The walking monks and a church in St. Paul: Respecting two faiths

My news feed in the past few days has been wrought with references to two events that have been unfolding.  And I've been trying to figure out how these juxtapose with each other.  Maybe now something has percolated...

A few days ago a group of Buddhist monks passed through this area.  Their next stop was across the state line into North Carolina.  They started several weeks ago in Forth Worth, Texas on a cross-country journey on foot toward Washington, D.C.  It's being called the Walk for Peace.  And the monks have been causing quite a scene wherever they've gone.  People have thronged to watch them walk reverently down the sides of the highways on the way to their destination.  The monks have done little but march in silent contemplation, accompanied by a rescue dog they adopted before their trek.  A few days ago during their stop in Greensboro the spokesman of the group addressed the crowd and talked about their mission.  It's not political (which is most refreshing in these crazy days of ours).  It's simply out of a desire of peace, for its own sake.

Credit: WFMY News 2

I can appreciate the monks and their sentiments, even if I cannot share their overall beliefs.  There is too great a gulf between Buddhism (which I have never considered to be a religion so much as a guiding philosophy) and what I have personally come to know of man's spiritual nature.  Buddhism teaches that peace and perfection and serenity can be found within a person, that each man and woman is capable on his or her own of achieving harmony with self and others.

This is in stark contrast with what God has revealed in biblical scripture.  Mainly, that it's impossible for a person to find peace within themself.  Left on his own, man is hopelessly lost and without merit.  Man cannot possibly on his own work toward and achieve perfection.  We can aim for the mark but we will always fall short.  For all the talk of peace that we have and at times surround ourselves with, true peace is beyond man's reach.

What, then, is man to do?  There is but one recourse left to him: turn to God.  And that means seeking Him out.  Admitting weakness.  Being humble.  Accepting His endless mercy and grace, which alone can cover the multitude of our sins.  Then may peace come.  And only then.

That is something that Buddhism and most other philosophies, and religions, do not teach.  So it is that those beliefs and my own are irreconcilable.  But it may surprise some to discover that for all the seemingly vast space between us, I do absolutely respect the monks on the Walk for Peace.  I admire them and appreciate them, even.  There is a need for peace in this land.  There is nothing wrong with proclaiming something that if we don't already know, then we very well should regardless of who is its messenger.  In that regard the Buddhist monks are definitely in the right.  And I can and will salute them on that.  More than that though, I can respect their passage and honor it in peace and sincerity.  And I think that a lot of other people can do that too, no matter where they're coming from theologically.

Twelve hundred miles away to the northwest however, something altogether different was taking place...

YouTube screen capture

Three days ago on Sunday, January 18th, the services at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota were the scene of an attack by leftists who stormed into the building and disrupted what should have been peaceful morning worship by the parishioners.  The assailants insisted that it was a "protest", a "demonstration", against the anti-illegal immigration policies of President Donald Trump that are being implemented by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

The "demonstrators" barged into the sanctuary and for all intents and purposes held the worshippers hostage.  It was all thoroughly documented, with no less an authority than disgraced CNN anchor Don Lemon leading the charge.

The "protestors" claim that they were asserting their right to protest.  They are wrong in that.  There is NO "right" to protest in America.  There IS a right to peaceably assemble however, bearing in mind that others have rights also.  And that no protesting or freedom of the press (which Lemon was and continues to assert) can interfere with the rights of others.  Put simply: Lemon and the anti-ICE demonstrators have a right to speak but they do not have a right to be heard.

I have to wonder if Lemon, an openly homosexual man, would have been so enthusiastic about leading a crowd of LGBT activists into a mosque during worship.  They could protest how Muslims in predominantly Islamic countries throw gay men off the top of tall buildings.  But I digress.  Besides, we know that Lemon and his sympathizers would not dare.  Muslims strike back.  Good Christians worshipping in peace don't.  But I digress again.

(It's little wonder that many churches now not only allow concealed-carry on their premises, but actively encourage it.)

Two groups: the monks and the Baptist churchgoers.  One is treated with reverence and dignity as they walk across America, and I don't think that's something they would not receive from a lot of Christians, either.  The other group also deserves reverence and dignity as they gather to worship God in peace, but they don't seem to warrant that from some people.  The very same people who, by the way, claim constantly that they are advocates of "peace" and "tolerance".

There is either peace for all or there is peace for none.  There is nothing in between.

Categories: buddhism, christianity, illegal aliens, immigration, liberalism, minnesota, religion