Facebook Faith # 14 Hate is Love!

This meme has so many problems it makes me think of something my brother once said- "I am like a mosquito at a nudist colony... I don't know where to start." It is indicative of the cry of persecution many religious bullies shout when their words and actions are being publicly resisted.

Let's just look at the first one.  If someone is actively persecuting me and my community, would I actually care that they are "praying" for me? Is not the smarmy nature of this declaration just one more layer of insult?

But this is the shelter many religious folks run to... they want some religious act to somehow negate, or balance out their behavior.  I experienced this recently on my brother's Facebook page.  He had written an article that had a positive take on Rob Bell's recent supportive statement on gay marriage.  It was not long before the Christian conservatives started to circle the wagons. They could not understand how my brother could speak so good-naturedly of someone as "false", "low", and "disgusting" as Rob Bell.

I tried to engage the thinking of one of my brother's friends, but as can be expected, it went nowhere. She intended to interpret all disagreement with her position as an act of hostility and responded in kind. She had no tolerance for anyone who did not share her "biblical" view on homosexuality. However, for all her acidity towards homosexuals and those who support them, one of her final statements was:

"I don't hold an anti-gay view at all. I love people. period."

To borrow from Arthur Dent:

 "Ah, this is obviously some strange usage of the word 'love' that I wasn't previously aware of."

But that is the point... many Christians use the word 'love' in practice like they use variables in an algebraic equation - a = b = c :

I don't like you. I may find you low, disgusting, false, and repugnant. I will stand against you, treat you like an inferior, and try to enact legislation so that you are NEVER going to be considered equal to me. But I have the "TRUTH", and since I am sharing it with you - that means I love you.

Religious people tend to be well trained in doublethink and doublespeak. As such, a meme like the one above can be written and shared, dripping with self righteousness, while asserting a position of complete humility. They can claim to love you... while despising the air you breathe - and see zero contradiction.