The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
Religion is a frequent topic on this blog, and should not be confused with Christianity.
Bill Donohue, for those of you who don’t know, is the head, and as best anyone can tell, only employee or member of an organization called, “The Catholic League.” Bill is claiming that American gay rights activists are seeking to “criminalize the Bible,” based on a situation where a Swiss group has filed a complaint (in Switzerland) against a Catholic Bishop in Switzerland (those facists Swedes).
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It worries and embarrasses me the idiocy I see in too many of our elected officials, and making it worse is the knowledge we elect them, and keep re-electing them. Evangelicals and Conservatives, especially Republican conservatives seem to try to out-stupid each other, and the rhetoric has simply crossed a line, especially on the gay marriage issue. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa[they should be really proud]) provides a ton of grist for the stupid mill, and I think his latest, were he anyone else, would qualify him for a Baker Act petition.
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As the teacher of an Adult Sunday School for a few years now, I’ve had to do a lot of study, and while I’m not biblical scholar, there is one things I am absolutely certain about…the Bible is not literal nor is it inerrant. There, I said it. It doesn’t mean I don’t respect the Bible as Holy Canon, but it could not be applied to our lives today were it to be taken literally. A video by Mike Huckabee makes that point.
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Recently, a small church in Michigan, Cassopolis United Methodist, had their church Pastor, Rev. Benjamin Hutchison, taken away from them. Was it because of poor attendance, hardly, he had quadrupled the membership since being appointed. He saved the church from dying according to many members. His crime, he was in a long-term committed relationship with another man. Just after that, nearly 30 United Methodist pastors joined in a celebrating a wedding ceremony for Rev. Hutchison and his husband, and now, to further hammer home her distaste for love, Bishop Deborah Lieder Kiesey has picked out nine of them for prosecution under church law. Here’s my letter to Bishop Kiesey:
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It’s time we had a little talk, you and me. I know this whole idea that gay people (and all the LBT rest of them) might be starting to get some equal rights bothers you tremendously. I can’t figure out any sort of leap of logic that makes this such a big issue for you, unless, of course it somehow affects you directly. At some point, you’ve got to meet God halfway. You can’t create him in your image, nor imbibe him with your character flaws. If God hates all the same people you do, you have created a god in your own image, and are not worshiping the God of Abraham.
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It seems the Commission on the General Conference for the United Methodist Church, meeting last month, decided to hold the first quadrennial General Conferences outside the United States . The original choice had the GC going to Zimbabwe in 2024, and the Philippines in 2028. Fortunately, an ever-present advocate for LGBT people within the Church was there, and raised a few concerns, including the fact that Amnesty International has declared Zimbabwe one of the most dangerous countries for LGBT people. The years were switched.
Read moreYes, this is a bit behind, but I had to make comments about some of the discussion points put forward
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Unfortunately, as gay people are less afraid to hide in a stifling closet, and are demanding that they be accorded the same rights as every other American, the heads of the leaders of the evangelical branch of the christian right are exploding. They are ratcheting up the rhetoric to a disturbing level, and some of their language is most certainly designed to evoke a violent response by unstable people who follow them. So, I’d like to drop them a note.
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But at the end of the day, with or without these RFRA laws, you still have the same religious freedoms you have had since the Republic was founded. You can pray to whatever God you choose, or you can choose to not pray. You can go to whatever house of worship you wish on whatever day you’d like, and you can crawl into the pulpit and preach the ugliest and nastiest things your sad little heart can drum up about people you don’t like. So Mike, stop with the lying about the need for these laws. The only thing you’re trying to do is get special rights to take your particular from of hatred and bigotry into the public square, and you’re finding that Americans are finally less and less tolerant of your intolerance. I know it’s hard to take now, but in the end, America, and even you, will be better for it.
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We’re starting to see the backlash against LGBTQ people as the likelihood of nationwide marriage equality increases, and LGBTQ people achiever equality under the law. One of the main ways the Christianists are trying to keep us in our place, is to pass these bogus, and clearly unconstitutional, religious liberty bills. We saw how cowardly they are in Oklahoma this week.
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This week’s crazy has been especially over the top, especially with Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore trying to stand in the courthouse doorway, and more Christians believing that only they can defend God (shhh, apparently he can’t take care of himself).
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