Affiliations.

Here's an awesome blog post I read on the God's Politics blog. It's about the striking similarities between gang affiliations and blind patriotism.

This often hits close to home with me. I'm a fan of a few pro sports teams (Flyers, Phillies, a few other NHL teams). The idea's the same. Colors, flags, disdain for others different from you. We have to watch ourselves. I know I've quoted the Fugazi lyric before: "we draw lines and stand behind them, that's why flags are such ugly things."

We always need to remind ourselves that Jesus sees people, not things. We're supposed to treat people the way He did. He saw people regardless of where they were from, what color they were, or what color they wore.

John Buccigross of espn once said in his weekly hockey blogumn "love hockey first and your team second." He said something big. We need to put things in perspective. The big picture (well-being of others) comes before your "denominational" affiliation.

God is good.