(no subject)
I often find myself wondering why I bother to read the news. Even when I go to www.christianheadlines.com I still find myself annoyed with some of the articles. Actually, it's especially when I go there that I get annoyed. The reason being that the articles aren't all from Christian sources. It's a news aggregator that collects articles about Christian interests no matter who writes them. Some of the most annoying ones come from the New York Times. But there are other secular news sources that seem to think actual research and at least a minor understanding of the subject you are writing about is passé.
I was reading an article about Mormonism and how Mormons so strongly support the republican party that they had to make a statement saying that it was not a necessary stance for being a Mormon. Then it went on to talk about how the support is not returned by the majority of the evangelical republicans, which it objectively pointed out is because of bigotry.
There are an awful lot of secular buzz words used to rally the troops against the evil of Christianity, and if bigotry and it's variants isn't the biggest, it's certainly in the top 5. In fact, if secular new sources are to be believed, Christians (mostly of the evangelical variety) base nearly every decision they make on bigotry. Obviously the reason we don't support Mormons has more to do with irrational hatred than the fact that their theology is so wildly different that you can't legitimately call them Christian. And the reason we don't support gay marriage is because we put on our hate coloured glasses and not because the creator of the Universe has created marriage AND sex for a purpose and that purpose is perverted by deviant sexual acts, be they homosexuality, bestiality, incest, pedophilia, or even having sex with the hole in the arm of your favorite easy chair, and we know from experience that when God says "No" and we do it anyways we hurt ourselves. Of course people says they don't believe in our God and we shouldn't push him on them. But I'm afraid my response to that is, the harmful effects of sin occur whether you believe in God or not. And as long as I'm sharing this world with you I'm going to try to prevent as much sin-destruction as I can.
That's not to say that God is going to rain fire on us like he did on Sodom, but that's not the point. Even if all God did was withhold his blessings, that's bad enough. And if you want to change my mind, you have to convince me that God (therefore the Bible) allows for homosexuality. And you can't do it with emotional pleading. You can't do it by reasoning that they should be allowed to be with the person they love. Because I already agree with you, but I don't make the rules. I don't know why God says it's wrong. I don't know why God has said it's an abomination. I just know he has done so, and to change my mind you have to show me that I'm wrong in that area. If you can do that by showing me the Bible I will join the fight for homosexual marriage, because if God says it's good, then it is.
But I'll never support the Gay Pride Parade. That's just a disgusting display of hedonism. I would freely support the loving union of two men like my sister in-laws grandpa's or the two gay men who live down the street if I could be shown that God has allowed it. But people who think it's okay to prance down the street naked or mostly naked and do incredibly lewd things, or who equate homosexuality with a complete lack of self-control are giving reputable gay men a bad name, and I think rather than support that, real gay men should be opposing such childishness. All that parade does is solidify the idea that opening the door to homosexuality opens the door to every type of perversion people can come up with. And people can come up with some pretty disgusting things.
But I digress. This entry was not supposed to be about homosexuality.
I should point out though that secular people are not the only ones at fault for failing to understand the things they oppose. Many Christians, especially those who were raised Christian, never bother to venture out beyond the Christian umbrella they've lived under. The misconceptions they have about the world they live in are just as inexcusable, and harmful. Jesus Christ thoroughly understood the world he preached to, and he learned it first hand, not from pastors or parents. When Paul preached in Rome he took the time to get to know the world the people lived in and was able to then present them with their unknown God. If the early Christians hid from the world the way many of today's Christians do, no one on earth today would even be aware of the movement that would have never gone beyond the apostles. And who knows where we would be then? All of history would be different.
We are failing. And I say we because I am as lazy as the ones I'm accusing. I'm as scared as they are. I may not hide from the world in the same way, but I still hide. We are acting like the servant who hid his talent in the ground and returned to the master only what he had been given. In case you have forgotten, the master took the talent from that servant and gave it to the other servant who had ten talents then threw the useless servant out in the streets where there was the ever popular weeping and gnashing of teeth. I believe that talent is faith. We are given faith, and if we don't make that faith grow (not just in ourselves, but in others) then we are like that servant. If we bury our faith so that we cannot lose it and return to God exactly what he gave to us and nothing more, then what was the point in giving us the faith in the first place? He's right to take it from us and give it to the servant that is investing and growing his faith. The masters business is salvation, and he takes it very seriously.
