Among the 300+ group visiting the Creation Museum last week were Aaron Gardner and his wife. They are both evangelical Christians.
Aaron says he wanted to answer the question: “What would it be like to be a Christian and a fly on the wall as a group of atheists peered at exhibits that attempted to prove them wrong?”
I’ll admit, that’s a pretty cool experiment on his end. Almost like an atheist visiting churches…
So, after he put on his Secular Student Alliance nametag, what did he find?
He was appalled at the way other Christians treated us atheists.
… While I did not have a T-shirt (a symbol anyway) it was obvious that there was a distinctive way that we were being treated because of the shared identification. There were hateful glances, exaggerated perceptions, waxing surveillance by security, and anxious but strong ‘amens’ accompanying a lecture on “The Ultimate Proof of Creation” by Dr. Jason Lisle.
Is this how Christians treat people? Is this how we follow Jesus’ commandment to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? I cannot help but think that many Christians are fearful of atheists. It is a sort of xenophobia that runs along lines of faith and belief. What we tend to forget is that atheists, agnostics, and evolutionists are people too. If our attempt to preserve our belief means that we are treating these people like animals, are we really holding up principles that are based on a creation worldview?
There have rarely been times in my life that I have been ashamed of people that I call “brothers and sisters in Christ.” This was one of them…
Thanks for stepping in our shoes, Aaron.
I hope he can take that message back to his church and Christian friends.
(via Prometheus Unbound)
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