Separate Religion and Hate Based Politics?

In a refreshing approach, the Methodist Church of Great Britain has moved to restrict participation in the far-right British National Party, which limits its own membership to "Indigenous Caucasian" ethnic groups. Would that the Southern Baptist Convention and many of the white professional Christian set would do the same - but if they did, their congregations would likely be decimated. It seems that increasingly the most vocal "Christians" in the USA are most notable for who they condemn and who the hate. In short, they are the antithesis of the Gospel message. Here are some highlights from the Washington Post:
*

The BNP, which opposes immigration and has claimed to be "defending Britain's Christian culture" against the "Islamification" of Britain, surprised and dismayed the political establishment by winning two seats in the European Parliament last week.

*

The Party has been roundly condemned by leaders of the British Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church, the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Church of England. In February, the Church of England voted to ban its clergy from BNP membership. Last week, Britian's Methodist Church voted to prohibit all BNP members from joining the church.

*

"We must be clear that racism is a denial of the gospel. An openness to all people, regardless of nationality, is at the heart of Methodist identity," said Rev. Sylvester Deigh, whose motion to ban BNP members from joining the British Methodist Church was adopted Thursday by the church's annual conference. "This does not mean that people will be excluded from attending church -- God welcomes all, saints and sinners alike. But it does mean that members of racist political parties will not be able to become full members of the Church."

*

Anglican priest John Wesley, who started the Methodist movement in England in the 1700s, defined a Methodist as "one that lives according to the method laid down in the Bible." Wesley and his fellow Methodists met weekly to hold each other accountable to gospel standards. That included feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and giving away each year all they had after providing for their own necessities.

*

When one sees the millionaire prosperity gospel televangelists - who often disseminate hate towards certain groups - one cannot help but wonder how the message of the Gospels has become so perverted.