When we started this blog the goal was to show all different faiths in a (mostly) unbiased way. We have found that nearly impossible. Both of us identify as Christian, and it's very hard to separate that from what we read and see. Another thing we have found is that it is hard to write about something you aren't interested in, some religions are just more colorful than others. The last thing we discovered, and I guess we were fairly naive about it, is that Atheists and Fundamental Christians are fighting a very angry, and mostly pointless battle on the Internet. I have been following a diverse set of people on Twitter, I'm fairly new to it, but I wanted to see what kind of people were out there. I followed Atheists, LGBT activates, Fundamentalists, Muslims, Jews, and all sorts of other people. (Sara7133, if you want to follow mine). The fighting is fairly nasty, the folks from the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) tweet up a storm, and their tweets are as nasty as their signs. Tweets like this are very common from that set
Fred Phelps Quotes @FredPhelpsQuote
Now the sodomites have taken over America. There isn’t 1 politician that doesn’t jump every time a fag squeals. Maybe it's too late for USA.
Jonathan Phelps @GodShakes
More @US Army song: Hating God, cowards hearts, ziplock bags for body parts, and your Army goes marching to hell.
That isn't even scraping the surface of their insanity. Here is one from Godswordislaw, another evil person who has decided to embarrass Christianity.
Dr. Keith Roberts @GodsWordIsLaw
Christians are the founders of America and WE determine who gets rights in this country - and pervert homosexuals should not get any.
The other side isn't much better, it seems there are Atheist fundamentalists, and they are also pretty mean. The common belief among Atheists seems to be that Christians are stupid. It's just not true, just because the loudest Christians are ofter ignorant doesn't mean the rest of us are. I find it a little offensive, but the only way to prove it wrong is to calmly show them over time that you aren't dumb, and it does seem to take a lot of time.
Another atheist @kaimatai
Creationism died as a biological model 150 yrs ago, yet its brainless-tail keeps twitching today #atheist #atheism
Monica @Monicks
To be able to cling to your religious beliefs, you have to ignore science & facts—that's when you come across as an idiot. #atheism #atheist
The fact is that these fundamental Christians are scaring people away from Jesus. Muslim fundamentalists scare Americans, they make all Muslims look bad, but from personal experience I know that most Muslims aren't scary people. Once again though, the loudest are the scariest. Religion has a very dark side, Christians need to work as a group to dispel these attitudes, only when we start speaking kindly to those who believe differently will people see that fundamentalist are the exception, not the rule. People who are part of the LGBTQIA set seem to be common in the Atheist community, and are sometimes pretty angry. Of course they are, they are treated terribly, what do we expect? I might be angry if all through my life I had been considered a second class citizen, shoot, I'm still a little angry at how the Bible talks about women, but that's something I have been trying to sort out for years. Just because I don't like it, doesn't mean I don't believe it :)
Atheists, Muslims, Jews, Pagans, and Christians are all just people. We should all take them on a case by case basis, not as a whole. Twitter, Facebook, Google +, these seem to be the new battleground of faith. The problem is that you can't really get a good feel of how people are in real life on these sites. How can I tell sarcasm from sincere belief, unless you put the word in the message? People are also more bold online, it's easy to be loud when you remain in relative anonymity. The sad fact is that the rudeness and hate on these social forums won't end anytime soon, or ever...
Thursday, January 26, 2012
What level Druid are you?
Druidry, or Druidism, is another form of Paganism. It is a nature based faith that is becoming fairly popular. I feel that in these times when the health of our home is in question, people are turning to faiths that show a reverence for nature. Pagan religions are perfect for this, especially Druidry. Druids can be monotheistic, polytheistic, or anything in between, they can also choose to not believe in any sort of Deity. Druidry is very old compared to some other Pagan beliefs, it started in Europe over 25000 years ago. Many Druids of the past were converted to Christianity. Their history is somewhat shady, not too much is known of them.
Christianity and Druidism are compatible, as it can be a philosophy as opposed to a faith. Some Pagans also combine it with Wicca, Buddhism, or Hinduism. Some monotheistic Druids worship the Christian God, thankful that he made animals, plants, and the wonders of nature.
