“I used to believe that God condemns homosexuals, but when I studied the Scriptures, especially the ones that we call ‘clobber Scriptures’ that are being cherry-picked from the Bible to condemn LGBT people, I realized that there’s a lot to discover, including the truth that God is not against anyone. God does not discriminate against people based on gender.”
-- Pastor Val Paminiani, Evangelical and Pentecostal Church of Freedom in Christ Ministries
This post rambled through the trash heap of my mind. You'll notice, as you read, that I wandered off, several times. It isn't that I wanted to, but I've lost 22 pounds dieting, joined a gym, started eating the right food, and I now find that I have way too much energy and no way to bleed it off. I mow the lawn one day and check it the next to make certain I don't need to mow it again. I find myself wandering the house, during commercials when a favorite show is on the tube, looking for I don't know what. Anyway, that's my "heads up" for the drivel you're about to dive into, should you choose.
I read an article on The Monastery website, this morning, which I found marvelous. I invite you all to read the one page article, and try to open your minds to the message: "Christian Apology to LGBTQ".
It tries to play to what I always preach, that we tend to interpret things in the way others guide us, like lemmings off a cliff, instead of studying the issues for ourselves and making our own, educated opinions. That which is written is especially vulnerable to interpretation. Considering how a heretical sect of Islam can twist the words of Muhammad from a message of peace into a message of "kill them all and let Allah sort them out," is it any wonder clergy in our own religion can do the same with Christian scripture? Of course not, and we dutifully fall in line behind those "holier than thou" who would foist their particular brand of hatred, segregation, non-acceptance, and intolerance, onto the world. How about this? How about we not drink the fruit punch like those poor souls of Jonestown? How about we think for ourselves, consider the love of Christ, and do better by our fellow beings? Just saying.
I think most of us have an ability, which we seldom exercise, to differentiate between bullshit and fact. The evidence of this lack of use is our believing everything the news media tells us. Reporters have taken advantage of our gullibility to the point they have become as trustworthy as the internet - Bonjour! If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, and if someone tells you something is free, you should probably read the fine print as, even today, there is no such thing as a "free lunch." We are vulnerable to believing anything we see, read, or hear, depending on the persuasiveness of the messenger. How sad is this, when we all know we can, and should, do better. I like to think I have a better handle on this shortcoming, than most, due to my lengthy service separating fact from fiction while analyzing intelligence data. Separating fact from fiction in the intelligence arena was still a matter of degree; which data smelled better than the rest.
When it comes to Holy Scripture, the only thing we can guarantee "holy" about it is that someone, not God, simply proclaimed it as such. The only scripture, I'm aware of, which was written, in stone by the way, by God, were the Ten Commandments, the only proof of which exists in the Holy Scripture. Alrighty then, shall we discuss how this Holy Scripture, inspired by God but written by man, excuses the murder of innocence? No? But, we will state that it clearly says somewhere, an intimately loving relationship, a marriage, between two persons of the same sex is a sin? No whoring around, one night stands, and all those other things that "straight" people also do; I'm talking a lifelong commitment to a person of the same sex. Not sure I've seen it mentioned in those terms but, then, I'm not sure the subject came up that often at the biblical dinner table. Perhaps it was "politically" incorrect to even consider such things, much less write of them.
With the LGBTQ community gaining more rights, acceptance, and equality in society, what does it gain us to continue this perpetually hateful rhetoric about them? Why they are seems to be more and more the purview of science; is chemical, genetic, a natural turn of events when the environment is out of balance? We just don't know, but that doesn't stop the majority of us from judging, does it?
So, how do we keep judging others? Well, as an example...
During the height of the Black Lives Matter controversy, Shepard Smith, of FOX News, corrected someone he was interviewing, twice, for saying "all lives matter" while answering questions from Smith concerning BLM. Smith finally admonished his guest by referring to his "all lives matter" comment as politically incorrect. Up until this incident, I looked forward to watching Smith's news segment. I didn't care about his politics or his sexual preference, and I still don't. He engaged his mouth before his brain, however, and my respect for him is just now coming back. He would be well served to keep personal opinions out of his segment. What seemed to me as "incorrect" was Smith's misguided, and seemingly racist, belief that it was appropriate to think only black lives mattered. Where did this blatantly racist sentiment leave the rest of us?
What was more troubling for me, if anything could be more troubling than in-your-face racism, is that Smith is not only lily white, he is also as unabashedly gay as BLM is unabashedly anarchist in their so-very-fascist "anti-fascist" rhetoric. It might be good for this gay man to remember, or maybe learn, some history. I would start with the Nazi "final solution" for their Jewish problem, which then expanded to include union members, the crippled, the mentally infirm, people of color, the gays... the gays? Really, Mr. Smith? Well, once you get a solution rolling, or a "movement," where does it stop?
Hate is hate, no matter what race, religion, national origin, age, or sexual preference you attach to it. This is typical of the League of the Perpetually Offended, however. They are supported by folks like this white gay man, who picks up the banner of "only black lives matter," while forgetting, in his misguided sense of offense, that he is southern, lily white, and homosexual - basically, the first to hit the showers when rounded up by the BLM gestapo. Mr. Smith reminds me of the Jewish lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union who go to trial to represent the rights of the American Nazi Party after the Nazi regime murders 8 million Jews. What? But, the "League" is their own worst enemy, and when they finish killing everyone else they will begin on their own until nothing is left of humanity. The world will abide, much better, without mankind.
