I meant to post this yesterday but completely forgot. British Columbia has followed Ontario by allowing same sex marriages to be performed in the province. This is encouraging news in the human rights area but there are people determined to fight against this liberal ruling. I don’t have a news link but several religious groups have stated that they will fight this all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada if need be.
Why is it that many religious groups are so freaking hypocritical? Love thy neighbour, unless they are gay (then oppress them as much as you can). Why is it that a large percentage of the worlds problems are caused by religion? Do the Christians and Jews not remember that not so long ago (in the time scale of the universe) they were persecuted for their beliefs and practices? Now they feel the need to persecute another group of people because they feel morally superior to this group? Many days I think that the world would be better off if we were all Pagans or something like that. At least we’d respect each other and the environment a little more than we do now.
7 Comments
Well said!
I totally agree. It drives me nuts that so many people (mostly Christians) can’t seem to understand that it is not their job to enforce morality on the entire world. We obviously have a huge problem with this in the U.S..
One of the scariest things I can possibly think of would be to live in a nation ruled by conservative Christians. I think I’d rather be ruled by Saddam than by Jerry Falwell.
I have to say I politely disagree. I am a Christian and I do believe in “Love thy neighbor”. I don’t think I’m being hypocritical at all in my beliefs. I have a set a beliefs that holds that homosexuality is wrong. I know you’ve heard it all before, “Love the person hate the sin”. I don’t run around gay bashing nor do I intend to. I don’t persecute gays for their beliefs.
Religion is a tuff one because when it comes to religion there can only be (monotheisticly speaking of course) one God and therefore one religion. So if you believe in your religion then you believe yours in the only right way. That’s what religion is. What’s wrong with that? I think it’s the opposite of being hypocritical really. I mean if you you’re a Christian and God (the one of a Christian) says something is wrong, then it’s your duty as the follower of that God to follow his rules. I, as a Christian am not walking around creating my own set of rules that are bringing any glorification to myself. If that was the case I would say it was okay to cheat on my wife and then I could have sex with who ever I wanted when ever I wanted and not have to face any repercussions. Instead I have to follow a set of rules that may not be “as fun” as if I created them myself. The same is true for the laws that my faith says God created.
So for me to say as I did before that homosexuality is wrong comes from my belief that God says it is, and not that I don’t like gay people. In my life I have had plenty friends and family that were gay and I never made them feel any different about who they were. When they asked (because they knew my beliefs) I told them how I felt. Our conversations were as friends and not as enemies.
Just because we are becoming more tolerant as a society doesn’t mean that my beliefs should change to adapt or does not mean they are wrong. They are my values.
Obigabu, you make very lucid and intelligent points. However, people of all religions need to understand that to create a moral code for everyone based on one’s own religion is not fair to those others who choose to observe in a different manner.
I wouldn’t dare suggest that you change your attitude about homosexuality. If you feel it’s wrong, then that is absolutely your right. But to deny homosexuals certain rights held by others based on one’s own views of immorality would not be fair. And I would do anything in my power to stop that.
I would agree that if we said that God did not exist it would not be fair to make a moral code that exist for everybody and alienates a few.
Although, if* we say God (from a Christian stand point) exist, and we (as Christians) stand behind the fact that He is the creator, then we must follow his rules. And if He does exist would then be ludicrous to say that “I don’t want to hurt those peoples feelings by saying it’s wrong or preventing them from doing things”.
Therefore you have to realize how we as Christians look at this topic. It’s not an attack or an alienation against anyone in particular. Rather it’s our beliefs in what we consider to be the truths that God gave us.
I’m not a fundamentalist Christian. I don’t walk around thumping people with bibles or throwing holy water either. But it makes me wonder when I hear people make statements about how the Christians are doing this…. and doing that. We believe it’s our responsibility.
In this particular case it would be similar to when Moses came down from the mountain with the tablets. The people that were waiting for him were caught in acts of lust with the same sex and worshiping false gods. I’m sure at that time they tried to convince Moses that things had changed, that the people were not hurting anyone, it was love, and how could love be bad.
God taught us then that it was wrong. Why would it be different now. History tends to repeat itself and we look at this the same way. We considered in wrong then and we must consider it wrong now for the same reasons: God said it was.
I appreciate the opportunity to have such a great discussion. It hasn’t been my intention to convert anyone into believing the way I do. Rather it has been to try to shed light on why there is so much said on this topic.
*(I’m using ifs because it’s only by faith that I can make my statements or believe in God. I won’t know if I’m really right or wrong until I die.)
I can see what you’re getting at. If you believe that there is a deity in a supreme place of power over the world, then you are logically obliged to do God’s will. This makes perfect sense.
But, Jesus himself recognized the difference that exists between the laws of God and the laws of man (as evidenced in his dictum to “Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and give unto the Lord that which is the Lord’s.”). Christians (or any other religious group) cannot make the world’s moral decisions based upon their own beliefs. What if Muslims were in charge and forced all women to veil themselves? Are they justified in doing this under their absolute conviction that they are doing God’s will?
It is OK to believe something is wrong, but also recognize the rights of the people to live as they will as long as it doesn’t harm anyone else. Jesus recognized this duality of being *in* the world, but not *of* the world. He knew it was better to lead by example than to cram his own morality down people’s throats. Otherwise, he would have become a politician rather than a rabbi. 😉
And, by the way, I totally understand your disclaimer that yours was an explanation rather than a statement of purpose. And I think it’s pretty spot-on accurate.
I just have this strong compulsion to play “devil’s advocate.” (pun intended). 😉