Word Count: 950

Contact Jerry Ousley

Religious Predudice

by Jerry Ousley  
6/17/2016 / Christian Living

"You had better stay away from him!" "Why is that?" I asked. "Well," came the answer from the third grader whom I had befriended, "because he's Catholic." I had never heard of a Catholic before, so I inquiringly asked, "What's a Catholic?" My friend grew very quiet, pawed at the ground with his foot, then looked up to me and said, "I don't know exactly, but my Daddy told me that Catholics are bad and I should stay away from them."

I was confused. I didn't want to be around any bad people. My church upbringing had taught me not to join in with the wrong crowd and so I did stay away from the boy for the rest of that day.

In another grade and another school I had made friends with a fellow we'll call "John" for the sake of this article (because I can't remember his real name). John was black and there really weren't many blacks in our small town school. He was a nice guy and I didn't see anything wrong with him other than his skin was darker than mine. We talked, made friends and had a great time together. But it was the mid-sixties and racial violence was erupting all over the country. The day came when I went to find John and there he was with a small group of other black kids. They acted very strangely toward me and I couldn't understand why.

In this series we are going to be addressing some very controversial subjects. Some of you may agree with me and some of you may not. There are a host of opinions when it comes to prejudice whether it is religious prejudice, racial prejudice, violence against those who don't share our opinion and on and on.

First I'd like to address religious prejudice. What I mean by that is the ill feelings towards those who don't believe like we do. We see it in all facets of what we call religion. It not only crosses the boundaries of conflicting religions but reaches into the different sects of a particular religion. Now we know that in reality Christianity is not simply a religion. Because Christ came to free us from sin and the law, that is the basis of all religions, being a Christian is more than simply a religious structure that says if we do certain things in a certain order then we will be considered holy and righteous before whatever deity may be the object of worship.

Over the centuries wars have been fought and many have lost their lives simply because of religious belief. When Christianity was first established they were the persecuted. But later on after it had been accepted by much of the world in a sense we became the persecutors. During the Middle Ages under the guise of a Crusade for Christ to retake the Holy Land many died in horrendous battles.

It has continued in one way or another yet today. Our war on Terrorism is supposed to be against extremist groups who want to rid the world of both Judaism and Christianity. But many have made it another Holy War and are extending it towards all Muslims.

Okay, here's the bottom line. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ taught us to love one another. He said that we were win the lost but we are to win them by showing our love, first towards each other as Christians, then toward the world by going the extra mile. Nowhere in the Bible did Jesus tell us to go to war for the cause of Christianity.

As a Christian I firmly believe no, I know that being saved and serving Jesus Christ is the only way into Heaven. I'm in no way purporting that other religions are right. But I do believe that God wants us to be reminded that violence will never win souls into the Kingdom of God. There are a lot of topics being spoken out against in our country. We have the issue of the Muslim Mosque that was established very close to ground zero where the twin towers were destroyed on 9/11. A small congregation in Florida gained International attention because they threatened to burn copies of the Koran the Muslim Bible if you will.

Here's my opinion for what it's worth. If we are a country where religious freedom still reigns then yes, the Muslim's who are citizens of this nation have a right to build a Mosque wherever they can legally build it. I know, I've got to swallow real heard speaking those words myself. But on the other side of the fence if the Muslim citizens respected what it represents to others in this nation they would consider relocating for the sake of peace. So, in a way both sides are wrong.

As far as the guy wanting to burn copies of the Koran; I ask, "What is that going to accomplish?" From what I read in the Bible God wants to bring salvation to all in the world and how is that going to happen with an act of violence? It isn't going to change how Muslims believe and in fact will only agitate and make them even harsher towards Christians.

There's really only one way to change things and that's one person at a time. We've got to demonstrate Christ in our lives and words. So when it comes to religious prejudice, are we going to try to change those in other religions with war and violence (which will never work) or are we going to allow them to see Christ in us who will draw all men to Him?

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! Click here and TRUST JESUS NOW

Read more articles by Jerry Ousley

Like reading Christian Articles? Check out some more options. Read articles in Main Site Articles, Most Read Articles or our highly acclaimed Challenge Articles. Read Great New Release Christian Books for FREE in our Free Reads for Reviews Program. Or enter a keyword for a topic in the search box to search our articles.

Enter comments below. Due to spam, all hyperlinks posted in the comments are now immediately disabled by our system.

Please type the following word below:

Not readable? Change text.

The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

Hire a Christian Writer, Christian Writer Wanted, Christian Writer Needed, Christian Content Needed, Find a Christian Editor, Hire a Christian Editor, Christian Editor, Find a Christian Writer