Michael Coren and Mainline Protestants

In an interview with the National Post, broadcaster Michael Coren was asked the following question, and offered the following answer:


Q: Do Christians in Canada stand up for themselves enough or are they cowed by secular society telling them to keep their religion at home or in the church?
A: First of all, forget mainstream Protestants (Anglican, United Church, etc.). They’re barely Christian anymore, and they’ll accept anything.


As a minister of the United Church, I'm often critical of my own denomination, but  cannot let this go unchallenged. Even if I take the parenthetical addition as an explanatory note by the National Post and not as something Michael Coren actually said, I still think that Michael Coren seems to have forgotten one of the most basic lessons Jesus taught: "do not judge, or you will be judged." 


I always wonder what it is that causes some people to feel the need to condemn others for their faith. Coren doesn't have to like the United Church or any other mainline Protestant church. That's why there's a Roman Catholic Church for him to belong to, or any number of evangelical and charismatic denominations. He's a faithful Roman Catholic, which I respect, and in spite of having some substantive theological disagreements with the Roman Catholic Church, I would never accuse the Roman Catholic Church of not being Christian. Yet Coren reserves the right to make that judgment on others.


I've always felt that if you need to spend your time attacking or being rudely dismissive of those who disagree with you rather than simply celebrating what it is you believe, then you're clearly operating from a position of weakness. Generally, we attack those we feel threatened by. Coren clearly isn't very convinced of what he believes or he wouldn't feel so threatened.


Perhaps he needs to stop focusing on others and start to look inward a bit. Perhaps he needs to confront whatever it is that scares him about we "mainline Protestants" who are "barely Christian." Perhaps he needs to learn a few biblical lessons about humility. Perhaps he needs to remember that Jesus himself told his disciples that there would be a few surprises when they found out who was in or out of the Kingdom.


I suspect Michael Coren has a few disappointments ahead. Since he's clearly claimed for himself the right to play God and to define who is and who isn't a Christian - which, shockingly enough, just happens to mean that everyone who thinks like him IS a Christian, and anyone who disagrees with his ISN'T a Christian -  he may be startled to discover that he's going to be spending eternity with more than a few of those mainline Protestants who are "barely Christian" and who "accept anything."


We do tend to accept a lot, Michael - in fact we'll even accept holier than thou folks such as yourself, who feel that you have a right to do God's work for him.