Posts Tagged With: Bible

Doing Your Job Is NOT Persecution

For a good part of my life, I identified as a Christian and at one point I was even pursuing the ministry as my Bible Mixvocation. Today, I identify as Agnostic at best (leaning toward Atheist). How did I make such an astonishing transition? The biggest change was I began to empathize rather than feel victimized. What propagated the change? I admitted who I was not only to myself, but publicly – I am a gay man. It took me YEARS to accept myself and eventually learned not to feel shame about being who I am. Recent “religious freedom” laws are only good for reinforcing the “IDEA” that Christians are losing freedoms or are being persecuted – which is irrational and asinine (using it now I wish it were spelled ASSinine).

The most frequent excuse I would get when inviting someone to church back in the day was – there are Tattoo Sintoo many hypocrites. I was brainwashed by my years in the church and could easily counter that excuse by explaining all the good the church and Christians do. Once my perspective changed, I was amazed I was so blind. I tried reading and studying the Bible more and that just convinced me more the excuses I had heard were valid. The  hypocrites had their justification because the Bible can support most any prejudice. There are few things “Christians” hate more than when someone can use the Bible against what they are doing and saying. I have written before that more “Christians” should be called “Biblicans” because the hatred and intolerance they feel can be  justified using the Bible and there is NOTHING Christ like in their behavior – based on HIS teachings. The saddest thing to me is how they are blind to their hypocrisy.

The "thing" is... Atheists don't need proof of nothing! lol

The “thing” is… Atheists don’t need proof there is nothing! lol

I want to understand WHY Christians in the United States feel they need these religious freedom laws? As I see it… the freedom they want is to force others (the general public including gays) to be bound by their religious beliefs. Why would others (especially gays) having equality be a threat they need freedom from? What right have they lost or need protection from? Oh, the right to discriminate against gays; to make sex and contraception subjected to their views. Hobby Lobby is who I blame for all this shit! Providing contraception to employees should not be based on religious beliefs of the company. If the employees were forced to receive contraception, then it would be different!

Paranoid Much?

Paranoid Much?

The paranoid idea that religious freedoms are under attack is fueled by the likes of Fox News constantly having “news” (or rant) pieces about things like “The War on Christmas” that help bolster their ratings! Have they not been inside a WalMart in September? Christmas is in full bloom in the US for at least four months! Saying a non-offensive greeting like Happy Holidays is a threat? They need to go overseas to understand war on Christians. There are persecuted Christians in other countries. Like the boy that cried wolf… I have grown numb to their ideas of persecution.

It could also be fear of having to do their job for someone they USE religion as an excuse to justify their prejudice, Gay Cakediscrimination, or even hatred. All this bullshit about bakeries being FORCED to make cakes for gay weddings is RIDICULOUS! Christ taught “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.” ~Matthew 5:41 A blog by Jessica Kantrowitz (http://tenthousandplaces.org/2015/04/01/bake-for-them-two/) explains this better and in a more pleasant tone than I can. Memories Pizza in Indiana received more than $850,000 from sympathetic “religious” folks for closing 8 days after standing up to a hypothetical situation that gays would force them to cater and serve pizza at a wedding. They felt persecuted for publicly stating they would discriminate against gays.

Gay pizza party... maybe. Gay wedding.... NO!  lol

Gay pizza party… maybe. Gay wedding…. NO! lol

While I respect Memories Pizza’s rights to believe what they want, it is that they made a fortune given by others that are also paranoid, scared, and frightened by unrealistic hypothetical situations that would not happen. #1 – it would be very unlikely that Gays would ever serve pizza at a wedding. #2 – anyone getting married (gay or straight) asks not forces people to make cakes, take photos, or even plan their wedding. Who wants hate cake, an unhappy photographer or an unenthusiastic wedding planner?

