Tom Krattenmaker, author of "Onward Christian Athletes" asks the inevitable question, "On gay rights, should conservative Christians keep fighting?"
"Treating their neighbors as they'd like to be treated" never ended with " whether we agree with them or not." I treat everyone with dignity and respect until they do something to me to deserve otherwise. It is not my place to say what is good or bad to believe in as long as it does not hurt others or me.
I have no problem with the bible as a very good book for many reasons. Jesus is on my list of people I would like to have dinner with. I don't have to many problems with most holy books of many faiths in that all say the same basic thing, all have some great stories, they all want us to search ourselves to be a better person, and they all have stuff that is outdated and cruel.
It is when people pick it apart and decide what to live by and what to ignore where things start getting sticky.
Long story short.......The printing press was developed to put a Bible on every table....Good idea at first.....People learn to read, books are shared, people share ideas....Bible gets questioned and....TaDa!.... we now have different interpretations ..... the book it's self is translated over and over with words that have changed over a long time .......... you have a zillion copies with as many views of the same basic thing and ....EACH ONE IS THE TRUE ONE. They even have disputes within their own ranks as well as some of their very powerful falling from grace.
We are a nation of humans that came to this land to have a better life. We created the basic rules and worked very hard. We invite all those who want to contribute and help built the greatest nation in the world. We are a nation made up of some of the best in the world and they come from every culture and religion.
A few branches of the Bible interpreters feel the need to control the secular law as well as Gods law and this is causing a great deal of friction. How can some think that the rules that guide us all should be limited to one religions rules when all religions live here? How can anybody ignore the facts that science has to offer explaining so much about ourselves and our earth? Facts are facts and one can't pick and choose which ones to believe.
It has come to a point when the few who want to impose their beliefs on the whole have to realize they are wasting their time. The more they twist the facts and beat their Bibles, the more they are proving our case of facts.
We exist, we have families and children, we need our jobs and homes, we need them to be safe from discrimination, we need and deserve the same securities that every other American has. Illegal immigrants have more securities than us.
Are we going to continue to listen to and support groups that spread hate? Are we going to vote for and support leaders that WANT to discriminate against anybody?
That is not the American way. It is not the HUMAN way.
You get the sense, observing the shifting cultural landscape, that we've reached a point on gay rights that is similar to that moment in a football game, or an election, or a relationship, when you know it's over even though it's not over.Well, I say "Take all that energy and money and put it to good use else where."
It appears increasingly obvious that social acceptance of gay men and lesbians and insistence on their equal rights are inexorable. If the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" weren't enough to signal the turning point, or the classification of several gay-resisting Christian right organizations as "hate groups" by the Southern Poverty Law Center, there came news that Exodus International was ending its involvement in the anti-homosexuality "Day of Truth" in U.S. high schools. "We need to equip kids to live out biblical tolerance and grace," Exodus President Alan Chambers explained, "while treating their neighbors as they'd like to be treated, whether we agree with them or not."
Add it up, and you see a decision point at hand for socially conservative Christian groups such as the Family Research Council that have led resistance to gay rights. Do they fight to the last ditch, continue shouting the anti-gay rhetoric that rings false and mean to the many Americans who live and work with gay people, or who themselves are gay? Or do they soften their tone and turn their attention to other fronts?
"Treating their neighbors as they'd like to be treated" never ended with " whether we agree with them or not." I treat everyone with dignity and respect until they do something to me to deserve otherwise. It is not my place to say what is good or bad to believe in as long as it does not hurt others or me.
I have no problem with the bible as a very good book for many reasons. Jesus is on my list of people I would like to have dinner with. I don't have to many problems with most holy books of many faiths in that all say the same basic thing, all have some great stories, they all want us to search ourselves to be a better person, and they all have stuff that is outdated and cruel.
It is when people pick it apart and decide what to live by and what to ignore where things start getting sticky.
Long story short.......The printing press was developed to put a Bible on every table....Good idea at first.....People learn to read, books are shared, people share ideas....Bible gets questioned and....TaDa!.... we now have different interpretations ..... the book it's self is translated over and over with words that have changed over a long time .......... you have a zillion copies with as many views of the same basic thing and ....EACH ONE IS THE TRUE ONE. They even have disputes within their own ranks as well as some of their very powerful falling from grace.
We are a nation of humans that came to this land to have a better life. We created the basic rules and worked very hard. We invite all those who want to contribute and help built the greatest nation in the world. We are a nation made up of some of the best in the world and they come from every culture and religion.
A few branches of the Bible interpreters feel the need to control the secular law as well as Gods law and this is causing a great deal of friction. How can some think that the rules that guide us all should be limited to one religions rules when all religions live here? How can anybody ignore the facts that science has to offer explaining so much about ourselves and our earth? Facts are facts and one can't pick and choose which ones to believe.
It has come to a point when the few who want to impose their beliefs on the whole have to realize they are wasting their time. The more they twist the facts and beat their Bibles, the more they are proving our case of facts.
We exist, we have families and children, we need our jobs and homes, we need them to be safe from discrimination, we need and deserve the same securities that every other American has. Illegal immigrants have more securities than us.
Are we going to continue to listen to and support groups that spread hate? Are we going to vote for and support leaders that WANT to discriminate against anybody?
That is not the American way. It is not the HUMAN way.
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