Let's Shock Some People

I have been following the news for World Youth Day in Australia. I also read about various groups who planned on protesting the Catholic church and the Pope by doing some extremely idiotic things like giving condoms to the pilgrims and having gays kiss each other in front of those traveling to the WYD events.

I am inserting a huge eye roll, here.

Julie, a blogger, (Connecticut Catholic Corner) wrote:

Let's imagine for a minute that Muslims were having a WYD. What would happen if anti-Muslim protesters were handing out pork to Muslims? Or lets say Jews were having a WYD and protesters were handing them shellfish? How would the world view it if anti-Muslims or anti-Jews were being intolerant and forming coalitions to "annoy" them? "A newspaper ran a competition for the best anti-Catholic T-shirt. And an ABC host urged men to bait Catholics by going naked, but for a condom." (quote from Australian Andrew Bolt-more below) Would the world be appalled at such a display of intolerance for other faiths? Yes! But where is the outrage for Catholics? Barely a blip in the media over the "cracker" mental midget last week desecrating the Eucharist and taking great pleasure in belittling Catholics and our faith, and same now with WYD in Australia.

I understand Julie's irritation. I'm not thrilled when the Catholic church or Christianity is bashed. But let's not fool ourselves. The media is hostile to Christianity. And the reason media is hostile to Christianity is because Christianity insists upon moral absolutes. The media doesn't seem to have a problem with promoting and defending Islam but there may be good reason for their actions. (Keeping their head connected to the rest of their body may be it.)

Hollywood depends on Christians protesting their latest productions, which often glorifies sin on every level but denounces authentic faith. And why shouldn't they try hard to offend? Controversy is one of the best types of free publicity one can get.

So. Here's my suggestion.

Ignore them.

Pray for them, but ignore them. They are much like the schoolyard bully, trying to get attention any way they can and using as many tools as possible to control the conversation. Wouldn't it be funny to just walk by those protesters, acting as though they simply don't exist?

The sad news, though, is that they do exist. God sees them, and grieves over their hardened hearts. My prayer is that some of these young people become instant missionaries and preach the gospel when they can, but not allow hate a reaction. Love conquers all.