Devout vs. Radical

While watching the news and hearing about so many flare-ups involving various religions both home and abroad I began thinking about how we tend to label people these days. It seems to me that we used to use the words “devout” and “fervent” when describing people who are very serious about their religion but now we are gradually shifting over to the use of the words “radical”, “conservative”, or “right wing” especially if we are describing a religion that we just don’t understand. What used to be a “devout Catholic” or a “fervent Catholic” has become a “conservative Catholic” and a “fervent Baptist” has evolved into “right wing Baptist”. The piety that we currently fear the most, of course, is that of “radical Islam”. I would like to go on thinking that the majority of religious people are just plain old “devout” and “fervent”. It is our own fears that make them seem “radical”. The more we get to know people the less radical they become except for the small percentage of those who really do work for the Devil.

Of course, I sometimes still look with perplexity at people who have different religious beliefs than my own. However, like someone once said, “God sure does have a lot of very strange people who love Him”.

Now ain’t THAT the truth!