A GOOD reason for a gofund me! http://www.gofundme.com/pizza4equality

A GOOD reason for a gofund me! http://www.gofundme.com/pizza4equality

Bill Maher has asked why moderate Muslims have not been as vocal against the likes of ISIS. I ask why aren’t moderate Christians more vocal? I know there are moderates and extremist in any and all religions and beliefs. But the problem I have is when the extremist are ALLOWED to be the LOUDEST voices, the moderate and reasonable are complacent with what happens in the name of their religion or beliefs! I only wish I could be louder for gays, reasonable people and the nonreligious; but when others join in… we will be louder than a gofundme for hypothetical and unreasonable prejudices!

Why are Christians so BLESSED?

Why are Christians so BLESSED?

Jesus even taught,“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake” (Matt 5:10). If the LGBT community HAD equal rights, there would be no need for gays or objecting Christians to stand up for their rights… we would be equal and Christians in the US would no longer feel so hypothetically persecuted!

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Once the $150 a year cost is covered – 50% of EVERY donation will be given to a charity (the charity will not be ME)!  😀

Categories: Life, Political | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Are You Crucifying Christianity?

I grew up going to church anytime the doors were open. After high school I even considered becoming a minister as my profession. Being reared in a middle-class home and maintaining a middle-class lifestyle in my single income home after university made it easier for me to hold to the values and principles I had grown up with. After admitting to myself I was gay, being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, losing my health, job, lifestyle and health insurance… I became one of “those people” – I am POOR! This is my new “coming out”, admitting I am poor. I tried and struggled for a while to hold  on to my lifestyle but was not Vegas Stylesuccessful. I had to watch as a new owner drove off in my BMW convertible and I was a witness as it faded on the road’s horizon. Soon after this event, I left Las Vegas (where I lived at the time) and I began feeling scared by the idea as an “adult” I was dependent on others for help with even basic needs.

Along with the change in location, came a change in the way I saw the world. My attitude changed. I got over: being a conservative, being a devout Christian and a Republican as I felt the challenges of my new life choking me. I can’t fully embrace the Democrats because they are not doing any better either. The more I learned from studying the Bible, the more I felt distanced from the God of the Bible. The Bible as a moral guide for my life just felt wrong. As I see Republicans fight to protect the wealthy and try to take money from social programs for the poor, the more they reveal to me that they are hypocrites that only talk about church and Jesus for their campaigns (again the Democrats are not much better, they just do not court the religious vote as much as the Republicans do). The more I learned about Jesus, the more I began to realize that most who profess to be Christian should be called Biblican not Christian. A Biblican is one who uses the Bible to justify their disdain and prejudices for others while dismissing the main points of Christ’s message – love and help one another. So now I introduce a new name I added to my vocabulary – Republibiblicans. Republibiblicans use the Biblicans to to sir up votes as they frighten people of the very things they should support and embrace – if they were true Christians.

Now, how do these things come together for me? With my background and education in marketing, I saw to it that I continued to “market” myself as something I wasn’t. I soon realized I was a Clean Handshypocrite and there are few things I hate more than hypocrites. I was presenting myself one way to the world while living quite differently. My facebook marketed myself as “healthy”, “happy” and living an adventurous life. I needed to be more honest with my family, friends, and even the few people who read my blog – MY LIFE IS A CHALLENGE! As a gay man, I urge other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to come “out”; I now want to be an advocate for people living challenging lives to “come out” and become a voice for CHANGE! As the LGBT community has learned, when people KNOW who we are, they are more comfortable embracing us as “people” they can love and accept in their lives! Being poor is no more contagious than being gay is!

