With the U.S. in a dire financial straights, the blame game is in full effect. Even though our politicians and national press members aren't quite sure how to properly assess the blame for this crisis [BLAME WALL STREET! BLAME HOMEOWNERS! BLAME GEORGE BUSH!] there is one group who is obviously responsible: Christians.
A couple of weeks ago, USA Today decided that it was worth the ink to print that Christians who tithe are foolishly choosing giving over saving their own houses, and are partially to blame for the rise in foreclosures. And then this past week, Time Magazine claimed that the evangelical health-and-wellness gospel could have caused our country's financial woes.
Look, I'm not denying that many Christians over-extended themselves in the past decade and are culpable for this mess. But to single them out in an article is asinine. Insert any other race, religion, people group, or sexual orientation for "Christian" into those articles and someone loses a job. It's just lazy journalism. Of all the intricacies that led to the folding of these banks/insurers, this is the best they could come up with?
But who gives a rip? I'd love to complain, or write a letter to the editor but, in the end, they're just words. It cannot compare to the plight of my Christian brothers and sisters in Iran, Iraq and India who risk their very lives because of their association with Jesus. They would probably scoff at a couple of articles like this, knowledgeable that persecution is more than just a few uncomfortable words.
So a reminder to my Christian friends: when your anger bubbles over an incindiary article critical of the faith you hold so dear, let the feeling pass and offer up a prayer for those around the world who face death for the same faith.