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Accepting, and distinguishing between, the Brother Stephens

It is my singular misfortune — and perhaps evidence that God has a sense of humor — that I am a member of the Christian clergy with the exact same name as Brother Stephen White, the infamous fundamentalist preacher, whose interpretation and understanding of the message of Jesus Christ could not be more different from my own and that of the Episcopal Church.

It is exactly because of this odd coincidence that I feel compelled to decry in the strongest possible terms Brother Stephen's treatment at the hands of outraged students at the College of New Jersey earlier this week where he was pelted by stones and garbage. There is the practical matter that such mistreatment of a self-proclaimed prophet has the possibility of arousing sympathy for his message and a wider, more accepting audience for it. But, to me, there are two other reasons for being disturbed about Brother Stephen's treatment in Trenton on Monday. The first, of course, is his Constitutional right to say anything he likes in a public place, whether anyone else likes it or not. The other, more important reason — and one based not exclusively on Christian theology — is that Brother Stephen is, well, our brother and should be embraced in love rather than stoned, not matter how offensive his message may be.

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