A Quick Word From the Bible: Reader Mail
July 2nd, 2009 |Recently there were two comments posted on previous Bible columns that I decided were just too good to keep hidden in the archives.
Dudely, from Canada, if I’m reading the IP info correctly, feel free to correct if I’m wrong, comments, in regards to A Quick Word From the Bible: Gay Marriage?
“Christianity has no right to impose its views on anyone. If you wish to argue your case you may but the government is secular, and as such religious arguments are invalid. I’m also continually amused at Christians who quote these verses. Tell me again where it specifically says that gay marriage is wrong?”
Well, those verses you want are in the column, but I’ll repost them here.
Leviticus 18:22 (New International Version)
22: ‘Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (New International Version)
9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Romans 1 26-27 (The Message)
26-27Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn’t know how to be human either—women didn’t know how to be women, men didn’t know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men—all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it—emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches.
Genesis 19 (New International Version)
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
Now, Dudely, you’re right, church and state are supposed to be separate, but they’re not. America was founded, intentionally or not, as a Christian nation, which it continues to be this day. This is why the politicians are always courting the Christian right. So, whether you like it or not, we are a Christian Nation and as such, things like Gay Marriage and Homosexuality should not sit well with us, if at all.
The government is supposed to be a secular organization that can do whatever it wants without any regards to Christianity, just like Sodom and Gomorrah. Actually, thanks to free will any of us can do whatever we want, as long as we’re prepared to deal with the consequences. And it seems to me that the more we try to pull God away from our daily lives, such as government work, the more we find ourselves accepting of things such as Gay Marriage. Maybe Church & State shouldn’t be so separate after all.
Christianity has no more of a right to impose its views on anyone anymore than any other organization. So why is it that Christianity is the one that gets picked on, while other groups, such as the Gays, PETA, Transsexuals, Atheists, Jehovah Witness and Mormons, get a free pass? Bit of a double standard, there, wouldn’t you say?
And here in America, we still have free speech, which allows anyone to talk about anything they like. Except that when you talk about God and your relationship with him you’re told shut up. Interesting, no?
And then in regards to A Quick Word From the Bible: Praying for You Dudely says:
“Non-religious people aren’t scared. To them, it would be like being scared of Dracula. Most of them were religious at some point too, so you can’t say they don’t understand either. They just decided something different from you. Sure some of them are, shall we say, a little too aggressive about it, but that percentage is much lower than the percentage of aggressive religious people.
After all, you don’t see atheists going around knocking on people’s doors.”
Well, to be fair, atheists don’t go knocking on Christian’s doors, but they do have a fun time persecuting them.
You’ll notice that I’ve stopped referring to collective religious group. I think it’s important to distinguish what we’re talking about here in this column is Christianity. That’s it. If it’s not of God, it doesn’t count.
Now, I’m not going to get into a back and forth about what people feel, that’s just pointless. Personally, I believe that deep down inside, those who haven’t accepted Christ as their Lord and personal Savior feel lost and scared. You disagree, that’s fine.
What I do want to talk about is this notion that Christians force their beliefs on others. I touched on this briefly in the above paragraphs, but let’s break it down a little more. I’ve been personally accused of this repeatedly since I start this column, and I’m not saying that’s what you’re doing, Dudely.. But it’s been done to me.
A lot of people do this, accuse Christians of forcing their beliefs on them. But I’m not sure how someone can force you to have a personal relationship with God. It’s just not possible. That’s a decision that you have to make yourself.
But what about the people going door to door? Those are Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. They’re not Christians. It’s that simple. Those are cults built around men and the pervasion of God’s Words. But what about the person who’s behind you in line at the supermarket that starts sharing with you about God? Well, they’re just sharing. How is that any different than you sharing with someone about how awesome your favorite sports team is? Are you forcing your sports tastes down other people’s throats? Of course you’re not. You sharing about something that’s important to you, just like that Christian who’s standing behind you in line.
A Christian is one who has accepted God as their Lord and personal Savior and has a personal relationship with Him. It’s not every Christian’s place to spread the Word and witness. Not everyone is called to do same thing.
What I do here isn’t shoving my values or beliefs down anyone’s throat. Nobody’s forced to come visit my little corner of the web. They do that of their own free will. What I do here, specifically in this column, is share a little about who I am and what my beliefs are. You, the reader, are well within your right to disagree. But don’t accuse me of doing something I’m not. Like anything else in this world, if you don’t like what you see, change the channel.
Remember, God gave us free will.
9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God
This verse describes Christians and Republicans to a tee. Funny how Christians pick the sins to hate and turn a blind eye to the sins they themselves commit. How dare you preach to anyone about sin. The only True Christian is a Gay Christian.
And the hits just keep on coming. Here’s a great Bible tip: If your neighbors want to rape your male house guests, throw your young daughters their way instead and let them have their way with them. It’s the course of hospitality, you see.
All instructions are included in Genesis chapter 19. Also, God hates homosexuals. The same God, I believe.
I consider myself somewhere between an Atheist and an Agnostic, because Atheism is nearly as great a leap of faith as are other religions. And, to some extent, I do feel lost and alone. I gaze upwards, at the starry sky, and I realize that my brain is not equipped to comprehend infinity. I realize that human beings, like all things that follow the laws of nature, are inherently limited. I search for something greater, but I cannot find anything with a claim of being greater that does not run up against the laws of physics without challenging them in a manner identical to the claims put forth by Science. And so I continue to feel that gnawing at my mind, the desire to comprehend the incomprehensible, but I realize that to accept any answer that does not satisfy my intellect is to concede my quest for understanding to the merely convenient. So I sometimes speak to religous figures, and I challenge them to explain why their claims are any better than none at all, and they usually resort to faith, despite my challenge being based in reason. Each of them has failed, and I have grown increasingly firm in my belief that there is no answer that is better than any other, although there are many that are worse. I only have faith that faith is not the answer, for to claim rightness from faith is, in essence, to claim that each individual is the center of his or her own universe.
By the way, you really ought to label this a Christian webcomic in the ads. I felt misled after clicking the link.
“How is that any different than you sharing with someone about how awesome your favorite sports team is? Are you forcing your sports tastes down other people’s throats? Of course you’re not.”
Thanks for this illustration! I honestly never thought about it that way.
I am a Christian, but I don’t advertise it with stickers and fish magnets. I think I’ve only been “witnessed to” by a Christian stranger twice in my life. Both times they were very polite about it, and when I told them I agreed with them, they said goodbye. Maybe they just wanted an atheist to argue with, but on the other hand, only an argumentative atheist would have responded with a hostile attitude. So, I’ve always been pretty baffled by people who whine about having Christianity forced on them.
On the other hand, I have no use for spectator sports, and I am alternately amused and annoyed by all the painted and dressed-up wackos who come out on game day. They hoard all their little relics, they make their big pilgrimages, they rehearse their chants and rituals, they venerate their idols, they start stupid arguments with followers of rival teams, and I just shake my head and say, “What a bunch of idiots!”
But, I’m happy to report that your analogy has given me some perspective on the issues of both athletic and religious worship. I’ll come back to check out your stuff!