There are many myths about Druids, like they have ritual killings. Many historians believe they actually practiced human sacrifice. It seems however that a prejudiced Julius Caesar recorded these stories, so this isn't believed to be accurate, however some sources would disagree. Other people through history have recorded the Druids sacrificing humans, they were burned to the deities on a wooden figure called a Wicker Man (now a terrible movie). Archaeological evidence has shown mass graves that where filled with human sacrifices. Recent findings show that old school Celtic Druids may have even practiced Cannibalism. Stonehenge is also believed to have been created by Druids. Stonehenge however is shown to be older than the beginning of Druidism, many rituals have been practiced there however.
It is hard to sort out the difference between Celtic Druidism, which is generally polytheistic, and the modern form of Druidry that can be Atheistic. Most sources don't really differentiate. They are both nature-centric, but the practice of all druids can vary greatly. Modern Druidry has some Gods, or personifications of nature, that are commonly believed in. The Green man is the God of, or personification of plants. The red man is the personification of, or God of, animals. Since modern Pagans are offshoots from Celtic paganism the history is the same.
This is the best link that someone sent to us for more information on Druidry.- http://druidry.org/
Christianity and Druidism are compatible, as it can be a philosophy as opposed to a faith. Some Pagans also combine it with Wicca, Buddhism, or Hinduism. Some monotheistic Druids worship the Christian God, thankful that he made animals, plants, and the wonders of nature.
There are many myths about Druids, like they have ritual killings. Many historians believe they actually practiced human sacrifice. It seems however that a prejudiced Julius Caesar recorded these stories, so this isn't believed to be accurate, however some sources would disagree. Other people through history have recorded the Druids sacrificing humans, they were burned to the deities on a wooden figure called a Wicker Man (now a terrible movie). Archaeological evidence has shown mass graves that where filled with human sacrifices. Recent findings show that old school Celtic Druids may have even practiced Cannibalism. Stonehenge is also believed to have been created by Druids. Stonehenge however is shown to be older than the beginning of Druidism, many rituals have been practiced there however.
It is hard to sort out the difference between Celtic Druidism, which is generally polytheistic, and the modern form of Druidry that can be Atheistic. Most sources don't really differentiate. They are both nature-centric, but the practice of all druids can vary greatly. Modern Druidry has some Gods, or personifications of nature, that are commonly believed in. The Green man is the God of, or personification of plants. The red man is the personification of, or God of, animals. Since modern Pagans are offshoots from Celtic paganism the history is the same.
This is the best link that someone sent to us for more information on Druidry.- http://druidry.org/
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Something Wiccan this way comes.
I guess we are going to start on a sort of series on paganism. Since I grew up in the Baptist church I was taught that witchcraft is possible one of the worst sins you could commit, that scared me away from Wicca, and other 'magic' practicing belief structures. This is all new to me, so bear with me. Allie has more experience in this area, so hopefully she can fill me in.
I guess we will start with Wicca since it's the most common. Let me start by saying that Wiccans aren't Satanists, as if this needs to be said anymore, but just to be sure (and Satanists don't worship Satan). Wiccans honor the Earth, and everything on it, their Holy days are in-line with nature. Wiccans do, however, practice a form of magic. The creation of Wicca is fairly new, the various branches of Wicca can be traced back to Gardnerian Witchcraft which was founded in the U.K. in the 1940's. Here are some basic beliefs.
Everyone has the divine (or goddess) within.
One should develop natural gifts for divination or occult magic (often spelled 'magick' by occultists.)
Divine forces or nature spirits are invoked in rituals.
The Goddess, as either a symbol or a real entity, is the focus of worship.
Nature and the earth are sacred manifestations of the Goddess.
Everyone has his or her own spiritual path to follow.
Rituals and celebrations are linked to the seasons and moon phases.
Meditation, visualization, invocation (calling on forces or gods/goddesses), chanting, burning candles and special rituals trigger a sense of the mystical, thus reinforcing the core belief system.
