Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were hateful bigots

 For those of us raised in the church, we have heard the story of the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace so many times that we could almost recite it backwards and in our sleep. Great story, and it has been used in many Sunday School lessons, Bible stories, sermons, and anything else where it could encourage and inspire people.

  But if Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednedo  (SAM for short - of course thet means arranging them in a different order) were around today, would they be hailed as heroes, or as  hateful bigots? It very well could be the latter. Imagine the scene:

  The proclamation had been made. They knew it was coming. Everyone had to bow to the large golden image of the narcissistic king. Have you ever thought about the fact that SAM were not the only Hebrews present? They were most likely not the only worshipers of God present also. Yet only the three of them refused to bow, even after the king begged and threatened them. And I imagine if they had friends and family present, they were begging SAM to bow. After all, it was just one small bow. Not like they were going to daily bow and worship the statue. But SAM refused to do so. We all know how the story goes.

  But if it were today, imagine.....

  Friends and family would be pleading: "You'll hurt his feelings! Just bow!"
  Other people who were worshiping the idol would be calling them hateful and bigots. "The king has a right for people to bow to his statue!"

  Before long, CNN and MSNBC would roll up and start filming about the hateful trio of people who wouldn't now to the gold statue. It would be the news story of the day, trumping terrorist threats, and stock market reports.

 The ACLU, Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson would show up. The latter two screaming racism because SAM wouldn't bow to the statue because it wasn't the same color as them. The ACLU would be screaming about Christians trying to infringe on someone elses' rights.

 The Christians who are bowing are pointing out that God wants us to love everyone, so SAM should bow so Neb will feel loved and turn to God.

  The president gets involved. Says the gold statue could be him, and that the police are stupid for not arresting SAM on the spot.

  The courts get involved and says Neb has a right to expect everyone to bow to his statue, and SAM must pay a large fine to Neb and go to classes to learn how to treat people like Neb.

  Sounds rather silly, but that is what our country is doing. We don't dare speak out about certain sins, the big two being homosexuality and abortion. Christians are caving daily to those who do them, and clam we must just love, love, and love.... and never speak out about it, and they shun and call out Christians who dare to do so. They vote for politician who will further the causes of the 2 big sins, then wonder why our country is so far from God.

  SAM were thrown into the fiery furnace because they refused to bow. Christians today are being sued, having to close their business, and are losing money and jobs for refusing to bow to what have become important in America. And it will only get worse.

  SAM came out better in the end for refusing to bow, and so can we.