That's all for today.
I was reading an article about Mormonism and how Mormons so strongly support the republican party that they had to make a statement saying that it was not a necessary stance for being a Mormon. Then it went on to talk about how the support is not returned by the majority of the evangelical republicans, which it objectively pointed out is because of bigotry.
There are an awful lot of secular buzz words used to rally the troops against the evil of Christianity, and if bigotry and it's variants isn't the biggest, it's certainly in the top 5. In fact, if secular new sources are to be believed, Christians (mostly of the evangelical variety) base nearly every decision they make on bigotry. Obviously the reason we don't support Mormons has more to do with irrational hatred than the fact that their theology is so wildly different that you can't legitimately call them Christian. And the reason we don't support gay marriage is because we put on our hate coloured glasses and not because the creator of the Universe has created marriage AND sex for a purpose and that purpose is perverted by deviant sexual acts, be they homosexuality, bestiality, incest, pedophilia, or even having sex with the hole in the arm of your favorite easy chair, and we know from experience that when God says "No" and we do it anyways we hurt ourselves. Of course people says they don't believe in our God and we shouldn't push him on them. But I'm afraid my response to that is, the harmful effects of sin occur whether you believe in God or not. And as long as I'm sharing this world with you I'm going to try to prevent as much sin-destruction as I can.
That's not to say that God is going to rain fire on us like he did on Sodom, but that's not the point. Even if all God did was withhold his blessings, that's bad enough. And if you want to change my mind, you have to convince me that God (therefore the Bible) allows for homosexuality. And you can't do it with emotional pleading. You can't do it by reasoning that they should be allowed to be with the person they love. Because I already agree with you, but I don't make the rules. I don't know why God says it's wrong. I don't know why God has said it's an abomination. I just know he has done so, and to change my mind you have to show me that I'm wrong in that area. If you can do that by showing me the Bible I will join the fight for homosexual marriage, because if God says it's good, then it is.
But I'll never support the Gay Pride Parade. That's just a disgusting display of hedonism. I would freely support the loving union of two men like my sister in-laws grandpa's or the two gay men who live down the street if I could be shown that God has allowed it. But people who think it's okay to prance down the street naked or mostly naked and do incredibly lewd things, or who equate homosexuality with a complete lack of self-control are giving reputable gay men a bad name, and I think rather than support that, real gay men should be opposing such childishness. All that parade does is solidify the idea that opening the door to homosexuality opens the door to every type of perversion people can come up with. And people can come up with some pretty disgusting things.
But I digress. This entry was not supposed to be about homosexuality.
I should point out though that secular people are not the only ones at fault for failing to understand the things they oppose. Many Christians, especially those who were raised Christian, never bother to venture out beyond the Christian umbrella they've lived under. The misconceptions they have about the world they live in are just as inexcusable, and harmful. Jesus Christ thoroughly understood the world he preached to, and he learned it first hand, not from pastors or parents. When Paul preached in Rome he took the time to get to know the world the people lived in and was able to then present them with their unknown God. If the early Christians hid from the world the way many of today's Christians do, no one on earth today would even be aware of the movement that would have never gone beyond the apostles. And who knows where we would be then? All of history would be different.
We are failing. And I say we because I am as lazy as the ones I'm accusing. I'm as scared as they are. I may not hide from the world in the same way, but I still hide. We are acting like the servant who hid his talent in the ground and returned to the master only what he had been given. In case you have forgotten, the master took the talent from that servant and gave it to the other servant who had ten talents then threw the useless servant out in the streets where there was the ever popular weeping and gnashing of teeth. I believe that talent is faith. We are given faith, and if we don't make that faith grow (not just in ourselves, but in others) then we are like that servant. If we bury our faith so that we cannot lose it and return to God exactly what he gave to us and nothing more, then what was the point in giving us the faith in the first place? He's right to take it from us and give it to the servant that is investing and growing his faith. The masters business is salvation, and he takes it very seriously.
That's all for today.