Since I am no longer a person of “faith”, why am I concerned with how conservatives, Christians and Republicans are marketing themselves? Because some of “these people”… I love and care about and they are better than what these groups are standing up for and standing against! I want to encourage someone I know that is a “conservative Christian” to see that he/she is not helping his/her claim to be Christian with a post like the “PLEASE DON’T FEED THE ANIMALS” photo! The photo also makes me wonder… who measures the Department of Agriculture’s “pleasure” to do anything and what evidence do they have the DoA is “pleased”?! Jesus (the Christ part of being a Christian) taught: RepublibiblicanFEED the poor, render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s (a “comment” Christ made about taxes), do not be like the Pharisees that wear their religion as a badge of honor! Where is the Christian outrage for what Congress is trying to do to the poor?  Isn’t the food stamp program exactly the kind of “program” Jesus would support? Would Jesus also encourage people to do even MORE to HELP these people? I am not sure who to credit with saying, “get off your cross, we need the wood”, but I do hope I am able to BUILD and do more for society than just mock poor people, because I am one of them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say, I may be poor – living only my social security disability and I do have Medicare, but I am not homeless and do not receive food stamps or welfare. That is not why I am defending the ones that need food stamps, I am defending them because it is the right thing to do! My “lifestyle” is maintained with a below US poverty level income – nothing glamorous or leisurely about my live. ALL of my worldly possessions can fit in 2 checked bags and 1 carry-on. I have been hungry, I have needed to skip meals because of a lack of food and/or money, but I have never really known HUNGER. I would rather go down fighting with people who can empathize with my situation than to help enable the ignorance so many have of what life may be REALLY like for many poor people and highlight the apathy someone must posses to ignore their NEEDS – basic needs like food, health, and shelter. And yes… my “personal” marketing campaign still includes more highlights of the “good”, simple pleasures in life than my struggles with Multiple Sclerosis and finances. No longer is my “personal” marketing campaign a denial of the pain, suffering and challenges I face in life… these challenges are more difficult to express sometimes.

When I posted on facebook my feelings about this situation, I was told,”Judge not lest you be judged.” But that is exactly why I feel I need Joel Osteen Houseto SAY something, I would be judged for my silence! I cannot escape judgement of others but thank goodness and thanks to people like this, I do not fear “judgement” from their God! And OBVIOUSLY their leaders are not worried about being judged either with MULTI-million dollar homes! As I stated earlier, I have read and studied the Bible and hope never to be called a Biblican or a Joel Osteenian! But if I were called a Christian because my life reflects Jesus’ very solid ideals and sound social teachings, I would not mind at all. Just as I would not mind being called a Gandhian, Martin Luther Kingian or any variation of the name of someone who stood up for social justice! I am simply making sure my hands are clean, Mr. Marley! Maybe after a post like this… I SHOULD consider the ministry again? Maybe you can support my “MINISTRY” by using the paypal links on my page? OH MY God… I am as bad as “THEM”!! lol

Blogging is not free!  Please help cover the costs!

Once the $150 a year cost is covered – 50% of EVERY donation will be given to a charity (the charity will not be ME)!  😀

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Cut Off Their Air!

certificate-of-insanityinsanityAm I the only one that is extremely annoyed by the likes of Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin, Victoria Jackson, and Mike Huckabee? Eventually as Americans we need to STOP giving them air (radio & television air time)! Although they do, along with Fox News (their life source),  help provide some classic funny moments for Bill Maher, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert; as a society, we need less entertaining moments based on stupidity!  Why, you may ask? Because there are people that cannot discern their craziness for what it truly is – INSANITY!

Mike HuckabeeMike Huckabee feels that if we had God in schools, it would have prevented the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. “We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from our schools,” Huckabee said on Fox News. “Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?” He continues, “We don’t have a crime problem, a gun problem or even a violence problem. What we have is a sin problem… since we’ve ordered God out of our schools, and communities, the military and public conversations, you know we really shouldn’t act so surprised … when all hell breaks loose.” My first question would be how much carnage would we see from Christians just trying to agree what version of God gets the hall pass to run free in our schools? In the video below he implies if you do not vote against pro-choice candidates and vote against gay rights – you are doomed to HELL –  because we know there cannot be Christians that feel gay rights fits within Christianity!

To quote their rule book, The Holy Bible, it says, “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” Matthew 5:44 And Oh My God they are ALWAYS on tv claiming they are being persecuted because not everyone wants their beliefs subjugated on them!  lol I cannot in any way interpret this scripture as go on tv and claim God’s hands were tied by MAN’S laws. They profess all things are possible through Christ – OH except for saving school children because Americans cannot pray in schools! Oh wait… it is ok for them to contradict themselves, but if non-Christians call them on it… we are persecuting them (which they are instructed to love – not blame). They need to come to one conclusion – Is God ALL powerful or is He only as powerful as our laws allow Him to be?

