Compassion is the only appropriate response.

You likely have read that Rick Warren's 27 year old son recently committed suicide.  I have read wonderful, compassionate responses to the Warren family's loss.  Len Sweet, for example, posted "I believe every suicide victim will be met by Jesus personally, who will embrace him/her at the gate & say, 'Son/Daughter, you found it a little too much for you, didn’t you? Welcome home.'”

The part I'm ashamed of is the other side.  Many "Christians" have condemned the Warrens, saying that if they had been better parents this would not have happened.  Others have said that Matthew Warren clearly is languishing in hell as no real follower of Jesus would ever commit suicide... and anyone who isn't a born again Christian automatically goes to hell.  Even the responses to Len Sweet's post were mixed with some responding, "maybe..."  I have to say that I wasn't really surprised to see these statements online.  I am ashamed and appalled to be affiliated with folk, even if only by name, who would even think such things, let alone say them.  

And it doesn't end there.  This morning I saw a facebook post from a Unitarian Universalist pastor who was collecting signatures for a sympathy card for the Warrens and read a number of comments that essentially said "the hater got what he deserved."  Again, I am appalled.

A young man struggled with more pain than he could bear.  A family is immersed in grief, the likes of which I don't even want to imagine.  The only appropriate response is compassion.  Regardless of how one feels about Rick Warren's ministry, views, or whatever... compassion is the only appropriate response.  And frankly, to expect less from Jesus than I expect from you is just silly.

the "A" word

I've been thinking a lot about the rick Warren interviews of McCain & Obama. In general, I was pleased with the format but it was obvious that the questions that were asked and the way they were framed slanted the event towards McCain. One piece really stuck in my craw.

Warren asked about human rights for fetuses which was really about abortion and even described abortion as being a holocaust. McCain's answer was "at conception," which drew a lot of applause. Two questions came to me... if this is really a holocaust, why have you done nothing to stop it? And, do you realize the implications of your statement?

Frankly, I find the Republican stance on abortion disingenuous at best. They held all three branches of government for 6 years with a "pro-life" president, a "pro-life" Supreme Court, and "pro-life" legislature and didn't do anything to even lower the abortion rate let alone make it illegal. Why? The cynic in me says they want the issue as a wedge in election years. If it was illegal, they'd lose the wedge. Then what? No, they don't want to make abortion illegal because if they did, they would do something about it.