Church fail, crash & burn

No matter what you think about abortion, which is a hugely touchy subject in the USA, some things are beyond the pale. Like this:

(The Wichita Eagle/Orlin Wagner, photographer)

(Spirit One Christian Center is located in Wichita and the pastor, Mike Holick, has been active in pro-life circles there.)

So I wrote a letter to Spirit One Christian Church.

To whom it may concern:

I saw the sign (and, in my Googling, other signs used in the past) that you all put up in the wake of George Tiller's murder. And I have to ask, why are you ignoring the plain words of Jesus?

"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." - Matthew 5:44-45

Or, in light of your pastor's reported remarks about "why was George Tiller allowed in a church?" we have these words of Jesus:

And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. -- Mark 2:16-17

What I'm trying to get across to you is independent of my views on abortion. What I'm trying to say here is that you all and your allegedly pro-life fellow travelers is that you're not following the words of your Savior. Instead, you're acting out of your very human and very vindictive natures. You love that vengeance has been visited upon George Tiller, forgetting the following:

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. -- Romans 12:19

Your triumphalist attitude betrays you; from my perspective it doesn't appear you all are much into following Jesus. I guess I can mark you all Exhibit #1,319,407 as to why left the church.

Regards, blah blah blah (but I really did send off the e-mail)

My mom wonders why I stopped going to church. Do I really need to explain it further? If you're going to follow Jesus, then follow Jesus. But don't be celebratory about your enemies being murdered and then claim you follow Jesus. It just doesn't work.

[Edited to include Mark 2:16, which gives a bit more context. It was not included in the original e-mail.]