Ann CoulterAnn Coulter can justify using the word “retard” to describe the President because he does not agree with her (link below). I feel bad even using the word to let readers know what word she used! Later she attacks Latinos with unfounded, radical, and racial insinuations that in one article are too many to list, so I share the link, because most likely you would not believe me if I tried interpreted her rantings. (here is the link:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/07/ann-coulter-attacks-latinos-conservatives-hispanic-voters_n_2253721.html?utm_hp_ref=latino-voices)  Yet conservatives are dumbfounded as to why the are not attracting voters to their political philosophies.

There are too many examples of Sarah Palin shooting her lips off just for some tv air-time, but I want to remind you of one – cookies for school kids. Sarah PalinIf I told you she brought cookies to a school to share with kids, many would say that was nice of her. BUT she was doing it as a way to grand stand because First Lady Michelle Obama had been teaching children how to develop healthier eating habits to help reduce childhood obesity. Sarah Palin explained, “I wanted these kids to bring home the idea to their parents for discussion. Who should be deciding what I eat? Should it be government or should it be parents? It should be the parents.” Because heaven forbid the government teach children to eat healthy… so Sarah Palin takes them cookies!

Victoria Jackson posted on twitter “My friend Jim Riley posted: ‘Wasn’t the Connecticut killer just doing what victoria jacksonabortionists do every day? It’s a wonder we don’t have more 20 year old “dads” doing what women and doctors have been an accomplice to for years in America. When you forget the TEN COMMANDMENTS, people, THIS is what you get.'” Her characters on SNL were usually dimwitted, so I think this proves she was not acting… it demonstrates she is actually intelligently challenged!

Posted below are the links to show this is not just in my liberal mind and I an creating this.  lol I only wish I were making it up! We as American need to stop allowing the news outlets to promote their insanity no matter how entertaining it is – it is HARMFUL! Impressionable minds (young and old) hear these things and begin to rally behind the insanity. Need an example? The Tea Party, Birthers, and religious extremist like Bryan Fischer and Fred Phelps. We give them press and it feeds their need for more. The only solutions is to stop giving them the AIR!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/mike-huckabee-school-shooting_n_2303792.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/26/ann-coulter-retard_n_2022621.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/07/ann-coulter-attacks-latinos-conservatives-hispanic-voters_n_2253721.html?utm_hp_ref=latino-voices

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2010/11/in-war-against-the-obamas-palin-drops-cookie-bomb/22332/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/victoria-jackson-connecticut-school-shooting_n_2303518.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/15/bryan-fischer-god-did-not-protect-connecticut-shooting-victims-prayer-banned_n_2303903.html

Categories: Life | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This Guy I Know

Helping Others

There is this guy I know who I admire and respect. This guy wants and tries to help others, to do and be good. This guy feels there are valuable life lessons that can be learned through his experiences in life. Lessons that people can learn from without HAVING to experience the tough situations personally as he has. He lives with blinders and forgets all that is good about himself because he sees little change with many of the people he encounters. I should mention – this guy I know has lost his religion and he lost it because of religious people!

This guy I know has family that loves him and that he loves, but it is a conditional love. He sees a not only deeply religious people of faith, but he also sees people who are deeply helping religionmisguided. Like many “Christians”, they read the Bible to find reinforcement for their prejudices and hatred.  They NEVER see the contradictions of the Bible.  This guy I know sees them use the Bible to justify and rationalize how they can “Stand Their Ground” for their beliefs while showing contempt for others beliefs. They find it difficult to live with things it says like “love thy enemy” (because as a gay man… I AM the enemy), “turn the other cheek” or to quote Jesus, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 

I would rather be a pet if I could be happy!

I would rather be a pet if I could be happy!

