LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

... I want to tell everyone in the Muslim community that I love you. You are creations of God, created in His image and likeness, just like us Christians. You don’t deserve the hate and massacres – you deserve respect.

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

... I want to tell everyone in the Muslim community that I love you. You are creations of God, created in His image and likeness, just like us Christians. You don’t deserve the hate and massacres – you deserve respect.

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark Close
Please login to bookmark Close

In case it wasn’t clear already, I was born in a Christian household. I’m a PK (pastor’s kid). My dad is the Head Pastor of my church, and my momma is the first lady. I grew up in the way that my parents knew I should go and since then I have not departed from it.

While growing up in a Christian household I was taught to love everyone. It didn’t matter if they were my friend or enemy – you treat everyone with respect, even if it’s not reciprocated. That’s what my Bible said – turn the other cheek, love thy neighbor – the whole shabang.

So you could imagine how confused I was as a child to find out that slave masters would use the Bible to brainwash their slaves into thinking God created them to be subservient. Or when I found out that many Africans were forced into accepting Christianity as their belief. It was hard to sit through learning about all the wars and imperialist ventures that came about from Europeans who used the Bible as means of justification. I was so confused, and quite honestly, I know I wasn’t the only one.

Thankfully, I read the Bible and found out the truth – and by doing that I became able to point out the lies. Many white supremacists have tried to use the Bible to justify their disgusting, inhumane, savage-like, sinful actions throughout history. And let me just say that they have been hypocrites, liars, demons if you will. Truly people who are evil, then try to purposely misinterpret the Bible to justify their actions so they could sleep well at night. I don’t expect you to read the Bible cover-to-cover, but please don’t automatically believe people that quote the Bible in hateful rhetoric. Anything can be taken out of context – and I mean anything.

I woke up Saturday morning, I hopped on Twitter and I saw all the news on the Muslim mosques massacre. I was speechless. 49 dead? For what? And of course the killer was a white supremacist. And if that wasn’t bad enough, you get Australian Senator, Fraser whatever, write out a statement about how everything could have been avoided if Muslims weren’t immigrating to Australia and New Zealand in the first place. And to add the cherry on top, he pulls the textbook white supremacist move by quoting a part of the Bible.

So what do I have to say about this? I say that people like Fraser and anyone that agrees with him have a long way to go in this life, and God is here to judge them. Vengeance is His (shoutout to eggboy though).

What I really want to say in this post is addressed to the Muslim community. No, I don’t believe what you believe. And our beliefs have had our history – but I want to tell everyone in the Muslim community that I love you. You are creations of God, created in His image and likeness, just like us Christians. You don’t deserve the hate and massacres – you deserve respect. I love you, and on behalf of UN-ASSOCIATED, we send our condolences to the families who lost someone.

My prayers go out – because prayer does work – and furthermore, we pray that the write action be taken by New Zealand and other nations to make things like this stop happening.

Sincerely,

E

A Blog Post by Emmanuel Iheke

You Also May Like

What to read next

In Remembrance of Me

I forget so easily. It’s not intentional, of course, but when I am behind an obstacle, unless something or someone brings it to memory, what I focus on is the obstacle …

God’s Purpose for Our Lives

Doing so can lead to a life characterized by a constant pursuit of “the next thing,” an endless chase with no clear destination, and a futile quest for less fulfilling pursuits. On the other hand, a life that isn’t guided God’s purpose …

Pursuing Christ

It’s not just minimum efforts that could mean a lack of loving the Lord in action. Sometimes, like Martha (Luke 10:38-42), it looks like doing too much without the heart of the matter, which is Christ. We are so into what we look like …

It Starts and Ends with God

But do we realize or grasp who we already have at our disposal, the power that He holds in his hand, and the intimacy level that God has with us of knowing …

26 Candles: An Ode to Gratitude

All this is to say that our personal circumstances have no bearing upon what God can do with and for us when we trust Him and as my father would say …

Set Free to Speak

Most importantly, there is enough space and mercy for me to make mistakes. He does not demand perfection, only our heart, and …

Do You Trust in God?

In times when our trust in God is wavering, one helpful thing to do is to remember the ways He has been faithful to you in the past …

Free At Last … We are Truly Set Free

So I ask us all, how do we forget or even doubt the freedom we have in Jesus? Like our ancestors the Israelites of old, history always seems to repeat itself …

Salt and Light of the World

Salt and light each have very distinct qualities and unmistakable when present. They also function to modify and transform …

God of the Unexpected

This experience was a reminder to me that God can be in the “still small voice”, and that sometimes your breakthrough requires a physical move …

Patience is a Virtue: Part ll

The patience I had last year was sufficient for the situation I was in at the time, but now, more is required for where I am now …

An Intentional Practice of Faith

However, our relationship with God requires partnership with Him, wherein we willfully allow God to lead us, no matter how busy or distracting …

God Was The Thing That Was Missing

A lot of times, we have problems and choose not to do anything about them- that’s been me for the past few months. I finally got fed up with constantly being stressed …

What is Self-Love Truly?

Self love is a concept I feel that we all have heard and been told about since what seems like forever. Sadly, I still don’t know what it truly is…

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

…many people did celebrate and dared to call this moment historic because games were boycotted… But with context, it becomes less earth-shattering…

Un-Associated, LLC Inc. 2018

Un-Associated, LLC’s mission is to create a space where young people can define themselves separate from the thing they go through, the labels the world gives them, and their own wins and losses. We want to teach the entire world how to live the “un-associated life”.