked with us for a while. He thought that all religions are basically the same, teaching “play nice.” I don’t think that’s necessarily true. He says it’s just the extremists who commit violent acts against others. However, when someone who professes to be a Christian, commits some violent act against someone else, the Christian community condemns that action and that so called believer, because that is not what the Bible teaches. Under the New Covenant, we are told to love our neighbor and pray for our enemies.
But when a terrorist attack is committed by a professing Muslim, there is one of two reactions. Some are dancing in the street, rejoicing in the destruction of their enemies, and the other reaction is complete silence. I have not heard of anyone standing up and condemning terrorist actions, and that’s because that is exactly what their religious book commands.
When Marcus got out a Qur’an to show this, the guy decided to walk away, not wanting to hear it or see the proof (try Surah 9:5, if you’re interested).
There were some other “street preachers” down the road from us. I hear they were from New Orleans, traveling around the country with signs and preaching fire and brimstone in front of the bars. As I understand it, they were telling people that they were fornicators and whores and that they were going to hell.
Nowhere that I could find in the Bible does it tell us to mock and call people names. This doesn’t sound like caring or love to me, but simply hatred, much like the Westboro “Baptists.” This gives a bad name to others who are attempting to share the Gospel Biblically, through dialogue and preaching the full Gospel.
You see, fire and brimstone by itself is not the full Gospel. And neither is the warm, fuzzy love only Gospel. God is loving, but He is also full of wrath at law breakers. We are to warn people, and to ask them to judge themselves by God’s standards, not condemn them and call them names.
As Tom was doing some Open Air Trivia, one of our atheists was shouting out the answer to the question on his bullhorn. Interestingly, no one seemed to notice. Not that we care if they give the answers, we want people to get them. But it was interesting that he shouted out the answer multiple times and no one took advantage of that.
Soli Deo Gloria
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