I try to make it a point not to write about some of the more outrageous views and statements from pundits of all sorts. Nearly any mention is a good mention and I’d rather not direct more attention to people who generate more heat than light on a given topic. But Sacred Frenzy, a good friend of mine, tipped me off to an opinion Frank Pastore wrote for Townhall.com and its title alone, “Why Al Qaeda Supports the Emergent Church,”comes across as one of the more ridiculous statements of the year. I had a longer post dealing with Pastore’s specific arguments, but the piece is jumbled and it was difficult to address his post in a systematic fashion. Basically it appears that Pastore has taken two things he doesn’t like, the “Emergent church” and Al Qaeda and tries to criticize them in the same post. I agree with Pastore that the battle with radical Islam is a war of ideas, but the majority of his claims are specious at best and certainly uncharitable towards other members of the Body of Christ. I’m fine with strong disagreement and strong debate within the Church, but as earlier Christians said during the Thirty Years’ War (another war of ideology), “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” Of course different people have different ideas of what is essential, but that is another post altogether.