BLM might have been better off not publicly declaring for whites to give up their possessions to black America, or calling for the killing of all white people. It would seem Shepard Smith, as a gay man, is either suicidal for jumping into this sand box, or just wasn't paying close attention to the destructive rhetoric of the group he spoke up for. He considers himself a "journalist" and should know better than to simply believe what he's told but, then, he is a modern journalist. He would be well served to remember there are many other minorities and shades of color in this country and consider where he thought this group's hatred and demands for death and destruction was going to end. But, then again, refer back to him being a so-called journalist.
Well, that's the rant. Have you been paying attention, or did you do a mental shutdown? Let me give this a conclusion and try to bring it together.
The worst of what we do is to not treat others as we would have them treat us. We constantly judge people for what they are, as I just did by passing judgement on both Shepard Smith, and the Black Lives Matter movement. I still like watching Mr. Smith, but the jury is still out on BLM; they did threaten me with genocide, after all, and right here in America! I have decided protecting my loved ones is more important than judging them for anything other than making me not feel safe in my own country.
Judging people for what they are is disrespecting yourself for not discovering who they are, and opening your mind to their "slice of hell" here on earth. Sometimes we truly need to walk a mile in someone else's shoes before we open our pie hole to comment. When we do comment we might want to consider if our comment is targeting who they are or what they are, or if the comment is simply a crap laced rebuttal to the crap laced perpetual ignorance spewing forth from perpetually offended pie holes, perpetually.
What you are does not define who you are, yet many hypocrites would bad mouth the police for what they are until they need them, at which time they might get a clue as to who those officers really are, as people, when they voluntarily respond to every call, knowing they will have to field all the disrespect being thrown at them. For the perpetually offended, the fact the police actually showed up would seem matter little as they, the very next day, go back to chanting for the death of all police, most especially the ones who just assisted them. If you aren't helping those trying to help you, you just might be the problem. Just saying.
I think we need to adopt the attitude of Pastor Val Paminiani and the Evangelical and Pentecostal Church of Freedom in Christ Ministries, in the Philippines. We need to stop believing what we're told and start doing our own due diligence. We need to stop "cherry picking" partial quotes, from scripture or from the works of folks like Dr. Martin Luther King, taken out of context, so it plays to misguided narratives. We need to stop condemning people and stop discriminating against them, just like I need to stop judging the perpetually offended - but, they just perpetually keep asking for it and, like a good servant of all people tired of hearing their constant misery over just everything, I can't resist picking up the sword. Yes, this would be my shortcoming.
We, especially as Christians, need to start practicing what we preach, and preach only that which is humbly righteous, gentle and understanding, loving and tolerant, you know, the way of Christ. If this is not what you're taking away when you read scripture, maybe you should think about reading between the lines - or, remembering who really wrote it. Everyone has an agenda. There is not one among us without sin. Not one.
What would Jesus do? Don't tell me what you've been told. Go find out for yourself!
Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint.
When it comes to Holy Scripture, the only thing we can guarantee "holy" about it is that someone, not God, simply proclaimed it as such. The only scripture, I'm aware of, which was written, in stone by the way, by God, were the Ten Commandments, the only proof of which exists in the Holy Scripture. Alrighty then, shall we discuss how this Holy Scripture, inspired by God but written by man, excuses the murder of innocence? No? But, we will state that it clearly says somewhere, an intimately loving relationship, a marriage, between two persons of the same sex is a sin? No whoring around, one night stands, and all those other things that "straight" people also do; I'm talking a lifelong commitment to a person of the same sex. Not sure I've seen it mentioned in those terms but, then, I'm not sure the subject came up that often at the biblical dinner table. Perhaps it was "politically" incorrect to even consider such things, much less write of them.
With the LGBTQ community gaining more rights, acceptance, and equality in society, what does it gain us to continue this perpetually hateful rhetoric about them? Why they are seems to be more and more the purview of science; is chemical, genetic, a natural turn of events when the environment is out of balance? We just don't know, but that doesn't stop the majority of us from judging, does it?
So, how do we keep judging others? Well, as an example...
During the height of the Black Lives Matter controversy, Shepard Smith, of FOX News, corrected someone he was interviewing, twice, for saying "all lives matter" while answering questions from Smith concerning BLM. Smith finally admonished his guest by referring to his "all lives matter" comment as politically incorrect. Up until this incident, I looked forward to watching Smith's news segment. I didn't care about his politics or his sexual preference, and I still don't. He engaged his mouth before his brain, however, and my respect for him is just now coming back. He would be well served to keep personal opinions out of his segment. What seemed to me as "incorrect" was Smith's misguided, and seemingly racist, belief that it was appropriate to think only black lives mattered. Where did this blatantly racist sentiment leave the rest of us?
