CommentaryPeople are seriously mad at someone for knitting warm things for cold babies
Somehow, people are mad at someone for encouraging people to knit warm things for cold babies. Radio show host Brant Hansen ("Mornings With Brant") had an idea awhile ago, and so he started The Knitting Project.
The project--tagline "Knit. Pray. Love."--is to knit things for babies. "Chilly newborn babies," to be exact, and to quote from his website. The warm knitted things will go to a CURE International hospital. Pretty cool, right? Harmless at worst, and totally radical and awesome, at best. Something that surely draws the awe and respect and praise of the masses, right?
You would think.
But....yeah. Right. Thing about that hospital: It's in Kabul. As in, Afghanistan.
The Palm Beach Post wrote an article about The Knitting Project. People commented. You can imagine some of the things said. Here's a screenshot of two samples that aren't completely offensive.
Yes, Brant, WHAT is WRONG with YOU, you horrible, sorry excuse of an existence! You are KNITTING FOR BABIES! You, a MAN, are KNITTING! And not only are you KNITTING--you are KNITTING for BABIES!
Ah, America. And freedom of speech. And those brave anonymous commenters. Look, there's no questioning that America's kind of messed up in a lot of ways. But I don't think the men knitting warm things for freezing babies are the the problem.
The problem people seem to have with The Knitting Project isn't that Brant's knitting things for babies in foreign countries--it's that the foreign country is Afghanistan. I wonder what people would say if the hospital was in Haiti instead. This would probably become the one of the most popular charity movement ever. But it's in Afghanistan, and that's where the plane came from that blew up the World Trade Center, and so now we're kind of fighting a war with those people. Our people are killing their people and their people are killing ours. So how dare someone help them?
In all seriousness--I can empathize. If I'm a friend or family member or have a loved one in the military over there, I'm probably upset, too. Can't imagine thinking of helping someone who's trying to kill someone I know. Dude is leading a movement that helps our enemies. If my generation has EVER had a more clear enemy, it's the Afghani Muslims.
But that is why this is so radical, and so important. This is about loving people. I know a lot of Christians really like living by laws, so here's a reminder: Jesus Christ, the man we worship and follow and believe in and live for, said that the most important law, out of all the laws ever, was to love God with all we have. The second most important law, he said, was to love others like we want to be loved.
That's not all. In another conversation, Jesus reminds some folks, "You have heard it said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies..." Other versions say he said, "Do good to those who hate you."
This isn't really about Brant Hansen drawing the awe and respect and praise of the masses, or even keeping the babies of Afghani Muslims warm. Not entirely. This is about remembering what it means--what it really means--to be a Christian. Not long ago, Anne Rice renounced Christianity because of how Christians acted, saying that she couldn't bear to be associated with a religion so mean. I've often thought of doing the same thing. But what Ms. Rice forgot was that Christians often forget what it really is to be a Christian.
What it is to be a Christian is to remember that Christianity has nothing to do with fighting or wars or judgment or being anti-gay. There are many people, powerful people, who have done many things in God's name, in Christianity's name, that have nothing to do with Christianity or God. The movie Kingdom of Heaven comes to mind. Perfect example. In one scene, the general leads a charge against an unarmed band of Muslims, prefacing the attack with, "God wills it."
Loving others is doing good to others, even--no, especially--those who hate us. Just because I know these things and write these things doesn't mean I do these things. I'm trying, but man alive, I'm so bad at loving people. I have so much to learn.
I'm writing this because I wanted to remind others, but also because I needed the reminder. I needed to remember.
The most important things about Christianity aren't its rules or its territory. Sometimes it's like people are trying to rack up Jesus points by fighting for him or following his rules better than others, like when we get to heaven we can turn in our tickets for prizes, like we've been living in an arcade.
It's not about games or Jesus points or holy wars.
It's about love. For God. For others. And "others" means "others" other than "others" we know and like and respect. "Others" covers all the others. Including those thousands of miles away, speaking Arabic and flying planes into American skyscrapers.
Reader Comments (2)
Hi Brandon, I just happened upon this post and am so glad I did. I didn't know about the knitting for babies...nor would it have occurred to me to be angry about this. It seems absurd to hear someone say this would be wrong or that this is a "liberal" idea. As a Christian, I hear all that you're saying and I wholeheartedly agree. We could ALL do better at loving others...especially those we consider our enemies. Imagine a world where everyone tries a little harder to do that. Thanks for saying what needed to be said here.
Merritto, thanks so much for stopping by. Glad you found this, and even more glad that you got something out of it. Thanks for the note.
Brandon