Paris.

When tragedies like the Paris attacks occur some people blame religion and even God for what happened.

I do not believe that this is true.

People who use violence as a method of expressing their religion are not reflecting the ways of God.

People have free will and some people choose to interpret the scriptures in a violent, hateful manner.

But this is not the will of God.

"The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying.  Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgements, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.  But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears in order not to hear.  They made their hearts adamant in order not to hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets."  Zechariah 7:8-12 (NRSV)

This is what is happening today.

God has sent his message of mercy and tolerance and peace into the world but people have refused to listen.  They have hardened their hearts and become adamant in their opinions.

"And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil."  John 3:19 (NRSV)

And so it is.

People prefer darkness to the light and act with violence and hatred and war instead of tolerance, love, and peace.    


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]


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