Religious Intolerance

... comes in all shapes and sizes. Today it came in the form the following e-mail message protesting this picture:

Got Pomposity? Got punctuation? Free speech at its worst!

Although this sign, posted on a very large neighborhood school message board, seems to lack proper punctuation, it does seem to be full of something else. Do we really need such self righteousness today, at a time in history where there is already too much discord and discontent between various religions, each of them bickering, fighting and killing each other, arguing about who is more valid, who has more value, who is more real, etc.? Does this self serving message (IMHO) really serve anyone, much less "GOD"? Makes one wonder, "What must their God be thinking now."

What has our writer (whom I'll keep anonymous) so bent out of shape seems to be three things: 1) That this sign is poorly punctuated; 2) That it appears before a school; and 3) A serious misunderstanding as to its meaning. To answer these objections one at a time:

1) People who write "What must their God be thinking now." have no business quibbling about others who use periods where there should be question marks.

2) What is so strange about a religious school posting a religious message?

3) The writer reads Hillcrest's sign as saying something to the effect of "We speak for God." But I suspect something very different is at work here: Most believers understand that God often chooses to work through people. The things we do can have effects that ripple across society, and can be, for some, God's way of reaching out to them. For a seeker who prays "Dear God, give me a sign that you are real," then drives by a sign such as this, the "coincidence" can spark a palatable spiritual stirring.

I don't think Hillcrest is saying, "We are God's official spokesman," as much as "We are open to being an instrument of His grace." That need not be a pompous statement, but a humble one of reaching out. But this is a hard distinction to make in a society such as ours, where the very vocabularies of believers and unbelievers can be so different as to spark constant misunderstanding.

When the person put up that sign, I can't imagine he or she ever thought someone would react so angrily to it. But there's no statement so benign, so casual, that someone who is sufficiently motivated can't torture it in such a way as to take offense.