Hate after Rick Warren son”s death is dumbfounding

The hate spewed by some anti-Christian zealots in the wake of the suicide of Rick Warren’s youngest son has been dumbfounding.

Twenty-seven-year-old Matthew Warren took his life last Friday after years of emotional struggles. His father, the Southern Baptist pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California, expressed dismay in a Los Angeles Times story at the venom.

My heart sank as I read some of the comment stream on CNN.com Sunday night and turned off my computer more convinced than ever of the total depravity of man and the potential for human sin and hatred. Wow.

Don’t read these streams if you are easily discouraged. On the other hand, millions have expressed kindness and sympathy. The anonymity the Internet affords a cruelty and inhumanity I’d love to pretend didn’t exist. John said it right: Man loved the darkness rather than the light. That darkness comes out all too easily when it’s shrouded by anonymous Internet handles.

Continue praying for the Warrens, who have Texas ties to Southwestern Seminary, for those hardened souls who need to hear the hope found only in Jesus. And for the millions who, like Matthew, struggle to make it not simply through the day but through the next five minutes. People are hurting all around us. Let’s open our eyes to see the needs.