Occasionally I stop complaining and being sarcastic to
tackle real issues. I shall try to do that again....
So gay marriage is legal now and we as a nation are all
awaiting the moment that pastor sets himself on fire, like he promised.
I've talked about this before, but I have to say it again. I
really just cannot understand WHY so many "Christians" get so bent
out of shape over gayness. Even from the most extreme Bible-thumping standpoint,
nowhere in the Bible does it say that homosexuality is worse than any other
sin. In the New Testament, Jesus says nothing about homosexuality. He does,
however, get pretty clear in His opinions about divorce. But no one gets bent
out of shape over divorce anymore. It's Paul who condemns homosexuality in the
New Testament, and Paul was an extremely devout Jew before he became a
Christian, and believed homosexuality was as much of an abomination as eating
shellfish (Leviticus 11:10).
Last week, Warwick, NY had its second LGBT parade. Last year
we had one lone protester. A bunch of us from Warwick Assembly of God were
wandering around the parade handing out free bottles of water (because it was
really freaking hot) and trying to spread the message that EVERYONE is welcome
in our church. Our pastor gave the kind of pathetic-looking lone protester a
water bottle and told him Jesus is love, not hate. This year, there were no
protesters at the parade, and we handed out even more water bottles because it
was even hotter than last year. We are the only church in the Warwick area to get involved in the LGBT parade. One out of like 20+.
When I see photos or footage of people protesting gay rights
trying to spread these horrible messages of "God hates gays," it
makes me want to cry. It is nothing but hate, and hate does not come from God.
Hate is the devil, because it is one of the surest ways of turning people away
from God. All of those hateful protesters have not only unknowingly turned
themselves away from Christ; by their words and actions and the example they
set, they turn countless others away from Him as well. They are doing the
devil's work under the guise of Christianity and it makes me sick.
Love one another. Over and over and over again in the New
Testament, the same message. Love one another.
Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw
a stone.
Have a good weekend, y'all. Try not to go around flashing a questionable flag in case someone gets offended.
Did I mention I've decided to run for president?
I'd vote for you!
ReplyDeleteStill waiting for the guy to set himself on fire. One of my gay friends said he was going to send him gas & a match to help out!
very well written. Applause!
Fewer and fewer people are haters, especially as more and more gay people feel free to come out and people realize that they all have several relatives who are gay.
ReplyDeleteWell said Mich!
ReplyDeletePride was on this weekend in Dublin
And there was all the more to celebrate
As we also passed gay marriage too
My sister is there
And many a hilarious photo was posted on FB
Xxxxxx
Oh very well said... not sure why i am a little surprised you were in a congregation too but very good and i love your point of view.
ReplyDeleteWe'll both vote for you! A platform built on love and tolerance... yeah, I can get behind that. God doesn't hate anybody. You know what I bet he hates? When people go around speaking for him, especially in the name of hate. That would sure piss me off.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't understand why the monotheistic faiths get bent out of shape about gay marriage. I've never read the Torah, but the Qur'an doesn't really mention gay marriage either. I guess with Sodom and Gemorrah, but they don't mention gayness either... it's just assumed that Sodomites were gay. I assume the Torah probably is the same deal.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of your points.
*sound of clapping from the back*
ReplyDeleteYou have my vote.
i can't speak for the Bible, but as far as the Qur'an goes, i know that i've heard stories taken from it that does mention that being a homosexual is wrong. i do not read the Qur'an regularly (ashamedly), but my parents have and apparently, there's this one particular story that made it seem like being gay is very wrong. i am not sure on the matter, though it seems as if everywhere i turn, it is a definite fact. like how we view eating pork products as wrong or showing more than /this amount/ of skin.
ReplyDeletehere is one thing i do not understand. that certain churches ban certain people from entering. that makes no sense.
honestly, i don't understand the hype about the gay marriage thing as of yet but according to my friend yesterday, this is because we come from two different parts of the world. i cannot say that i am homophobic because that actually makes me a large hypocrite because i can only find women sexually attractive. as i said to my friend, i will marry a man in my society, and i may enjoy sex with him but that does not necessarily mean that i will ever be attracted to him.
over everything, God also tells us not to judge. judging is His act. we cannot judge others for what they are or what they do. it is only He who can judge. i cannot tell people that they are right or wrong.
"Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone." no human being on this Earth has not engaged in some form of sin. even if he engaged in no religious sin, he would've indirectly sinned through behaviour. people tend to forget that religion is not just what God tells us we have to do (pray, mention His name only in good light, and there's a word in Arabic i don't know how to translate down to English but there are multiple things, Hajj, Omra, etc) but also the fact that we have to be moral people. in the end, it doesn't matter if you do all these religious things if you treat people like absolute crap.
i am still working on ends with my faith unfortunately. i believe in my religion 100%, but i do not practice it as well as i should. i hope one day this changes, but right now, i am not forcing myself to. i do not want to do things just out of necessity or habit. i want to do things because i want to be on a higher spiritual level with Him. i want to get to the point of spiritual enlightenment.
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#VOTEFORMICH
-Sam Lupin
You're from Warwick? I have another friend there and she was at that Pride parade. I wonder if you saw her. Shame she's gone camping or I'd ask. Hopefully I'll remember.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, good on you guys giving the one lone protester some water. Maybe when they went home they sat down and had a good think and came back this year as a supporter. It's a shame you guys were the only church involved. You're right that God says NOTHING about gays outside of, you know "Love everyone guys." There's so much shit in there that's been moved on from because it was declared a little silly. Yet they insist on holding on to that one little thing. I can't hate all Christians though. Just like I can't hate all gay people. There are good guys like you and my dad out there. My dad didn't even bat an eye when I came out as bi to him.
This is beautiful what you wrote, Mich. Your church sounds wonderful, I would go to it if I could!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck on your Presidential run...you have my vote! Love you!
Love is love. God loves everyone and as a good Catholic school girl, I was taught not to judge others and know that life changes in a second. So why waste it on hate and holier than thou attidtudes? No one can judge but God (if you are of faith) so I wish everyone would just chill out.
ReplyDelete