These seem to be accurate, but my research was done on the Internet, so I'm sure it is flawed :). There are many forms of Wicca, some choose to believe in one God/Goddess, both, or they can be polytheistic. Wicca can also be Atheistic, as in they believe that the Gods/Goddesses are symbolic of nature. As I see it one of the most misunderstood things about Wicca is the Pentagram symbol. When I was a child I noticed that it is was also the symbol for the Eastern Star portion of Masonry (I will study this further, but I just wanted to point it out). However in that form the star is upside down. I remember my childhood friends being terrified of this symbol. At a young age I read a book my Dad had on religion and realized that it was a symbol of blessing, when I tried to convince my Christian friends that it was not evil, they got angry at me. The Pentagram or Pentacle is also a symbol of protection, and can be carried much like Christian would carry a cross or rosary.
One of the issues with Paganism as a whole, and specifically Wicca, is that it was a 'flavor of the month' religion through much of the 90's. Teenage girls did it to piss of Daddy, people thought it made them enlightened or spiritual. When asked about their religion though, they had little knowledge. Me and Allie believe this belittled the religion as a whole, and it is still recovering from the image of being a passing craze.
One of the things we can all enjoy about Wiccans is their stance on the Golden Rule. http://www.wicca.com/celtic/wicca/rede.htm here is a website for the full Wiccan Rede. It states that you should harm no one, live and let live, and give back what you take. These are great principles for anyone.
As opposed to other religons Wicca seems to be fairly innocuous, which is always a good thing. They celebrate gender equality. Some feel homosexuality is an affront to the God/Goddess, although many others disagree. They don't have a book that is like the Bible to them, they have a few instructional books, but no main doctrine. They don't have a unified view on the after life, generally they believe in an after life... reincarnation, a Heaven type plain called the Summerland. Before they can go to the Summerland however they go to a purgatory like place, where their Karmic slate is wiped clean, then they can choose to enter Heaven, or be reincarnated (the Celtic tradition of Wicca). They are generally left wing affiliated. Like most things in the Wiccan faith, Abortion is pretty up in the air. Their believes are so varied from one type to the other, that it is hard to have any definitive answers.
These are just the basics, there are many facets of this religion, and in one Blog page it would be impossible to describe them all accurately.
Here are a few links
http://paganmurmur.blogspot.com/2011/11/10-things-about-wicca-that-wiccans.html
http://www.controverscial.com/The%2013%20Principles%20of%20Wiccan%20Belief.htm
http://www.wiccanbookofshadows.50megs.com/
I guess we will start with Wicca since it's the most common. Let me start by saying that Wiccans aren't Satanists, as if this needs to be said anymore, but just to be sure (and Satanists don't worship Satan). Wiccans honor the Earth, and everything on it, their Holy days are in-line with nature. Wiccans do, however, practice a form of magic. The creation of Wicca is fairly new, the various branches of Wicca can be traced back to Gardnerian Witchcraft which was founded in the U.K. in the 1940's. Here are some basic beliefs.
Everyone has the divine (or goddess) within.
One should develop natural gifts for divination or occult magic (often spelled 'magick' by occultists.)
Divine forces or nature spirits are invoked in rituals.
The Goddess, as either a symbol or a real entity, is the focus of worship.
Nature and the earth are sacred manifestations of the Goddess.
Everyone has his or her own spiritual path to follow.
Rituals and celebrations are linked to the seasons and moon phases.
Meditation, visualization, invocation (calling on forces or gods/goddesses), chanting, burning candles and special rituals trigger a sense of the mystical, thus reinforcing the core belief system.
These seem to be accurate, but my research was done on the Internet, so I'm sure it is flawed :). There are many forms of Wicca, some choose to believe in one God/Goddess, both, or they can be polytheistic. Wicca can also be Atheistic, as in they believe that the Gods/Goddesses are symbolic of nature. As I see it one of the most misunderstood things about Wicca is the Pentagram symbol. When I was a child I noticed that it is was also the symbol for the Eastern Star portion of Masonry (I will study this further, but I just wanted to point it out). However in that form the star is upside down. I remember my childhood friends being terrified of this symbol. At a young age I read a book my Dad had on religion and realized that it was a symbol of blessing, when I tried to convince my Christian friends that it was not evil, they got angry at me. The Pentagram or Pentacle is also a symbol of protection, and can be carried much like Christian would carry a cross or rosary.
