JOPLIN, Mo. —
I was rather surprised that The Joplin Globe published R. Duane Graham’s guest column (April 8). Not due to whether I agreed or disagreed with his assertions, but rather his inability to make a point, valid or not.
I found Mr. Graham’s column lacked any cohesiveness or logic and, at best, was a rambling diatribe of loosely joined “facts.” Although it was rather difficult to follow, I will try to address a few of his comments. He refers to “Bible-based cynicism about our future — that pollutes the minds of millions of our fellow citizens, including children. ...” and that it “is a dangerous and possibly ultimately self-destructive.”
Who is the cynic here Mr. Graham? You liken this “evangelical rhetoric” to the hatred spewed forth by members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who no one really takes seriously. You also compare the likes of Scott Roeder, the man who killed abortionist George Tiller, and the Hutaree extremists to respectable church leaders like Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. That’s quite a stretch, don’t you think?
Evidently the current social, political and economic unrest sweeping the planet escapes you, Mr. Graham. However, your lack of belief in an “end times theology” or, as you put it, “apocalyptic doom” does not make the evidence any less true.
Mr. Graham ends his column by “admitting” that “it’s a long way from (Central Christian Center’s) Pastor Mack’s sermon on the end times to strapping on a semi-automatic weapon.” Yet, throughout Mr. Graham’s message, he implies just that. And finally, he states that the end times “vision” was written a long time ago in an age of “considerable ignorance and superstition.” Again, Mr. Graham, who is the cynic here?
Joe Johnson
Joplin
Opinion
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