What was more troubling for me, if anything could be more troubling than in-your-face racism, is that Smith is not only lily white, he is also as unabashedly gay as BLM is unabashedly anarchist in their so-very-fascist "anti-fascist" rhetoric. It might be good for this gay man to remember, or maybe learn, some history. I would start with the Nazi "final solution" for their Jewish problem, which then expanded to include union members, the crippled, the mentally infirm, people of color, the gays... the gays? Really, Mr. Smith? Well, once you get a solution rolling, or a "movement," where does it stop?
Hate is hate, no matter what race, religion, national origin, age, or sexual preference you attach to it. This is typical of the League of the Perpetually Offended, however. They are supported by folks like this white gay man, who picks up the banner of "only black lives matter," while forgetting, in his misguided sense of offense, that he is southern, lily white, and homosexual - basically, the first to hit the showers when rounded up by the BLM gestapo. Mr. Smith reminds me of the Jewish lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union who go to trial to represent the rights of the American Nazi Party after the Nazi regime murders 8 million Jews. What? But, the "League" is their own worst enemy, and when they finish killing everyone else they will begin on their own until nothing is left of humanity. The world will abide, much better, without mankind.
BLM might have been better off not publicly declaring for whites to give up their possessions to black America, or calling for the killing of all white people. It would seem Shepard Smith, as a gay man, is either suicidal for jumping into this sand box, or just wasn't paying close attention to the destructive rhetoric of the group he spoke up for. He considers himself a "journalist" and should know better than to simply believe what he's told but, then, he is a modern journalist. He would be well served to remember there are many other minorities and shades of color in this country and consider where he thought this group's hatred and demands for death and destruction was going to end. But, then again, refer back to him being a so-called journalist.
Well, that's the rant. Have you been paying attention, or did you do a mental shutdown? Let me give this a conclusion and try to bring it together.
The worst of what we do is to not treat others as we would have them treat us. We constantly judge people for what they are, as I just did by passing judgement on both Shepard Smith, and the Black Lives Matter movement. I still like watching Mr. Smith, but the jury is still out on BLM; they did threaten me with genocide, after all, and right here in America! I have decided protecting my loved ones is more important than judging them for anything other than making me not feel safe in my own country.
Judging people for what they are is disrespecting yourself for not discovering who they are, and opening your mind to their "slice of hell" here on earth. Sometimes we truly need to walk a mile in someone else's shoes before we open our pie hole to comment. When we do comment we might want to consider if our comment is targeting who they are or what they are, or if the comment is simply a crap laced rebuttal to the crap laced perpetual ignorance spewing forth from perpetually offended pie holes, perpetually.
What you are does not define who you are, yet many hypocrites would bad mouth the police for what they are until they need them, at which time they might get a clue as to who those officers really are, as people, when they voluntarily respond to every call, knowing they will have to field all the disrespect being thrown at them. For the perpetually offended, the fact the police actually showed up would seem matter little as they, the very next day, go back to chanting for the death of all police, most especially the ones who just assisted them. If you aren't helping those trying to help you, you just might be the problem. Just saying.
I think we need to adopt the attitude of Pastor Val Paminiani and the Evangelical and Pentecostal Church of Freedom in Christ Ministries, in the Philippines. We need to stop believing what we're told and start doing our own due diligence. We need to stop "cherry picking" partial quotes, from scripture or from the works of folks like Dr. Martin Luther King, taken out of context, so it plays to misguided narratives. We need to stop condemning people and stop discriminating against them, just like I need to stop judging the perpetually offended - but, they just perpetually keep asking for it and, like a good servant of all people tired of hearing their constant misery over just everything, I can't resist picking up the sword. Yes, this would be my shortcoming.
We, especially as Christians, need to start practicing what we preach, and preach only that which is humbly righteous, gentle and understanding, loving and tolerant, you know, the way of Christ. If this is not what you're taking away when you read scripture, maybe you should think about reading between the lines - or, remembering who really wrote it. Everyone has an agenda. There is not one among us without sin. Not one.
What would Jesus do? Don't tell me what you've been told. Go find out for yourself!
Editor's Note
(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)
Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint.
It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.
We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.
Pastor Tony spent 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.
Brother Frank, Thank you, Thank you for talking about this subject. This is one reason I became a member of ULC. This is one reason we all need to show more LOVE, STOP DISCRIMINATING PERIOD. I am a gay man myself, and one thing I have learned through the years that I have heard negative talk and preaching against LGBTQ people is to ignore the BLIND because they do not know what they are talking about. Many talk negative because thats all they know how to do and approach the subject of BLM, LGBTQ folk and straight folk, talk and gossip about ones life and derogatory statements and take the Bible of out context, and Fail to show these people the LOVE OF CHRIST. Again Thank you for talking and sharing your views. You are a Man of God.
ReplyDeleteOkay, second try at this reply. I do so write better than the first attempt, so here goes...
DeleteI am so very glad you approved of the post, and even more that you, dare I say, enjoyed it. I don't know if you have looked, but I have several other posts concerning the lack of tolerance toward the LGBTQ community, and a couple concerning their God given right to search for the love of Christ. I hope you will continue to visit and read more of my posts. I will be very interested to hear your opinions. Thank you!