To nobody's surprise, Rosie O'Donnell ability to restrain herself proved as genuine as her much-publicized "crush" on Tom Cruise. She recently went postal on her co-hosts, declaring radical Christianity to be as dangerous as militant Islam.
Her colleagues were shocked, but is anybody really surprised? The AFA is demanding an apology and a reprimand (link actually has the imbedded YouTube clip...I've been imbedding enough YouTube clips here, lately). More troubling to me than her pleasant vitreol (notice how she attempts to hold Ms. Hasselbeck's hand as she administers her verbal poison), is the loud applause from the audience.
What can we take away from this? There is a huge misunderstanding of what "radical Christianity" looks like. Perhaps it is because there is too large a bell curve representing "mainstream Christianity" where the churches are say-little, do nothing. This leaves too much attention available to be given to the warped fringes who claim Christianity but in no way represent Christ or His gospel. If more of the mainstream were more radical in the way Christ has commanded His followers to be (in love, sacrifice, and service), we'd spend less time demanding apologies and expecting reprimands.
Even though O'Donnell's comments were a pink Cadillac on the the Wrongway Express's HOV Lane, there's no sense in demanding empty penance. Rather than getting hurt or angry or whatever (all to no avail, mind you), just firm your resolve to change your world by yourself being a fully devoted follower of Christ. If you do that, you may not be able to influence Ms. O'Donnell, but it will make her words look even more foolish to all those around you whose perception of Christianity is based primarily or exclusively upon your representation of Him.
September 16, 2006 12:49 PM