This is the first  and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Matthew 22:37-39). But it is often translated as, love the Lord as YOU see Him and only how He is seen through YOUR eyes and anyone that sees God differently than you is a THREAT to your faith and their lifestyle condemns not only them, but also you if you are tolerant of it and they are not worth respect and love: love your neighbor as yourself (your own children are exempt – they are not a neighbor) only if he/she believes the same as you and otherwise it is ok to dismiss them and their “sinful lifestyles” because as a Christian you have to stand for what you believe in (or you’ll fall for anything – or some other catchy country music lyric). Oh yeah, I almost forgot…  AND eat Chick-fil-a as evidence that your Christianity is real.

This guy I know WORRIES! He has never actually known hunger, but worries – will he have enough money for food to hungry-childlast the month? During the last week of the month before payday… he does have to be creative sometimes. This guy I know tells me he has never felt true hunger but one reason his money is sometimes short, on payday he shares! Each month one friends gets treated to dinner out. Each month he buys rice and beans that he gives to a lady that helps care for homeless orphans and street kids. This guy I know, he DOES more Christ-like things than most Christians. He also exercises a faith few Christians could do by hoping (having faith) that he will have enough food to eat after doing a kind deed for a friend and even some poor strangers – orphans and children! I think Jesus would like that about this guy I know.

This guy I know lives with a pain from a disability that few could endure for a one day, much-less DAILY! But this physical helpingpain is nothing compared to the pain in his soul that comes from seeing injustice and the casual acceptance of these injustices. This guy sees selfish people fight to prevent others from having health care because in someway allowing health care for the poor may slightly affect them and how can they share something like healthcare… with poor people no less? This guy, if given the magic to do so, would cure cancer, AIDS or even heart disease because as inconvenient as his Multiple Sclerosis may be, people “die WITH MS not FROM MS” and he would rather help others that more urgently NEEDS help than he does. Didn’t Jesus say something about helping healing the sick?

This guy knows that suicide is now the leading cause of death from “injury”, beating out even car crashes. But helping gays trevor projectpeople still accept their “Biblican” ways to justify a blind eye as to how their callus attitudes toward others affects others. Teen bullying is epidemic. Being different is unacceptable and frightening to many. At 45, this guy I know is often brought to tears reading about a gay teen that has taken his/her life because it is more appropriate for family and friends to stand their ground and make these people feel worthless than to show kindness or to attempt to understand. There are bigger problems in the world than does this guy’s Mom love him, but for a teenager… rejection from a parent stings more than to an adult! For both teen and adult it HURTS!

If standing up for your beliefs hurts others… I think you should question your beliefs! I think Jesus would helping conditionalhelping soldierhave peacekeepers versus soldiers. When did Jesus advocate for militarization? Would He really? The attitude of “I condemn your lifestyle not you” is simply a lie! When I say “I am gay”, I am not using gay as a verb or adjective… I use it as a noun.  I AM a GAY. If you cannot not love the gay part of me and being gay is WHO I AM… then your love is not UNconditional! This guy feels a loneliness because he now knows he has to sever ties with his family for him to feel self worth again. But this guy knows he is not alone there are thousands of others whose family cannot accept that they are gay and we do know – “it gets better”!  

Maybe this guy I know can now begin to remove the blinders and see what is admirable within himself and find respect for himself again, not letting so called Christians rob him of his integrity because they use their religion to make him feel like less of a person. Even Bible Saysthough he takes no pleasure in calling out faults of those that claim to love him. This guy’s mother feels that even meeting or being friendly with her son’s boyfriend is surrendering her faith, giving up her beliefs! She does not see the fallacy of this thought just like she can not rationally interpret scripture. Being gay is worthy of condemnation and is an abomination, but she loves shrimp, wears jeans sometimes, eats bacon enough she should have concern for he salvation and owns some poly/cotton blends, yet she fails to see those things for the abominations the Bible says they are. This guy sees it as hypocrisy – USE the Bible to justify the things in life you do not like so you can feel a just and righteous foundation for your bigotry! But most of all, this guy I know is confident that the God he believes in and even Jesus, someone he feels Christians misrepresent, would not even care that this guy I know is gay.

