Angry Birds

 are which of the following:

A) Characters in a video game

B) Characters in an animated movie

C) Characters in the United Methodist denomination

I would like to say that "C" is not a correct answer, but I have seen that it is.

When I joined the United Methodist denomination in 2024, I knew that United Methodists were not any more righteous than believers in Jesus outside the UMC. 

However, I had hoped I wouldn't encounter people who wanted to sling-shot their way into a fight.

Yet, I have.

To explain what I mean, consider this famous photograph that was taken at Little Rock’s Central High School on Sept. 4, 1957.

In this photo, 15-year-old white student Hazel Bryan is yelling at 15-year-old black student Elizabeth Eckford as the latter tries to enter Little Rock, Arkansas' Central High School.

The UK's The Telegraph newspaper describes the circumstances of this photo:

"One girl, Hazel Bryan, looked livid, her face poisoned with hate. As Benjamin Fine of The New York Times later described her, she was “screaming, just hysterical, just like one of these Elvis Presley hysterical deals, where these kids are fainting with hysteria”. Her eyes narrowed, her brow furrowed, her teeth clenched, Hazel shouted: “Go home, nigger! Go back to A-”. Click. “-frica!” Will Counts, a photographer for the Arkansas Democrat, had his picture."

Now, imagine this same scene being played out today, except that Elizabeth Eckford has been replaced with a politician or a political appointee.

Does harassing a person in public become Christ-like behavior if the one being harassed isn't a minority?

Does harassing a person in public become Christ-like behavior if the one being harassed is supporting a government action that one disapproves of?

I see nothing ungodly in peaceful political protests. However, I cannot support protests that are nothing but acts of harassment.

Should believers in Messiah Jesus disrupt the peace in a restaurant where a politician or a political appointee is having a meal with the latter's family?

Should believers in Messiah Jesus stand outside the home of a politician or a political appointee and shout and make other noises so as to disturb the peace of that person and that person's spouse and children?

Such harassment of politicians and political appointees has taken place in the USA. Is that something that United Methodists should condone or participate in?