Responce to Gay-bashing in local paper
So, in my campus paper there has been a battle, back and forth and back and forth between one of the writers and people that write letters to the editor......he openly bashed Homosexuals and Pagans in his last column of last year and they've been responding full force, which are printed, which prompts responces from the Christian Right, which are printed, which promt more responces, and so forth and so forth.....well, here's a responce to it......I thought it could make for interesting Chit Chat Fodder....(by the way, I apologize now for any typos, I type Very fast and it's 4am)
Homosexuality is a sin, or so says the Bible, the avidly Christian among us, and the gay-bashers. Man shalt not lay with man as if man were woman. Now, if you don't believe in the Bible, you really needn't read futher, because everything that is going to be discussed is all bogus to you.
Homosexuality is a sin, and most avidly religious people will not fall back and avoid telling you this. they hand out pamphlets about how God hates Gays and Lesbians, they'll protest openly Homosexual events (Chorups Christi sound familiar?) and even on occasion, express outright disgust and hatred for Homosexuals and their supporters.
Homosexuality isn't alone in the religious spotlight, but it is one of the few socially spotlighted sins. Abortion is another and Gambling, another no-no. These three are some of the relgious protest focal points.
Step back and sit down, typical relgion-ite. You will tell me that sinners are bad and the cause of the world's problemsb. Is murder a sin? Yes, thou shalt not kill says the book. The Bible also states that your body is the temple of God and polluting the temple is a sin. I'm not singling out alcohol, because drinking is mentioned in the good book, in moderation. Most things are approved of, in moderation, in the Bible. But do you really need to Biggie-size your french fries? Gluttony is a sin, and one of the 7 deadly sings at that. Don't eat more than what's necessary, for the love of all that's good and holy! How many of you were stuffed to the brim on Thanksgiving day? Be careful about what you eat. I doubt filling your church with drugs and chemicals would go over well with the congreation, so why would you fill your body with them? The Bible states the nothing should come before God, but it's funny how many Church gors are seen with coffee cups before and after sermons. not only is caffiene a drug, but a powerfuly addictive one at that. Addictions are a sin, you know. Quick! Someone organize a protest against starbucks...those sinners need to learn the ways of the Lord!
Examining addictions, I think everyone can relate. "but, I've never done drugs in my entire life!" Ahhh, my narrow-minded friend, illegal drugs alone do not an addiction make, although they are the most talked about. Drugs, alcohol, tobascco, caffiene, chocolate, television, junk-food, internet, music, sugar, video games and sex are some other fun, but still very controlling and sinful addictions.
I hate traffic and I hate stupid drivers as much, if not more, than the traffic jams they create. more than once, after witnessing some superb display of consideration, coordination and intellegence, I've let a few choice words slide. Swearing, by the way is very much a sin. But I've often thought where they could place their cell phone, or quickly calculated what's associated with letting the tailgater behind me rear-end me, and thoughts like that are wrong, too. These are impure thoughts, no matter whether you intend to say them (or do them) or not, they are still wrong. Our Catholic friends say it the best when they preach "if you think it, you've done it".
Who hasn't watched that guy or girl on campus and not thought about what'd they do with a chance to be alone with them. Lust. Yup, you've caught on, I'm impressed! Lust is another sin.
Now I know the avid Bible-thumpers among us are pulling out the forgiveness card. I'm saying this because I've heard it a million times before. "i'm saved and have been forgiven". Yeah, if you ruly committed yoruself, at the moment of acceptance and committement, I'm willing to say, from the Bible's presepective, you're ok. If you've completly shed your "old self", become a new person, and given up every un-Godl thing about you, I'd love to meet you, you can preach to me any day. But until you've given up every sin your life, don't attempt to stand on your soapbox when it comes to pointing out the damnation of others.
Ask forgiveness if you've done wrong. Repent, and be saved! Part of that is saying "hey God, I know this is wrong, I'm sinning, please forgive me" and then not going it again! This isnt an excuse to go out, do whatever you feel like doing, and then say "oooops, i've been naughty". If you insist on doing that, don't preach to others that they're going to suffer eternally. That's hypocritical, to say the least. The Bible doesn't distinguish or grade one sin from another. A sin is a sin is a sin, lying to your parents is equally bad in the eyes of God as murder. This means that the caffiene addicted church-goer is as much as a Sinner as they claim the homosexual to be. Hypocricy is also discouraged in the Bible as they people are told not to ignore the plank in their eyes as they point out the splinter in the eyes of their neighbors. They are reminded that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
We are instructed to love the sinner, hate the sin, not to hat the sin and dispise, harass and insult the sinner. I am a sinner, i admit this fully. I am addicted to sugar, caffiene, french fries, making out, and the internet. I've had impure thoughts and have lied to people around me. I know, biblically speaking, I'm no better off than all the other sinners, but have to ditinguish myself from the others by my actions and how I treat those around me. I believe the true goal of humanity and of our lives is to treat everyone with respect and dignity. We need to do the best we can, in every aspect of our lives. We need to share our love and our lives with one another. We need to help our fellow man and to tell them what we feel is wrong, because sometimes, like toilet paper stuck to our shoe, we can't see what we're doing, but don't harass us about it. The bible says to warn someone three times of a transgression, but after that it's their responcibility to change things. We are adults, we're going to do what we want to do. Since this seems to be the topic de jour, I'll illustrate my final point as such: I'm sure there is a scarce Homosexual among us that is unaware of the Bible's stand on their lifestyle. you can tell them you don't agree with it, but they are so much more than who they date. (I'm sure there are some of you that wouldn't want to be judged on who you've dated in the past). They may not agree with the fact that you smoke, or that you lie to your loved ones, but they are ok with looking past our "sins" to see us as a whole. Maybe some of you shouters of the gospel should take a lesson from our gay friends. Why can't the masses of so called "religious and loving people" look through the glasses of hypocracy to see that they aren't the perfect angels they would believe themselves to be?
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