One of the issues with Paganism as a whole, and specifically Wicca, is that it was a 'flavor of the month' religion through much of the 90's. Teenage girls did it to piss of Daddy, people thought it made them enlightened or spiritual. When asked about their religion though, they had little knowledge. Me and Allie believe this belittled the religion as a whole, and it is still recovering from the image of being a passing craze.
One of the things we can all enjoy about Wiccans is their stance on the Golden Rule. http://www.wicca.com/celtic/wicca/rede.htm here is a website for the full Wiccan Rede. It states that you should harm no one, live and let live, and give back what you take. These are great principles for anyone.
As opposed to other religons Wicca seems to be fairly innocuous, which is always a good thing. They celebrate gender equality. Some feel homosexuality is an affront to the God/Goddess, although many others disagree. They don't have a book that is like the Bible to them, they have a few instructional books, but no main doctrine. They don't have a unified view on the after life, generally they believe in an after life... reincarnation, a Heaven type plain called the Summerland. Before they can go to the Summerland however they go to a purgatory like place, where their Karmic slate is wiped clean, then they can choose to enter Heaven, or be reincarnated (the Celtic tradition of Wicca). They are generally left wing affiliated. Like most things in the Wiccan faith, Abortion is pretty up in the air. Their believes are so varied from one type to the other, that it is hard to have any definitive answers.
These are just the basics, there are many facets of this religion, and in one Blog page it would be impossible to describe them all accurately.
Here are a few links
http://paganmurmur.blogspot.com/2011/11/10-things-about-wicca-that-wiccans.html
http://www.controverscial.com/The%2013%20Principles%20of%20Wiccan%20Belief.htm
http://www.wiccanbookofshadows.50megs.com/
Friday, January 6, 2012
LGBT and some other letters.
Homosexuals getting married seems to be the new 'it' topic. I just don't get why this is a problem. It is silly to be against religious law systems like Shariah Law, or Cannon Law, and then try to legislate your Christian morals. Let's face it folks, not everyone is Christian, nor would that make things any better, judging from the way some Christians act. It hurts me to think that this kind of ridiculous bigotry is still going on. I don't know, couldn't we try just not having a whipping boy for a little while, maybe take responsibility for your own faults. What I mean by that is that people like Glen Beck, Rick Santorum, and other public fixtures blame same-sex marriage for destroying hetero marriages. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE???
I don't think you should EVER use your religion as a stepping stone to attain moral high ground (that you probably don't deserve anyway). This should certainly be the case if you are running for president. If your marriage is failing lets go blame a gay person, that will help. It seems like the Republicans this year are debating over who can be the biggest bigot. It's sad to me, I'm a Republican, I want to have respect for the nominees, but I just can't muster any this go round.
This issue is bordering on a national obsession, are peoples lives so boring that they have resorted to hate as entertainment. If it disgusts you to think about 2 men having sex, then don't think about it. It hurts me to think about the pain it must cause when people say it's wrong for you to be with the one you love. It bothers me to think about some of my gay friends, who would be great parents, not being allowed to adopt.
Here is a great website from the LGBT community http://www.goodasgay.com
and then there is insanity like this http://christiansforamoralamerica.blogspot.com/2012/01/gaystapo-is-coming-for-our-churches.html What the heck dude, and who coined the phrase gaystapo... stupid, just stupid.
It surprises me that some Atheists are even on this bandwagon. I certainly don't get that, but here you go... http://news.change.org/stories/atheists-against-gay-marriage
For the Christians among us, and everyone else, here are some Bible verses about love... Note that none of them say except gay people, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, women who have abortions, or Liberals.
Matthew 5:43-44
43Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
I'm not saying I agree with everything in this article, but I liked it http://www.believeoutloud.com/boltoday/20110928/top-5-questions-with-answers-lgbt-acceptance
This one is long (same as above, I'm not saying I'm in full agreement, but it adds some perspective http://www.believeoutloud.com/boltoday/20111230/clobbering-biblical-gay-bashing
I guess what I am trying to say is that above all show love. No matter who or what you are, it's your best bet. If you can't muster up love, do what grandma said. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.
