David Aikman writing in Christianity Today
What disturbs me … is the extent to which some Christians have turned themselves into the self-appointed attack dogs of Christendom. They seem determined to savage not only opponents of Christianity, but also fellow believers of whose doctrinal positions they disapprove.
A troll through the Internet reveals websites so drenched in sarcasm and animosity that an agnostic, or a follower of another faith tradition interested in what it means to become a Christian, might be permanently disillusioned.
None of the major figures of American Protestantism in the past quarter-century have been spared from attack, from Billy Graham to Rick Warren, from Tim LaHaye to Robert Schuller. The attacks, moreover, are not reasoned or modestly couched criticism, but blasts of ire determined to discredit beyond redemption the targets of the criticism.
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Then there is Pat Robertson, “one of the greatest deceivers in the church world today,” and that hand-clasper with “Romanists” and “modernists,” Elizabeth Elliot, widow of the martyred missionary in Ecuador, Jim Elliot. Elliot’s great offense? Refusing “to separate from heretics.” Oh, I forgot to mention: Elizabeth Elliot has compounded her sin by being a life-long Episcopalian.
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By all means criticize fellow Christians if necessary, but do so with grace.
Read it all here.
Thanks to Kendall Harmon for drawing this to our attention.