{"id":483,"date":"2013-02-14T10:33:13","date_gmt":"2013-02-14T17:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hellbound\/?p=483"},"modified":"2013-02-15T16:54:10","modified_gmt":"2013-02-15T23:54:10","slug":"what-do-progressive-christians-have-in-common-with-the-westboro-baptists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hellbound\/2013\/02\/what-do-progressive-christians-have-in-common-with-the-westboro-baptists\/","title":{"rendered":"What do progressive Christians have in common with the Westboro Baptists?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Found on Facebook yesterday: \u201cSo-called progressive Christians and Westboro Church members are just two sides of the same anti-Christian coin.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked to elaborate, the author of this pithy statement said, \u201cOne group is a caricature of God\u2019s grace and the other side is a caricature of His judgement. In other words: Both sides distort God\u2019s character.\u201d<\/p>\n

The temptation to engage in negative reciprocity is overwhelming\u2026 But I\u2019ll resist for the moment.<\/p>\n

I have my own problems with the term \u201cprogressive Christian,\u201d simply because it implies an air of superiority. If certain Christians view themselves as progressive, that means other Christians are regressive or, at best, stationary.<\/p>\n

The thing is, we all tend to think of ourselves as progressive, as having an edge over people who disagree with us. We all think our theology represents the most reasonable interpretation of reality. Why else would we hold to it?<\/p>\n

So if progressive Christians (which, it turns out, includes all of us) and the Westboro Baptists have anything in common, it\u2019s the temptation to define ourselves over and against the evil or retrograde \u201cother.\u201d And when we succumb to this temptation, we really do become two sides of the same anti-Christian coin.<\/p>\n

So maybe my Facebook friend is onto something after all. He just doesn\u2019t realize every coin comes from the same mint.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Found on Facebook yesterday: \u201cSo-called progressive Christians and Westboro Church members are just two sides of the same anti-Christian coin.\u201d When asked to elaborate, the author of this pithy statement said, \u201cOne group is a caricature of God\u2019s grace and the other side is a caricature of His judgement. In other words: Both sides distort […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1177,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[93,6,115,114],"class_list":["post-483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-theology","tag-hellbound-movie","tag-kevin-miller","tag-progressive-christian","tag-westboro-baptists"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat do progressive Christians have in common with the Westboro Baptists?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Found on Facebook yesterday: "So-called progressive Christians and Westboro Church members are just two sides of the same anti-Christian coin." 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