Food for thought in lieu of a recent shooting in Utah.
"But there is nowhere in the Bible where we are taught to honor evil.
And how you die, does not redeem how you lived.
You do not become a hero in your death when you were a weapon of the enemy in your life.
I can abhor the violence that took your life but I do not have to honor the life you chose to live.
I am overwhelmed."
Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley
Edit:
At the time I was not aware of the complete comments made by the Reverend.
I have since found a more complete version of what he said during his Sunday sermon, and here it is.
“I do not celebrate the killing of anyone. Charlie Kirk did not deserve to be assassinated, he started. “But I’m overwhelmed seeing the flags of the United States of America at half-staff, calling this nation to honor and venerate a man who was an unapologetic racist and spent all of his life sowing seeds of division and hate into this land. And hearing people with selective rage, who are mad about Charlie Kirk, but didn’t give a damn about Melissa Hortman and her husband when they were shot down in their home.”
“And do not tell me I ought to have compassion for the death of a man who had no respect for my own life! I am sorry. But there’s nowhere in Bible where we are taught to honor evil. And how you die does not redeem how you lived,” shouted Rev. Wesley to raucous applause.
“You do not become a hero in your death when you are a weapon of the enemy in your life. I’m overwhelmed daily, by the historical lies of the narrative of white supremacy and the nation that caters to white guilt and forces me to prove the equality of my Blackness every day. I am overwhelmed listening to the voices of those who think they have this singular right to define and determine who belongs in America and who is an American, when it was my forefathers and my foremothers who built this land. I am overwhelmed.”
“I’m overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with ICE raids and Klan rallies, and threats against the Smithsonian, and corporations backing off of DEI and executive orders and Supreme Court rulings. I’m overwhelmed by folk who call themselves Christian, simply because they invoke the name Jesus and quote scripture from the Old Testament, but never loved like Jesus, never tried to live like Jesus, never applied the sermon on the mount, bear no fruit of the Spirit. I am overwhelmed!”
And how you die, does not redeem how you lived.
You do not become a hero in your death when you were a weapon of the enemy in your life.
I can abhor the violence that took your life but I do not have to honor the life you chose to live.
I am overwhelmed."
Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley
Edit:
At the time I was not aware of the complete comments made by the Reverend.
I have since found a more complete version of what he said during his Sunday sermon, and here it is.
“I do not celebrate the killing of anyone. Charlie Kirk did not deserve to be assassinated, he started. “But I’m overwhelmed seeing the flags of the United States of America at half-staff, calling this nation to honor and venerate a man who was an unapologetic racist and spent all of his life sowing seeds of division and hate into this land. And hearing people with selective rage, who are mad about Charlie Kirk, but didn’t give a damn about Melissa Hortman and her husband when they were shot down in their home.”
“And do not tell me I ought to have compassion for the death of a man who had no respect for my own life! I am sorry. But there’s nowhere in Bible where we are taught to honor evil. And how you die does not redeem how you lived,” shouted Rev. Wesley to raucous applause.
“You do not become a hero in your death when you are a weapon of the enemy in your life. I’m overwhelmed daily, by the historical lies of the narrative of white supremacy and the nation that caters to white guilt and forces me to prove the equality of my Blackness every day. I am overwhelmed listening to the voices of those who think they have this singular right to define and determine who belongs in America and who is an American, when it was my forefathers and my foremothers who built this land. I am overwhelmed.”
“I’m overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with ICE raids and Klan rallies, and threats against the Smithsonian, and corporations backing off of DEI and executive orders and Supreme Court rulings. I’m overwhelmed by folk who call themselves Christian, simply because they invoke the name Jesus and quote scripture from the Old Testament, but never loved like Jesus, never tried to live like Jesus, never applied the sermon on the mount, bear no fruit of the Spirit. I am overwhelmed!”
