Dwayne Waden, whose Facebook profile identifies him as pastor of Elevated Life International Ministries and a semitruck driver, was arrested after the incident at a High Point, North Carolina, McDonald's.
I agree, one of the failings of Christian culture (in many/most countries) is a false sense of superiority (edit: to clarify, there should not be a sense of superiority). It causes all too much hurt, and shields those who claim Christianity but do evil.
I believe this is especially pronounced in religious settings, but it’s true for any power imbalance (family, church, school, government, work, etc). The thing is that any violence, abuse, and hate that come from Christians is so contrary to what we say we believe, it is that much worse - it undoes any of the (nonreligious, materially helpful) good that the Church does.
As a follow on, I’ll give a little more from my experience.
Where I grew up (child to expat parents in a very third world country), church is holistic - that is, we care for more than just people’s spiritual state. Church organizations run the large majority of healthcare and education, and no one else will. We could get into the weeds about the value of the services provided, but the reality is it’s between that or nothing.
The schools teach everyone, and the clinics treat everyone, not just Christians. This I believe is (just one) example of what being a Christian is about - loving others unconditionally. Anything that’s contrary to loving others unconditionally is contrary to being a Christian. That doesn’t mean anyone (least of all me) is perfect at doing this, it’s not a yes/no distinction on “being a good Christian”. What matters is where someone’s heart is. But at the same time, if someone’s heart is right, there should be outward signs of this.
Still though, those violent people exist and your belief system enables them.
As long religious superiority exists, so will the terror of religion.
I agree, one of the failings of Christian culture (in many/most countries) is a false sense of superiority (edit: to clarify, there should not be a sense of superiority). It causes all too much hurt, and shields those who claim Christianity but do evil.
I believe this is especially pronounced in religious settings, but it’s true for any power imbalance (family, church, school, government, work, etc). The thing is that any violence, abuse, and hate that come from Christians is so contrary to what we say we believe, it is that much worse - it undoes any of the (nonreligious, materially helpful) good that the Church does.
As a follow on, I’ll give a little more from my experience.
Where I grew up (child to expat parents in a very third world country), church is holistic - that is, we care for more than just people’s spiritual state. Church organizations run the large majority of healthcare and education, and no one else will. We could get into the weeds about the value of the services provided, but the reality is it’s between that or nothing.
The schools teach everyone, and the clinics treat everyone, not just Christians. This I believe is (just one) example of what being a Christian is about - loving others unconditionally. Anything that’s contrary to loving others unconditionally is contrary to being a Christian. That doesn’t mean anyone (least of all me) is perfect at doing this, it’s not a yes/no distinction on “being a good Christian”. What matters is where someone’s heart is. But at the same time, if someone’s heart is right, there should be outward signs of this.
For example, not trying to deep-fry people…
Without religion people will still find reasons to be violent or hateful. Let’s not damn an entire group of people just because of the crazy few.