No. "Let it go," is not what the man deserves. He chose to lead a public life in the spotlight, he chose to spew his hatred in the guise of love all over the airwaves and via the brainwashing of young people through a university he founded. He used his charisma and talent for organizing to do things I think Jesus would literally have cried over. He gave us no quarter in his 70+ years of preaching, why should we do the same for him? He was a reprehensible person who continually used the power of media to give himself a public forum to preach hatred, intolerance, and beg for money under the alleged threat of death by God (can you imagine someone saying, "God will kill me if you don't send me money??") and somehow a person who does that is deserving of some modicum of respect? Oral Roberts earned no respect from me in life so I feel no need to show him any in death. Were I a Christian I would be mortified at what Roberts has done to the gospel of Jesus. That I am gay gives me more than enough reason to be delighted that he's finally silenced though I'm certain he'll be around in re-runs long after I'm gone.
Jason, why are you investing so much energy in what can all be seen as unmitigated hate. I am aware that Roberts was not a nice man and spoke a doctrine which often times was filled with words which were against humanity. The sad truth is that
he believed the things he said and felt he had to proceed in the way that he did. You rail against his hatred; yet, your own is no better- hate is hate no matter what reason you choose to take for abusing it.
In my post, I indicated that he gave a sense of peace and a form of guidance to an Aunt of mine. I also indicated that she did not favor his stance towards homosexuality. I don't believe she cared much for the man, as much as the strength she found from his positive teachings-which he did have. She was homebound and could not go out and get to a church, so, she took what was available and went forward spirtitually. I have a feeling she was not alone in that. There are those who did the buffet option with what he said. They took the parts which they could accept, and received a sense of peace through it. They saw where he preached against various things and people and realized that was not something which they felt or believed that their Lord Jesus Christ, would have endorsed. This is the same as happens in many religious institutions- people find a sense of peace, they find a guidance for their living; but, they also see where the institution has wandered from the path spoken of in the book they (institution leaders/church elders) quote from and don't practice the discrimination.
The selecting aspect is not that far removed from what I mentioned in a post the other day with regard to Buddhism. Buddhism has several sects/schools and what you find in one may be far less pronounced in another- perhaps to the point of total elimination. Selecting goes on in many religious institutions, people can tell good from bad, if they can't it's more often than not, a few chipped edges in their brain which fail to allow reason and common sense to pass through.
Additionally, I gave the section of an old post from prepstudinsc (which I've further reduced here):
"
To only focus on the negative at a time of loss is immature and petty."
Take what he did and said, and focus your energy in a positive manner towards an end of letting people know just how unjust and decidedly bigoted many of Roberts' ideas and statements were. You have the ability to be a better man than Roberts by not going down the road of anger and hate.
I sense you won't let go of your hatred, as many others won't, because it's better to examine the sty in the eye of another than to remove the log from our own eye (that's a wording of a Biblical quotation from somewhere in the New Testament). In other words, "two wrongs don't make a right".
