Read With Caution

I received an email complaint the other day. The writer had attended one of my workshops and was offended, mightily offended, that I had 'ridiculed' Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I was a bit taken aback because, as many of you know, I am a believer. The story the complainer refers to is one of, I think, the deep spirituality of a woman with Down Syndrome. In it I joke about how Christmas cards show Mary smiling and though she may be the mother of God, she is also a woman and she'd be pissed off at having to give birth in a stable because Joseph didn't make a reservation. Now that joke may not be your cup of tea, but I happen to think that God has a sense of humour and that Jesus occasionally, if not often, laughed. My faith isn't so fragile that it has to be protected from light hearted kidding.

What was concerning is that the woman who complained attached the following email. I've only taken out a few lines near the end. In it the writer explains that God will hunt you down and kill you should you 'mock' him in any way. This, to me is disturbing reading so I'll understand if you want to give it a pass. But for those who will brave it, I'll meet you again afterwards:

UNTIMELY DEATH!

BE SURE YOU SCROLL WAY DOWN TO SEE WHAT THIS MESSAGE HOLDS .... FOR YOU! - YOU JUST MIGHT BE SURPRISED! - I WAS!

DID YOU KNOW THESE FACTS?

I SURE DIDNT TILL NOW

Death is certain but the Bible speaks about untimely death!

Make a personal reflection about this......

Very interesting, read until the end.....

It is written in the Bible (Galatians 6:7):

'Be not deceived; God is not mocked:
for whatsoever a man sow,
that shall he also reap..

Here are some men and women
who mocked God :

John Lennon
(Singer)

Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:

'Christianity will end, it will disappear.. I do not have to argue about that.. I am certain.
Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, today we are more
famous than Him' (1966).

Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.

Tancredo Neves
(President of Brazil)

During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency.

Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.

Cazuza
(Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet):

During A show in Canecio ( Rio de Janeiro ), while smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and said:'God, that's for you.'

He died at the age of 32 of LUNG CANCER in a horrible manner.

The man who built the Titanic

After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic would be.

With an ironic tone he said: 'Not even God can sink it'

The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic

Marilyn Monroe
(Actress)

She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show. He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her. After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said:

'I don't need your Jesus'.

A week later, she was found dead in her apartment

Bon Scott
(Singer)

The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang:

'Don't stop me; I'm going down all the way, down the highway to hell'.

On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked by his own vomit.

Campinas (IN 2005)

In Campinas , Brazil a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend.....

The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her friends and she said to the daughter holding her hand, who was already seated in the car:

'My Daughter, Go With God And May He Protect You.'She responded: 'Only If He (God) Travels In The Trunk, Cause Inside Here.....It' s Already Full '

Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident, everyone had died, the car could not be recognized what type of car it had been, but surprisingly, the trunk was intact. The police said there was no way the trunk could have remained intact.To their surprise, inside the trunk was a crate of eggs, none was broken

Christine Hewitt
(Jamaican Journalist and entertainer)

said the Bible (Word of God) was the worst book ever written.

In June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle.

Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that was given so much authority as the name of Jesus.

Many have died, but only Jesus died and rose again, and he is still alive.

'Jesus'

PS: If it was a joke, you would have sent it to everyone. So are you going to have courage to send this?.

I have done my part, Jesus said 'If you are embarrassed about me, I will also be embarrassed about you before my father.'

Pass this message to 8 people {EXCEPT YOU AND ME}...You will receive a miracle tomorrow. I Hope that you don't ignore and let God bless you.

Thus ends the email.

Thus ends the cosmic threat on my life for having a sense of humour about the Christmas story. What disturbs me here isn't the lazy thinking and faulty reasoning that fills the post. What disturbs me is the fact that the message of the post isn't about 'sinners' getting their just desserts. It's about the very personality of God. God as serial murder. God as a twitchy fingered, slightly psychotic gunman. God as someone I wouldn't have a beer with. God as someone petty and vain. What also disturbs me is the use of the reasoning that lead to the murder of disabled babies (you sin, you get a disabled baby, kill the disabled baby because it is evidence of sin). What disturbs me is that someone could send me this and then say that I WAS MAKING A MOCKERY OF FAITH.

To top it off, the send to 8 people and get a miracle. What the hell is going on in these minds ... hey let's build a bowling alley, we've got the space!

I'm OK with people giving me criticism and feedback, really I am. But I'm not OK with getting vague threats against my life. I'm just a lecturer, I'm just some trying to get a message across. Some times clumbsily, some times not. Do not threaten me or my loved ones.

I know I should let this go but it's really, really bothered me. Not the email itself, but the intent behind it.

And that, I resent.