HelpingOthersThis guy I know uses writing as his therapy and has had over 33.000 people read his blog. Many have interacted with encouraging words but yet NONE have hit his paypal donate button.  This guy is happy others enjoy and are encouraged by his words, but he would FEEL more encouragement if ANYONE helped support his efforts financially!  😉 If you click on MY paypal link… I will be sure “this guy I know” gets the money! lol This is the only way “this guy” feels he can reach out for help!  As much as he likes to help others… he is taking a break to take care of himself for a while. I need to find this guy so I can tell him I love, admire and respect him!  

Below, Jillian Jensen sings Jessie J’s “Who You Are”… This guy asks himself often this very question and he relates to her pain!

I stare at my reflection in the mirror:
“Why am I doing this to myself?”
Losing my mind on a tiny error,
I nearly left the real me on the shelf.
No, no, no, no, no…Don’t lose who you are in the blur of the stars!
Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing,
It’s okay not to be okay.
Sometimes it’s hard to follow your heart.
Tears don’t mean you’re losing, everybody’s bruising,
Just be true to who you are!
(who you are [x11])
Brushing my hair, do I look perfect?
I forgot what to do to fit the mold, yeah!
The more I try the less it’s working, yeah
‘Cause everything inside me screams
No, no, no, no, no…Don’t lose who you are in the blur of the stars!
Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing,
It’s okay not to be okay.
Sometimes it’s hard to follow your heart.
But tears don’t mean you’re losing, everybody’s bruising,
There’s nothing wrong with who you are!Yes, no’s, egos, fake shows, like WHOA!
Just go, and leave me alone!
Real talk, real life, good love, goodnight,
With a smile, that’s my home!
That’s my home, no…No, no, no, no, no…
Don’t lose who you are in the blur of the stars!
Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing,
It’s okay not to be okay…
Sometimes it’s hard to follow your heart.
Tears don’t mean you’re losing, everybody’s bruising,
Just be true to who you are!
Yeah yeah yeah

 helping trevor project

helping trevor-project

helping gay teens

I could never hear this too much!  But it is too much to ask!

I could never hear this too much! But it is too much to ask!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/24/suicide-leading-cause-death-us_n_1909772.html

Categories: Life | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Will Someone Explain Conservative Christians To Me?

I am at a loss to understand conservative Christians!  I actually can understand why they hold the views they have, but I do not understand their wanting to legislate their views to be FORCED on others!  They generally say they want smaller government, but making laws based on their religious views grows the scope of government.  They generally say they feel the United States of America is becoming a welfare state, but doesn’t Jesus teach to HELP the poor?  They are saying to repeal Obamacare, but doesn’t Jesus also teach to help the sick?  They argue with science that climate change science is wrong, but didn’t Jesus teach to be stewards of creation?  Wasn’t it Jesus that said, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”~ John 15:12?  See… even a nonreligious person can USE the Bible to attack and accuse Christians!

They do understand how this hypocrisy affects their “witness”?  Oh… I long ago decided they are obviously not worried about their “witness”!!  I actually separate Christians into two  groups: True Christians who live Christ-like lives and Biblicans who pick and choose parts of the Bible that support their contempt for others without ever seeing how it applies to them.  How do I know how to categorize?  I see what they do and not what they say they do.  Better yet… I see the results of what they do for others (or don’t do).

As a matter of fact, I have felt the impact of Biblicans – I am gay!  They do love one another in a literal sense; as in they love each other as long they believe like they do.  I did learn a couple months ago that they love their Chick-fil-a sandwiches more than showing me any respect and/or concern.  One friend posted on facebook how she loved her gay friends but she followed her testimony of love with how she supported Chick-fil-a’s contributions to fight gay rights.  She did not see her contradiction or her hypocrisy.  How can she LOVE me but fight to deny my having equal rights?  I lost friends over damn chicken sandwiches because I just could not deal with the hypocrisy any more!

