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A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 


Intolerance in the Churches – 24 April 2007
By Mary T. Hoffman

In a recent issue of a United Methodist newspaper, I read a long article written by a United Methodist Church pastor who was diagnosed as having celiac disease – intolerance to anything containing gluten.

She went on to explain how she could no longer partake of the bread usually offered during Holy Communion; and that she felt excluded when, at a conference of pastors, she was provided with “unconsecrated” gluten-free wafers on a separate table. She writes at great length about the importance of being “inclusive” and even uses the word “compassion.”

Reading this piece, I couldn’t help but relate her experience to that of many others who have been treated rudely and marginalized in churches simply because they’ve been led by the Holy Spirit to live in the compassion that Jesus Himself epitomized. How far these pastors and churches have strayed from the teachings of the Lord, from the lifestyle of the early Christians, and even from the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, who himself was given a hard time for being a vegetarian and teaching that animals have souls! *

Isn’t it interesting how so many “religious” people don’t give “intolerance” and “discrimination” a second thought – as long as they are not personally affected?!

Rather than spending so much money on TV commercials to increase their membership, perhaps the United Methodist Church would attract more people by welcoming those whom they chase away: compassionate vegans/vegetarians who care deeply about the billions of God’s other animals who are forced to endure horrific cruelty, round the clock, throughout the world.

The complaint of the pastor in the above-cited article is as nothing compared to the nastiness shown by many church pastors and members toward those who are kind and who care about God’s creatures!

* “A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, As Believed and Taught by Rev. John Wesley from 1725-1777” Published circa 1928 by The Methodist Book Concern, New York and Cincinnati.

Also see:
http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/an-tpr-gendel-pref.html 

Go on to: Hiding the Truth – 25 April 2007
Return to: Back to God – 23 April 2007
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