This post is not going to be about what you think it is about. I haven't done a blog post in almost four months because of other activities I have determined to give priority, but I have decided to shoot this one out because of recent developments in the news. Yes. The middle east stuff. I am, however, not going to share my thoughts and feelings beyond stating that no matter what film or if a film, caused the actions of those protestors, I do not seek to justify their behavior in any way, whatsoever. Those who know me, know my thoughts regarding Islam and some of the current geopolitical issues that are regularly argued about. If you want to know those, ask me, and I will gladly share them with you.
This, however, is about a much more subtle phenomenon that I believe is in some ways more dangerous to Christians and, perhaps more importantly, to guarding the message of the gospel which we, as Christians, claim to want to represent to the world.
The man who made this movie referred to as having caused this reaction recorded it in the offices of Media for Christ according to an AP story I will link to at the bottom of this post. This charity raised more than one million dollars to "glow Jesus' light" to the world.
What's the problem?!? You say. We need brave folks to shine the light of truth on Islam and Muhammed. Well, the problem is simply this. I googled the name of the movie a couple of days ago and searched for a clip/trailer about it on youtube that was supposed to be available then also. I can only tell you that I would never suggest any Christian or person watch this movie based on what I saw. It is NOT, in my ever so humble opinion, intended to lovingly speak truth to someone we are to love (muslims, we are to love muslims and all other sinners). The clips they showed were strategically edited to be allowed to run on youtube, but I came away wondering if this weren't intended to be some bizarre porn movie based on the material in some parts of the clips. Even besides those that were not so sexually suggestive, there were over the top insinuations that everyone portrayed was subhuman and fundamentally evil in more and more frightening ways. Remember, this film was supposedly financed by people who were to "glow Jesus' light". I can't honestly recommend viewing the clip because it is pretty deeply offensive, but I would suggest the adults reading this may consider it.
If you think I am wrong about this, you should also know that the creator of this, Nakoula Basseley, was convicted of financial crimes in 2010 and had as a condition of his probation, no use of the internet or of false identities. He referred himself as Sam Bacile when referring to himself as the creator of this internet marketed movie. Whoops! Here's the point of this rambling monstrosity of a post. We as Christians can easily be swept up in our emotions regarding lots of the political movements and fights of our time. (Islam and gay marriage come to mind.) We must be certain that we are placing our love for Christ first and not allowing our emotions to cloud our judgment in such a way as to keep from seeing clearly that sometimes the very people we are seeking to show Christ to are the ones who we are alienating from Him.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EGYPT_FILMMAKER_PROBATION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-09-15-06-44-20
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