Mohandas Gandhi
It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.
Mohandas Gandhi
I don't think you should EVER use your religion as a stepping stone to attain moral high ground (that you probably don't deserve anyway). This should certainly be the case if you are running for president. If your marriage is failing lets go blame a gay person, that will help. It seems like the Republicans this year are debating over who can be the biggest bigot. It's sad to me, I'm a Republican, I want to have respect for the nominees, but I just can't muster any this go round.
This issue is bordering on a national obsession, are peoples lives so boring that they have resorted to hate as entertainment. If it disgusts you to think about 2 men having sex, then don't think about it. It hurts me to think about the pain it must cause when people say it's wrong for you to be with the one you love. It bothers me to think about some of my gay friends, who would be great parents, not being allowed to adopt.
Here is a great website from the LGBT community http://www.goodasgay.com
and then there is insanity like this http://christiansforamoralamerica.blogspot.com/2012/01/gaystapo-is-coming-for-our-churches.html What the heck dude, and who coined the phrase gaystapo... stupid, just stupid.
It surprises me that some Atheists are even on this bandwagon. I certainly don't get that, but here you go... http://news.change.org/stories/atheists-against-gay-marriage
For the Christians among us, and everyone else, here are some Bible verses about love... Note that none of them say except gay people, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, women who have abortions, or Liberals.
Matthew 5:43-44
43Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
I'm not saying I agree with everything in this article, but I liked it http://www.believeoutloud.com/boltoday/20110928/top-5-questions-with-answers-lgbt-acceptance
This one is long (same as above, I'm not saying I'm in full agreement, but it adds some perspective http://www.believeoutloud.com/boltoday/20111230/clobbering-biblical-gay-bashing
I guess what I am trying to say is that above all show love. No matter who or what you are, it's your best bet. If you can't muster up love, do what grandma said. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.
Mohandas Gandhi
It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.
Mohandas Gandhi
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
A hard topic
One topic that most people don't like to deal with is abortion. However it is one of the major selling points of any presidential hopeful. I just don't understand how you can stand on a podium and tell someone that what they are doing is evil, and that God hates them, when you don't know any of the facts. For a man to stand up and say it is even worse because lets face it, child rearing still falls mainly on the female, and certainly the 1st 9 months are her problem. I understand that abortion in most cases is not the best alternative, but can't people handle this better.
How much time did Jesus spend picketing, I'm sure if he were alive today he wouldn't be standing outside of a clinic with disgusting pictures of aborted babies on signs. I think that Moses, Abraham, Muhammad, and any other prophet had better things to do. Maybe instead of holding up hateful signs you should offer the woman entering the clinic financial help, maybe you could offer to adopt the child. I know some people aren't in a position to do this, but could you buy her a cup of coffee, or offer a shoulder to cry on after her procedure. In most cases the woman didn't want an abortion, she saw it as her only way out.
Obviously sometimes an abortion is called for, in cases of tubal pregnancy, or other life threatening emergencies. Sometimes a woman who has been on fertility treatments gets pregnant with 6+ babies, now some families can handle this, but to insure the best outcome for the children sometimes the doctors do a selective abortion.
One of the more controversial reasons for abortion is cases of mental/physical defect. Me and Allie have spent much time working in group homes for the handicapped. The stories the higher functioning residents can tell you will terrify you. Stories of rape, beatings, and starvation are the lighter stories. Some residents I have talked to were tied to a bed in their own feces for days, and subsequently had to have the maggots flushed from their bedsores. These are just the stories that the residents who can talk will tell you, one of the girls I worked with clawed her own eyes out, but she was non-verbal, so who knows what happened. I understand that some, maybe most people with a mental handicap don't live this kind of life, at least I hope they don't. In some cases the child may have no chance to ever have a life without pain or suffering, in cases such as Tay Sachs, anencephaly, or trisomy 13. I don't know if I could have an abortion under these circumstances but I could certainly understand why a woman would choose that route.
