I saw this video floating around the web the other day and I think it will help to illustrate the sentiment I've been trying to communicate in these two posts. Before I get to the point of this post and the reason why I'm sharing this video, I just wanted to relate a couple thoughts I had that are tangential.
1. The "touchdown Jesus" statue looked really creepy to me. The newer one looks much nicer.
2. Shouldn't this be a case of insurance fraud? The new statue is clearly much nicer than the old one, it must have been far more expensive, and yet they say that they paid for it all with insurance money they collected from the first one burning down.
3. You have to admit it's ironic that a Jesus statue got struck by lightning. And then burned.
Anyway, the point that I wanted to make was something that the protestors (seen at around timestamp 2:00) said. In particular, the man who says "They can believe what they want. We're here because we love them..." Now, the way he was talking and the fact that they're protesting the statue with such vigor doesn't indicate to me that he actually loves them, but what if he really does feel like he loves them and he's doing what he's doing out of love?
This is the point I want to make. If I feel like I am doing what I do out of love, but it comes across to those I'm trying to "warn" (using the wording of the protestor in the video) the way this protestor comes across to me (and I'm assuming to the Rock Solid Church), then I want to stop what I'm doing and try something else.
It's one thing for me to do something out of love, and to have a certain intent. But it's not nearly as noble as I think I'm being if it comes across as douchey as this protest does.
On a related note, the Westboro Baptist Church is actually coming to Knoxville tomorrow to protest the funeral of a man who was serving in the Army. They might feel like they're acting out of love, out of a genuine concern for the good of the country. I don't know. But what I do know is that no one appreciates their actions. There's a human wall that's organizing, with over 400 people who have RSVP'ed on the Facebook page alone (I'm assuming that means there will be many more than that). Clearly WBC is not wanted. Yet, they may feel like they are doing something good.
I don't want to be like WBC, I don't want to be like the protestors in this video. I want to do something that I feel is acting out of love for my friends and family but also something that they feel is loving as well. If I think I'm being loving but my friends and family think I'm being an ass, then clearly there's a communication breakdown somewhere and it seems to me like it's time to reconsider my approach.
1. The "touchdown Jesus" statue looked really creepy to me. The newer one looks much nicer.
2. Shouldn't this be a case of insurance fraud? The new statue is clearly much nicer than the old one, it must have been far more expensive, and yet they say that they paid for it all with insurance money they collected from the first one burning down.
3. You have to admit it's ironic that a Jesus statue got struck by lightning. And then burned.
Anyway, the point that I wanted to make was something that the protestors (seen at around timestamp 2:00) said. In particular, the man who says "They can believe what they want. We're here because we love them..." Now, the way he was talking and the fact that they're protesting the statue with such vigor doesn't indicate to me that he actually loves them, but what if he really does feel like he loves them and he's doing what he's doing out of love?
This is the point I want to make. If I feel like I am doing what I do out of love, but it comes across to those I'm trying to "warn" (using the wording of the protestor in the video) the way this protestor comes across to me (and I'm assuming to the Rock Solid Church), then I want to stop what I'm doing and try something else.
It's one thing for me to do something out of love, and to have a certain intent. But it's not nearly as noble as I think I'm being if it comes across as douchey as this protest does.
On a related note, the Westboro Baptist Church is actually coming to Knoxville tomorrow to protest the funeral of a man who was serving in the Army. They might feel like they're acting out of love, out of a genuine concern for the good of the country. I don't know. But what I do know is that no one appreciates their actions. There's a human wall that's organizing, with over 400 people who have RSVP'ed on the Facebook page alone (I'm assuming that means there will be many more than that). Clearly WBC is not wanted. Yet, they may feel like they are doing something good.
I don't want to be like WBC, I don't want to be like the protestors in this video. I want to do something that I feel is acting out of love for my friends and family but also something that they feel is loving as well. If I think I'm being loving but my friends and family think I'm being an ass, then clearly there's a communication breakdown somewhere and it seems to me like it's time to reconsider my approach.
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