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More Show than Religion

An Answer to the Salisbury Post

When all else fails, you can rest assured that the enemies of the Gospel of Christ will resort to argument ad hominim. That is, verbal attacks, no matter how outrageous, upon the character of those who bring the message. The Salisbury Post's obvious attempt to ignore and discredit the message brought to South Rowan High School by discrediting the messenger is a part and parcel of our Christian heritage.

Almost 2000 years ago, One who shined the light in the darkness - Who was and is the Light of the World - suffered the same disparagement and worse. Enemies of God called Him a companion of wine bibbers, gluttons, tax collectors and sinners. When He brought His “circus” to the synagogue, all hell broke loose and all heaven came down.

Those who followed Him picked up their crosses and shined the same light. Every disciple with the exception of one, John the Apostle, died a martyr's death as they brought the “circus” of the Gospel of Christ into the world. Yes, light shined, “ …but men loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.” John 3:19.

Throughout the pages of the Bible and the pages of history, those who have followed hard after Christ have been called every name imaginable. They have been maligned, derided, attacked, vilified, beaten, imprisoned, and executed with unspeakable and unimaginable hatred and vehemence. Yet the song of the Gospel continued on.

If we, who had the privilege of bringing the Gospel of Christ to the very gates of hell at South Rowan High School, cared about our reputation or worried about what was being said about us, we wouldn't have come. Our concern is not with us, but with the message we bring and the Savior we represent - the very thing this editorial overlooked.

Truth was brought to South Rowan High School through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. There were a number who gave their hearts to Christ. This outreach presented a platform for Christians within the school to share their faith. The brochures that were passed out dealt with E volution vs. C reation; H omosexuality vs. Christianity; Life vs. Death; and Jesus vs. All Other Religions.

The Salisbury Post stands upon the mantra of tolerance, yet it has proven itself to be the most intolerant of all. The final paragraph in the editorial makes the point. It believes itself to be the ultimate care-taker of “truth and reason.” Therefore all “reasonable” people must agree. To do otherwise would simply be whistling into the wind, playing our lives for an audience to get attention, or bringing a circus into town.

“There are those who hate Christianity and call their hatred an all-embracing love for all religions.”

We believe the Bible to be the absolute Truth from God. We play our lives for an audience of One! Whether or not the Salisbury Post is pleased with us is a trivial matter compared to the future of the young lives in that high school.

Flip Benham

Director

More Show than Religion

Salisbury Post Opinion piece

In a previous existence, before he saw the light and became a celebrity in the anti-abortion movement, the Rev. Flip Benham was a saloon keeper in Kissimmee, Fla. If he changes careers again, here's betting he'll be a talk show host or a carnival barker.

Give the reverend his due. As the national leader of Operation Save America, the militant anti-abortion group formerly known as Operation Rescue, Benham has a flair for the theatrical – and the arrest sheet to prove it. That's obvious from the show he and fellow evangelist Scott Heldreth, from Kannapolis Truth Temple, staged outside Rowan high School several days last week. While Heldreth held forth over loudspeakers on the sinfulness of abortion, Islam, and homosexuality, Benham and a few other church members passed out brochures and tried to instruct students in the paths of righteousness, at least as they see it.

Actually, from the perception of many passersby, they weren't ministering to students so much as arguing that all but a chosen few were going to flunk their finals at the Pearly Gates. Think of it as the Cliff Notes version of sin and redemption, as rendered by P.T. Barnum.

South Rowan principal, Ron Turbyfill, got it right when he described it as “almost a circus-like atmosphere,” with Benham the master of ceremonies. It's a scene that he has orchestrated many times before – in Concord, in Charlotte and numerous other cities across the country. While Operation Save America once focused its tactics of confrontation and intimidation on abortion clinics, in recent years it has targeted high schools as fertile ground for its brand of combat evangelism.

Unfortunately, the scene at South Rowan will undoubtedly play out several more times around the country before Benham takes down the tent, clears the midway and moves on, having accomplished nothing more than disrupting the routine of students and school staff and alienating parents who don't care to have their children used as pawns in the so-called culture wars.. Judging from calls to the Post, even parents sympathetic to Benham's pro-life message are outraged at having their children exposed to photos of aborted fetuses.

But Benham and Heldreth aren't concerned about traumatizing children, anymore than they're concerned about the potential repercussions of fueling homophobia when gay students too often are already subjected to ostracization and intimidation by their peers. And, since these brave evangelists alone have God's truth, they certainly aren't concerned about the backlash against students who follow faiths other than their own. Since such pagans are already condemned to the fiery pit, why not forment a little hell on earth for them, just as a prelude to the final fury?

This has little to do with saving souls or elevating the role of religion in public and private life. It's all about the performers at the center of the stage, the shouters behind the microphones, the moment in the spotlight. Well, let them have their fun – which is, we would duly note, fully protected by the First Amendment. Eventually, the show gets old. The crowds get bored. The circus moves on. Eventually, reason rules and people see the true light.

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