Wednesday Read: Gunpowder Plot and Religious Extremism

On this day in 1605, Guy Fawkes was discovered in the cellars beneath Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder, planning to blow up King James I and the entire government. His motivation? Religious conviction. Fawkes and his co-conspirators believed they were serving God by murdering Protestant leaders and restoring Catholic rule through violence. They were willing to kill hundreds, including innocent bystanders, because they'd convinced themselves that their righteous ends justified any means.

Religious extremism isn't confined to 17th-century England or modern terrorism. It emerges whenever people believe that their theological correctness gives them permission to harm others, when spiritual passion overrides basic human compassion, when ideology becomes more important than the image of God in every person. The crusaders slaughtered Muslims and Jews "in Christ's name." The Inquisition tortured heretics to "save their souls." Salem burned witches to "purify the community."

Jesus confronted this tendency directly when his disciples wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan village that rejected them. James and John asked, "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" Jesus rebuked them sharply (Luke 9:54-55). Later, when Peter drew his sword in Gethsemane to defend Jesus, Christ commanded, "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52).

The kingdom of God advances through sacrifice, not violence; through suffering love, not inflicted pain; through dying to self, not killing others. Paul, who could have justified violent resistance after being beaten, imprisoned, and stoned, instead wrote: "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them... Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God" (Romans 12:14, 19).

Today, religious extremism wears different clothes but carries the same spirit - using God's name to justify ungodly actions, claiming divine approval for human cruelty, wrapping hatred in the language of holiness. Whether it's bombing abortion clinics, celebrating enemies' deaths, or using scripture to abuse others, extremism always betrays the character of Christ who prayed for his executioners and died for his enemies.

What convictions are you holding with such intensity that you've lost sight of Christ's character? Where have you justified harshness by claiming spiritual correctness? True faith produces love, patience, kindness - not cruelty dressed in religious language. Remember: they'll know we're Christians not by our bombs or boycotts, but by our love.