The whole Chick-fil-a thing was like a Klieg light that shone bright  and removed many shadows.  I had friends that did not understand how their professing their love for chicken was hurtful to me.  Now I see them professing their love for Mitt Romney.  How Christians do not embrace the principles of the Democrats also confuses me.  The Republicans want to lower taxes for the rich, repeal Obamcare, state proudly their disdain and apathy for people on welfare instead of empathy – ALL things that are contrary to what Christ taught!  I know it all comes down to one issue: ABORTION!  This is the cry of the conservative movement that speaks to them.  

Which happens more often: a child goes to bed hungry, a family loses power or even their house, an elderly person sits lonely all day, a person skips going to the doctor because the have no health insurance or money for medicine, OR a woman has an abortion?  The problem with most of these issues… they could do something to help, but it is only the abortion issue they focus on because it is more far removed from their reality, their day-to-day life.  Until their little teenager gets pregnant, then even if they keep the baby… they like they have options to consider.   

The other issues may actually require them to do something, to sacrifice a little, or heaven forbid – simply pay a LITTLE more in taxes.  Since they do not do it… it does fall on the government.  The blind eye turned toward the poor, elderly, sick or disabled is very similar to the disregard and disrespect they show the gay community.  They can unite in their hatred for gays and women that have a tough decision to make; that either way will have great impact for the rest of her life.  But because of their beliefs, based on the Bible but nothing ever mention by Jesus Himself – they have to make laws for everyone to believe like they do.

The reason they have to legislate Christianity is because they can not sell the idea of being Christian by how they live their lives!   Hate is ugly and more and more people are seeing it just for what it is – HATE.  I may be gay – but at least I am honest about it.  Many ministers and priests have gay scandals and even pedophilia now are common occurrences.  We all can benefit from a deep look inside and ask ourselves if there is more we can do for mankind whether it is in Christ’s name or just because as a civilized society we do what is right!  I leave anyone that has read this far with a reminder of what Jesus actually does say, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”~ John 15:12  Guess what? He did what He said to do! He lived it!!  This is good advice even for a non religious jerk like me!

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Spread Your Wings… Not Hate

So what if I don’t go to heaven, it will just give you more room to spread your wings since you are such an angel!  I have heard, “You can love the sinner without loving the sin.”  I am gay, so how can you love me and not love gays?  Labeling me a sinner helps me lose respect for most people simply because they are pious enough to say that like they are not sinners also… they are perfect! Like my parents, I know there are some that can’t commit to the hate because they do feel a commitment to love the person, but because of their religious convictions, they cannot truly embrace and love the person fully.  So, if they cannot truly love the person, they will fight to prove the sinner is less and deserves less from life.

New York just passed legislation that will allow gays to marry in New York.  The LGBT community had a leader in their effort – Gov. Andrew Cuomo.  Unlike President Obama, Gov. Cuomo not only courted the gay community with promises while taking their money, he took the

This is NOT who I voted for!

cause to heart and fought to deliver.  I have been a big supporter of President Obama, but his inability to lead and fight for causes he campaigned on is making me wain. Mr. Obama is not even making his Democratic base happy trying to pacify conservatives while playing golf with Boehner like he is a buddy and not the guy that has kept Obama from being the man of change he promised to be!  Why is he not leading the cause like Gov. Cuomo, fighting for real healthcare reform (Medicare for ALL or at least a government option) instead of straddling the fence?

Christians forget all about the love Christ taught and spend so much time trying to be Christian instead of Christ-like.  I am so happy to be free from religion and its archaic belief system.  Surprisingly for most, I find myself closer to God being Spiritual instead of being religious.  I lost a good friend because she felt marriage needed protection from gays joining a facebook page called “Protect Marriage”.  My heart broke, a friend felt my having the opportunity to marry in some way threatened her… in someway would affect her marriage!  She feels she needs protection?

