Justin Thacker Head of Theology with the Evangelical Alliance speaks out:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:1,3) It’s a shame Westboro Baptist Church hasn’t paid more attention to these verses this week. Following the death of Heath Ledger, its members have announced that they will be picketing his funeral in protest at the actor’s supposed promotion of homosexuality. Westboro Baptist, you may remember, is the church whose website is called ‘Godhatesfags’, and which Louis Theroux successfully exposed in a documentary last year. Bizarrely, the British media have on occasions referred to it as an ‘evangelical’ church, even though it does not describe itself that way, and even though its congregation thinks Billy Graham is a liberal, a liar and an “evil man” for preaching God’s love.
In a similar vein, some other churches on the extreme religious right in the US have sought to use Heath’s death as a means to preach hate. And a FOX news host is reported to have mocked his death, calling him a “weirdo” with a “serious drug problem.” Given Christ’s command, the question I want to ask is: how is it possible for people who claim to be followers of Jesus to act in this appalling way?
Of course, in saying that, perhaps I am guilty of precisely that which I am condemning in others – namely, having a judgemental attitude. However, the command Jesus gives is not a license to adopt a wholesale relativism, where we refuse to make any judgements. Rather, it is an indication that any judgement we make should not be fuelled by hate and that we should be slow to condemn, first addressing our own inadequacies before trying to fix the problems of others.
You can read the complete article here.
