The Terrorist "Christians"

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 
(Mat 5:43-45)

The one thing I can say about the Baptist cult I belonged to, they were an active bunch!

We had street preaching men and the women who held up signs for the folks in traffic to read; some were gospel messages while others named a specific sin and warned of judgement.

We had our own group of Baptist 'hackers'...people who would go out of their way to browse for 'ungodly' websites so they could interfere in their chat rooms or pick a fight with the authors of the site.

We also would set up tables at local fairs with literature and lay in wait for someone to come by and pick up a tract about our church and then try to close in on a promise to come to our church  next Sunday.

The pastor,( my ex-husband,) berated men who weren't bearded because that showed rebellion against God. Jesus wore a beard, the old testament prophets of Israel were ashamed without one, therefore you were weak if you didn't sport a beard!

Women were rebellious if they dared speak a word against their husband's wishes or cut their hair or didn't like wearing skirts and dresses. If you were cold on a wintry day, tough!...Wear pants under the dress!

Men don't wear shorts, even if they are longer, even if they are home, because the pastor said it was wrong.

The list grows on when we come to dietary rules, whether a child should watch any shows or made by Christians videos. If the pastor asked a man to partake in some sort of ministry and you and your wife discussed it and she was against the idea, then she had turned you into a 'wimp' if you dared not to go.

You are not doing your part for the Lord!

It's quite easy in a patriarch-led cult to allow micro-management and brainwashing to occur. The two work hand-in-hand.  All it takes is a strong leadership type to commandeer from the pulpit and a handful of faithful followers who 'love their pastor' and would do anything for him. You can easily be made to feel like you are less than Christian because you don't want to follow all the rules to a 'T'. Those that do, are praised and exalted, which in turn, reinforces the behavior all the more.

I think the favorite act of these Christian types is the hatred of anyone who disagrees with them. This is why, to me personally, their acts are equated with terrorist behavior. Now understand that when I say 'terrorist', I am not talking about terrorism as in the post 9/11 scheme of things. I'm using the term as a label for someone who bullies, intimidates and butts-in to business that has nothing to do with them personally, all the while calling it a 'ministry' to do so. 

The Baptist-hackers are the worst: 

First, they find someone that disagrees with one of their thoughts on scripture. The hacker then begins to close-in on the kill. They will use one up-man-ship to show off how they can hack into your idea with their biblical expertise. If that doesn't work to make you agree, they will belittle you personally. They then attack your character, even though they don't know you except for you writing your thoughts down where people can read them.

If you are unfortunate enough to have a live radio show online, or a chat room for your group, they will begin to verbally assault you there. They will even contact their on-line buddies so they too can take part in the needling.

I personally believe the Bible, yes. I personally stick to my relationship with Jesus Christ. I also believe firmly that there is good and there is evil. I pray daily that I aspire to the former and stay clear of the latter. If you want to know my feelings on specific topics of faith, I'll be happy to sit down over a cup of coffee and share what I understand. What I will no longer do, is belittle another person's belief system thinking that I am doing God's will by name-calling or bullying them. I might pray for you if we disagree. I might try to send you some information to gently persuade you if you are interested. However, those that are the so-called biblical scholars who attack those deemed un-believers, are not by any means furthering their cause by their hatefulness. This is simply gang mentality-nothing more. Might makes right!

If we who call ourselves Christian, want to set a good example, we need to heed the words of Christ :

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 

(Mat 5:5-9)