The other case that sometimes makes people accept abortion is rape or incest. In these cases I believe that it is atrocious to tell a woman she is evil for not being able to deal with a pregnancy. Not to mention raising the baby if she doesn't opt for adoption. In cases of incest the woman may fear deformity or retardation, with rape they may fear that the child will have the same tendencies. Maybe she just doesn't want to look down every day and see growing evidence of what she went through. Or they may hate their child, what if he/she looks like their father. If they opt for adoption they will have a life of wondering where their child is now, did they do the best thing? No one can judge, not even if they have been in that situation, every case is different. The last thing a victim needs is people piling hate on them, save that for the rapist.
I believe that a baby is a person as soon as it implants, before that an IUD or the Plan B pill will take care of the problem. Some even see these options as abortion. I can't argue with them, but I can say that it doesn't help to be mean, hate seldom changes minds. Understanding, better use of birth control, sexual education, education on abstinence, and counseling are way better tactics. (Noticed I didn't say abstinence alone, if you think that works you weren't a normal teenager).
Hopefully in the next few weeks we can attend a few churches and get back to the basics. On Easter we will be attending Jimmy Swaggart's church in Baton Rouge for Camp Meeting, that should be an interesting one :) Sorry we got off track, it's been a busy few weeks...
How much time did Jesus spend picketing, I'm sure if he were alive today he wouldn't be standing outside of a clinic with disgusting pictures of aborted babies on signs. I think that Moses, Abraham, Muhammad, and any other prophet had better things to do. Maybe instead of holding up hateful signs you should offer the woman entering the clinic financial help, maybe you could offer to adopt the child. I know some people aren't in a position to do this, but could you buy her a cup of coffee, or offer a shoulder to cry on after her procedure. In most cases the woman didn't want an abortion, she saw it as her only way out.
Obviously sometimes an abortion is called for, in cases of tubal pregnancy, or other life threatening emergencies. Sometimes a woman who has been on fertility treatments gets pregnant with 6+ babies, now some families can handle this, but to insure the best outcome for the children sometimes the doctors do a selective abortion.
One of the more controversial reasons for abortion is cases of mental/physical defect. Me and Allie have spent much time working in group homes for the handicapped. The stories the higher functioning residents can tell you will terrify you. Stories of rape, beatings, and starvation are the lighter stories. Some residents I have talked to were tied to a bed in their own feces for days, and subsequently had to have the maggots flushed from their bedsores. These are just the stories that the residents who can talk will tell you, one of the girls I worked with clawed her own eyes out, but she was non-verbal, so who knows what happened. I understand that some, maybe most people with a mental handicap don't live this kind of life, at least I hope they don't. In some cases the child may have no chance to ever have a life without pain or suffering, in cases such as Tay Sachs, anencephaly, or trisomy 13. I don't know if I could have an abortion under these circumstances but I could certainly understand why a woman would choose that route.
The other case that sometimes makes people accept abortion is rape or incest. In these cases I believe that it is atrocious to tell a woman she is evil for not being able to deal with a pregnancy. Not to mention raising the baby if she doesn't opt for adoption. In cases of incest the woman may fear deformity or retardation, with rape they may fear that the child will have the same tendencies. Maybe she just doesn't want to look down every day and see growing evidence of what she went through. Or they may hate their child, what if he/she looks like their father. If they opt for adoption they will have a life of wondering where their child is now, did they do the best thing? No one can judge, not even if they have been in that situation, every case is different. The last thing a victim needs is people piling hate on them, save that for the rapist.
I believe that a baby is a person as soon as it implants, before that an IUD or the Plan B pill will take care of the problem. Some even see these options as abortion. I can't argue with them, but I can say that it doesn't help to be mean, hate seldom changes minds. Understanding, better use of birth control, sexual education, education on abstinence, and counseling are way better tactics. (Noticed I didn't say abstinence alone, if you think that works you weren't a normal teenager).
Hopefully in the next few weeks we can attend a few churches and get back to the basics. On Easter we will be attending Jimmy Swaggart's church in Baton Rouge for Camp Meeting, that should be an interesting one :) Sorry we got off track, it's been a busy few weeks...
