Perhaps in an effort to jump on the band wagon and ride the media’s current flavour-of-the-month, the producer of CKNW’s Christy Clark show contacted my pastor Scott Tolhurst last week with a strange accusation:  “I hear you are opposed to the proposed building addition by the Buddhist temple next door to your church–would you be willing to be interviewed by Christy on today’s show?”.

Suffice to say Scott was taken more than a little off guard.  He immediately set the record straight by telling her that Richmond Bethel Church loves our Buddhist neighbours, has no problem with their building project, and are incredibly happy to live in a country with religious freedoms, etc.

It perhaps shouldn’t be overly surprising that a member of the media would try to dig up such a controversy especially in light of the recent fiasco surrounding Terry Jones, the got-more-attention-than-he-deserved pastor in Florida who threatened to burn copies of the Qur’an as a protest to the proposed ground zero mosque.

Unfortunately we live in a society where people like Terry Jones get international face time and in a world where sensationalized headlines sell more papers, give good news ratings, and get classified as “good radio”…

Fortunately however most Christians do love and respect their neighbours.  Most are decent, caring people, and many (shocking I know) even have great friends who belong to different faiths.  So while Scott’s interview with Christie may not have made “good radio” and while he will not gain international media attention, let’s remember that people like him are closer to the norm in regards to what most Christians (and indeed most people) are like–tolerant, caring, and neighbourly…