re: #26 Walter L. Newton

I want to know why Christians don’t clean house? A few of the smaller “sects” practice excommunication (sometime called disfellowshipping).

I wonder, this coming Sunday, who many pastors and ministers and priests will get up on the pulpit and say something like this…

“If you support Operation Rescue, or agree with Randall Terry, then there is a problem with your walk, your faith, your confession, your dedication to Christ.”

It’s similar to they same question we ask of moderate Muslims, and waiting and waiting for the condemnations. They are never forthcoming.

Why? The Hebrew and Greek scriptures all cover the concept of removing bad influences from among the flock. It’s not like it’s a non-biblical idea, it’s extremely biblical, yet never practiced.

When I hear “well, they are not really Christian,” then why don’t I hear a follow up to that… “and we do not want them among us?”

Until I see that sort of housekeeping practiced in the Christian community, it’s hard for me to take any of the outrage rhetoric seriously.

I think you have to acknowledge that support for Roeder is far from universal in the Christian community. Christians here want no part of people like this and have been most vocal about it.

Where are you seeing this, “well, they are not really Christian” meme, in relationship to this story? I haven’t noticed that being a predominant theme among Christians yet (though I concede that I haven’t read a bunch of other websites since this happened). I’ve mostly seen it from people using it as some sort of argument against them.

What I haveseen on other sites is far worse - a cheering section. The sort of denial you’re describing, not so much.

(Not trying to be snarky, Walter…it just seems like there’s some shadowboxing going on, but I welcome some evidence to the contrary if you’ve got it.)