Monday, September 25, 2006

Are radical Christians dangerous?

Rosie O’Donnell, the former Queen of Nice, raised some eyebrows when she recently said “Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam.”

That got me to thinking about radical Christians. Here are a few:

* Sister Leonella Sgorbati, who was recently murdered outside a hospital where she worked as a missionary in Somalia. The 65 year old nun lived and worked with the starving and sick in Kenya and Somalia for 38 years in Africa.

* Mother Teresa committed her life to the dying untouchables in India.

* Martin Luther King, Jr. led the fight for civil rights for people of color in America.

* William Wilberforce was not martyred but he did give 44 years of his life to lead the fight to abolish slavery in England.

* St. Patrick was so radical that he returned to the Irish tribe that had once enslaved him to teach them about the love of God.

* The Apostle Paul endured beatings, prison and death threats to teach gentiles about Christ.

There are so many others and, also, there are ordinary Christians who gave so much money in response to the tsunami in India, Hurricane Katrina, and the earthquake in Pakistan. Come to think of it that’s kind of radical, too.

Maybe radical Christians are dangerous. They willing give their lives as a “living sacrifice” to show God’s love to the world in tangible ways. Dangerous, maybe, but to whom?

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