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
A shady character
Twitter has brought to my attention a player against rights for homosexuals. Godswordislaw is a WBC like character that seems to hate everyone who isn't him. http://christiansforamoralamerica.blogspot.com/
We would love to give some of our feelings on this blog post. His first point is about liberals, we certainly don't agree that liberals are the forked tongue monsters that he plays them out. I'm not one, Allie isn't either, I am personally right-wing with some liberal views IE... freedom of choice, everyone's right to marry. He seems to think that all liberals are gay-hippy-atheists, this just isn't true. Many Christians support a liberal agenda...
http://www.jesusisaliberal.org/Liberal_Christian.html
This is just one example. Also to be frank I don't believe that you can just say that abortion is wrong without a scenario. What about cases of severe retardation, where the child will have no quality of life? What if to give birth will cause maternal death? What about rape/incest cases? They don't want Muslims to have extra rights, just the same rights that any other religion has, it's laughable to say they are seen as equals in the country. Check for our views on homosexual marriage a few paragraphs down...
I'm sure some liberals are smelly hippies, but surely not all of them.
His next point was about Atheists. Now as a rule these guys our neither of our favorite groups of people. We have had some unpleasant interactions, but they have the same rights as the rest of us. Atheists are not only not irrelevant, but they seem to be necessary... who else would keep us on our toes? They make it a must for us to embrace science and try to prove our theories. Even when not given respect by a group/faith, we strive to meet their rudeness with kindness and intelligence. They deserve the respect and tolerance we are asking for. Atheism grows in population by leaps and bounds every year. Just because they are a current minority doesn't mean they they always will be, and it doesn't mean we can stomp all over them. We can really play devils advocate on the nativity scene, after all it was in front of a court house, but the Atheist group wasn't even in Texas. I can't say whether Atheists as a whole are striving for a God free America, but it's my right to strive for an America filled with God. So it is also their right to do the opposite.
Ahhh the homosexuals. These poor guys/gals/whatever can't catch a break, first off they grow up probably scared to death to be themselves. Then they are thrown into a world where they have to continually fight for the same rights that straight people have. Do I think being homosexual is Biblically wrong, yes. Me and Allie agree on this, but we both believe that it's not an offense you go to Hell for. It's no worse than anything else, and science could still show that it has a strong genetic component. If that is proven true then maybe we misread the texts, to say that we speak for God is infinitely arrogant, and sort of stupid. The same text in the Bible can be interpreted 10 different ways... and after all John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. This doesn't mean pray for forgiveness then throw a rock. It means don't judge, and since no one is without sin, this means you.
Do we think that gay people should be allowed to get married? Of course we do, it's a basic human right to get to be with the person you love. It really isn't the governments business at all, it is one of the most personal decisions of all. Homosexuals are perfectly capable of raising children... Lets take the happy child from the gay couple, and stick em with the abusive, molesting, crazy fundamentalist family... That ought to work out perfectly. I live across from a nice lesbian couple, their child is healthy and happy, and seems to be perfectly normal. AIDS is no longer just a homosexual problem, as this guy seems to think it's the sole problem bogging down our healthcare system. Many straight people have AIDS, look at Africa, most of those dying of AIDS were strait. It's a matter of proper STD protection, and education on sexual health. They seem completely uninterested in controlling our churches, they just want to be allowed through the doors. Also the only inferiority complex they have is one that was given to them.
Muslims, first off this guy strikes on one of my pet peeves. This country was founded on the principles of religious freedom, not on Christianity, it's blatantly written into our Constitution that we are free to practice, or not practice any religion. Muslims are just looking for the right to not be fire bombed at Friday night service. They don't want to impose Shariah Law on us, they just want the right to practice it, like Catholics, and Jews. I have yet to have an unpleasant interaction with a Muslim...
Okay Feminism, and the only place where I even slightly agree with this guy. I believe Feminism started out with honorable intentions, they wanted equal rights for women. For the most part we have succeeded, for the most part. I will agree that there are still areas in which we could improve. Lately however it seems that they are making a mockery of the father figure. I'm sure this isn't true for Feminists
This guy is the subject of a petition to get him off Twitter and other social forums. I say leave him be, he is obviously not a very happy person. He is to busy picking out the wrongs in others to pick out the wrongs or rights about himself.
