This brother decided to preach!
To Whom It May Concern,
To be charitable, if I only viewed the left portion of the scurrilous cartoon by Pat Oliphant in your recent
publication depicting Sarah Palin speaking in tongues, with John McCain's response, I could assume Mr. Oliphant is merely grossly ignorant when it comes to biblical and Christian literacy. He not only offends 20 million "tongues-speaking" Americans with his illiteracy, but he also offends most of Christendom by default. The Catholic Church supposes Peter to be their first pope. Peter unabashedly spoke in tongues and ardently defended the experience in Acts chapter 2 of the Bible, no matter which version one prefers. So his depiction of Peter's response on the right side of the cartoon is inaccurate with the biblical record. Peter would have understood and approved the practice of tongues-speaking, which he engaged in himself, and encouraged in those under his influence [See
Acts 8:14-17;
Acts 10:45-48]. So not only classical
Pentecostals, but also Charismatic [including Catholics, Episcopalians, and remnants of many other mainline Protestant denominations] have been insulted by your unprincipled, petty journalistic choice to print this derisive insult.
Such blatant and appalling illiteracy is disappointing in Mr. Oliphant, but unacceptable by your editors.
Furthermore, his depiction of God, even in satirical terms, is disgustingly crass and irreverent, bordering on
blasphemous. How is it that your editors would choose NOT to run the cartoons concerning Mohammed, offensive to Muslims from the Denmark paper, yet choose to offend such a wide swath of Christianity with equally distasteful, disrespectful drivel posing as journalism? Your choices cannot but imply an intentional, insensitive bias against Christians that you would not choose to reflect against almost any other group. Your "political correctness" seems to extend only to groups that fit within your revealed parameters of bias. And by the way, to further assist in the remedial levels of biblical literacy to help reveal the extent of your offensive editing choices: Paul, the apostle, was also without biblical equivocation, a frequent speaker in tongues [see
I Corinthians 14:18] who encouraged speaking in tongues in his converts [
I Corinthians 14:5,39;
Acts 19:6], and valued the process as spiritually beneficial in one's personal prayer life [
I Corinthians 14:2,4]. He went so far as to instruct that the gift of tongues coupled with the interpretation thereof were two of nine special spiritual gifts given to edify the church [
I Corinthians 12:7-11].
I believe there should not only be a printed apology extended to the Christians of America and elsewhere, but also a strong censure to Mr. Oliphant, and a stronger censure to those who were involved in the decision to print such scurrilous sarcasm.
May God grant you grace and mercy as there is only one offense deemed "unforgivable" in the Holy Bible.
This offense is described in the words of Jesus Christ according to the gospel of Mark, Chapter 3 verses 28-29: "I tell you the truth all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." However, may the same grace be extended in your unfortunate ignorance of things biblical that was extended to the Apostle Paul himself, and may you become a speaker in tongues through the power of the Holy Spirit just as the Apostle Paul was after his enlightenment [
I Timothy 1:12-14 -- "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a
blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."].
An unabashed, nonintimidated, blessed, deeply grateful, Holy Spirit-filled speaker in tongues,
Marvin G. Walker
Pastor
Faith Apostolic Church
6710 Crooks Road
Troy, MI 48306
George - as in curious
Linear Mode