My question is who does marriage need protection from …. Donald Trump (married 3 times I remember), Newt Gingrich (cheated on one of his 3 wives while she was being treated for cancer), Elizabeth Taylor (a total of 8 marriages to 7 different men)?  But no one takes picket signs to keep them from marrying, AGAIN!  They are adulterers, that is mentioned as being a sin in the Bible more often than being gay.  Adultery even breaks one of the Ten Commandments!  Where is the outcry for protecting marriage from adulterers?  Great Bible characters like King David were adulterers , so if there were a great Bible character that were gay, would marriage need protection? 

I know I will not be able to convince religious people to become more Spiritual than religious, but maybe I can help them see that they’re being hypocrites and are only demonstrating hatred.  If you do not support gay marriage… don’t marry a gay or go to their weddings!  There is no need for Christians to deny gays the right to be married in order to protect their own marriage.  The sad thing is their hate blinds them from logic and the meaning of living in a country with FREEDOM, not just a country where everyone is free to believe the same as them.  Please – do not use religion to justify your HATE!

I hope to hear this a lot more – Andrew Cuomo for President 2016! I wish it were possible for 2012!

http://www.newser.com/story/121931/new-york-governor-andrew-cuomo-turned-gay-marriage-into-a-personal-mission.html

http://www.newser.com/story/121945/now-making-the-rounds-cuomo-2016.html

http://www.newser.com/story/117921/bill-clinton-its-time-for-gay-marriage.html

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God Made Me Gay

Jesus Looves ALL His Children!!

At the end of May, the story of my childhood trauma was shared.  I was asked recently, “Were you born gay or did being molested at such a young age make you gay?”   This made me think: was I born this way, was I seen as gay at such a young age that this made me the target of the molester, did the molester set into motion the very act that would “change” me, or was this as many say, part of God’s plan?

I have always been a little different.  I did not enjoy sports, hunting, fishing… all the things most other “southern boys” enjoyed.  At even a young age, I enjoyed politicking – meeting people, working the room.  For me, this experience mainly came at church.  Was my friendliness an openness to giving the little old ladies a kiss an early sign of my potential gayness, or just a means to get some free gum and candy from the little old ladies?  Even for gum… it was not worth it for the other kids.

Was the secret I carried haunting me and “changing” me even at that time? Or to the theory that I was already gay,  my psyche could have already been prepping me for a life of being “different?  Were my keeping secrets, not telling anyone what was going on with me early gay defenses?  Was the fear of revealing I was molested also demonstrating my fear of being “found out” that I was gay?

My Mom Is Far From Being Proud!

Once I explained to my mother that either way…. my being gay was a result of “God”.  1 – either I was born this was as God intended or 2 – God did not prevent the molestation, thus creating my gayness at that point.  Her strong belief in God effected me in such a way that I distanced the “type” God she has so much faith in.  I cannot have such faith.  I believe in God as a creator and spiritual guide for my life, but not the God so many cling to out acceptance of a 2,000 year old book written by men.  I do not doubt that these authors and editors had the best intentions, but they were men who no better understood God then than we do today.

The Bible that so many embrace has been used as a weapon against me.  I have studied the Bible to find salvation.  But what I found is a book people cannot see for what it is…. a guide.  It is not the produce section at the market where you pick and choose what you want to take from it.  NO ONE has the ability to digest ALL of what the Bible says one must do.  One cannot condemn someone for being gay while claiming to love thy neighbor. It is a book with too many contradictions.

It Is Easier For The Gays To Love Christians - Some Are Really Cute!! 😉

Some say that what the Bible says is unchanging, but no one today stones their children for disobeying (Deuteronomy 21:18-21), accepts selling their daughters into slavery as permissible (Exodus 21: 7-8), women wearing pants is not seen as an abomination (Deuteronomy 22: 5) or even that eating shrimp is an abomination (Leviticus 11: 9-12).  But yet they hold to the Leviticus 20:13 passage that says, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.” as unchanged.

I will never really have the luxury to know the answer, because I was molested and I am gay – WHY is not important!  I spent my childhood hiding what happened and most of my adolescence and early adulthood denying who I was.  What I do understand is, as humans, we are not capable of fully understanding who God is or what He wants.  Jesus did say the greatest commandment was to love one another.  Why can’t we just do that?

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