We would love to give some of our feelings on this blog post. His first point is about liberals, we certainly don't agree that liberals are the forked tongue monsters that he plays them out. I'm not one, Allie isn't either, I am personally right-wing with some liberal views IE... freedom of choice, everyone's right to marry. He seems to think that all liberals are gay-hippy-atheists, this just isn't true. Many Christians support a liberal agenda...
http://www.jesusisaliberal.org/Liberal_Christian.html
This is just one example. Also to be frank I don't believe that you can just say that abortion is wrong without a scenario. What about cases of severe retardation, where the child will have no quality of life? What if to give birth will cause maternal death? What about rape/incest cases? They don't want Muslims to have extra rights, just the same rights that any other religion has, it's laughable to say they are seen as equals in the country. Check for our views on homosexual marriage a few paragraphs down...
I'm sure some liberals are smelly hippies, but surely not all of them.
His next point was about Atheists. Now as a rule these guys our neither of our favorite groups of people. We have had some unpleasant interactions, but they have the same rights as the rest of us. Atheists are not only not irrelevant, but they seem to be necessary... who else would keep us on our toes? They make it a must for us to embrace science and try to prove our theories. Even when not given respect by a group/faith, we strive to meet their rudeness with kindness and intelligence. They deserve the respect and tolerance we are asking for. Atheism grows in population by leaps and bounds every year. Just because they are a current minority doesn't mean they they always will be, and it doesn't mean we can stomp all over them. We can really play devils advocate on the nativity scene, after all it was in front of a court house, but the Atheist group wasn't even in Texas. I can't say whether Atheists as a whole are striving for a God free America, but it's my right to strive for an America filled with God. So it is also their right to do the opposite.
Ahhh the homosexuals. These poor guys/gals/whatever can't catch a break, first off they grow up probably scared to death to be themselves. Then they are thrown into a world where they have to continually fight for the same rights that straight people have. Do I think being homosexual is Biblically wrong, yes. Me and Allie agree on this, but we both believe that it's not an offense you go to Hell for. It's no worse than anything else, and science could still show that it has a strong genetic component. If that is proven true then maybe we misread the texts, to say that we speak for God is infinitely arrogant, and sort of stupid. The same text in the Bible can be interpreted 10 different ways... and after all John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. This doesn't mean pray for forgiveness then throw a rock. It means don't judge, and since no one is without sin, this means you.
Do we think that gay people should be allowed to get married? Of course we do, it's a basic human right to get to be with the person you love. It really isn't the governments business at all, it is one of the most personal decisions of all. Homosexuals are perfectly capable of raising children... Lets take the happy child from the gay couple, and stick em with the abusive, molesting, crazy fundamentalist family... That ought to work out perfectly. I live across from a nice lesbian couple, their child is healthy and happy, and seems to be perfectly normal. AIDS is no longer just a homosexual problem, as this guy seems to think it's the sole problem bogging down our healthcare system. Many straight people have AIDS, look at Africa, most of those dying of AIDS were strait. It's a matter of proper STD protection, and education on sexual health. They seem completely uninterested in controlling our churches, they just want to be allowed through the doors. Also the only inferiority complex they have is one that was given to them.
Muslims, first off this guy strikes on one of my pet peeves. This country was founded on the principles of religious freedom, not on Christianity, it's blatantly written into our Constitution that we are free to practice, or not practice any religion. Muslims are just looking for the right to not be fire bombed at Friday night service. They don't want to impose Shariah Law on us, they just want the right to practice it, like Catholics, and Jews. I have yet to have an unpleasant interaction with a Muslim...
Okay Feminism, and the only place where I even slightly agree with this guy. I believe Feminism started out with honorable intentions, they wanted equal rights for women. For the most part we have succeeded, for the most part. I will agree that there are still areas in which we could improve. Lately however it seems that they are making a mockery of the father figure. I'm sure this isn't true for Feminists
This guy is the subject of a petition to get him off Twitter and other social forums. I say leave him be, he is obviously not a very happy person. He is to busy picking out the wrongs in others to pick out the wrongs or rights about himself.
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