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A Christian Preacher Who Gets It

Happy Easter!

Today I’d just like to share a link with you — an article written by a preacher who understands why people are afraid of what Christians might do with certain “Religious Freedom Restoration” acts … a fear that is legitimate and based in historical fact.betty

“The outcry isn’t about the law,” he writes, “it’s about us. It’s a fear that we will discriminate. And it is a fear based on a history that, whether we like it or not, is ours. We have, in no shortage of ways, broken relationships with the LGBTQ community. We have expelled our sons and daughters. We have protested them. We blamed them for the ills of society like a scapegoat. And no matter what we believe about same-sex marriage, that is wrong. Because of that, restoring relationship and trust with the LGBTQ community is on us. Even if you disagree with all I said above, restoring the relationship is on us because we are called as followers of Jesus to be ministers of reconciliation.”

He later concludes:  “”You see, the question now being asked of Christians is, “Will you treat us as human beings?” That’s what behind wanting a cake for a same-sex wedding. Or photographs. It isn’t shoving a lifestyle down people’s throats. It’s simply a desire to be seen as human. To be treated as human. To enjoy life as we all want to enjoy life.”

This.  This is what Jesus was talking about — not the hatred, the anger, the judgment.

Unfortunately, too many Christians are instead hypocrites, like the fictional “Mrs. Betty Bowers” here.

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Editorial cartoon: Nothing personal

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Demonizing your enemy

One of the reasons we can’t have nice things these days is because too many people refuse to see gray areas. You either agree with them or you’re the enemy. Moderation and compromise are not virtues to these people.

There are many people who disagree with gay marriage and gay rights who are decent, honest, and well-meaning people. They are not evil. homosexualdemonsThey are just ignorant — ignorant of the harm they are causing, ignorant of what it means to be gay or lesbian. They have been misled by their religion and their leaders. I suspect that these people, like many, just haven’t yet realized that society has changed; that their views are not acceptable; that they need to re-examine what their religion is telling them. This does not come easy.

But some on the left want to demonize all of them in the same way some on the right try to demonize anyone who disagrees with their views.

I prefer to change people’s minds rather than berate them and make them into terrible enemies.

Some people, like many Tea Party leaders and Fox News commentators, are beyond hope. They are the cause of the problem, because they are the “no gray areas/refuse to compromise” variety. They deserve our scorn, especially those that should know better. They are the root of the problem.

There are many well-meaning people (including pizza parlor owners) who sincerely think they are doing the right thing by holding these prejudices. They’re wrong, of course. But harassing them, insulting them, and committing crimes against them won’t convince them.

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Editorial cartoon: Following your religion strictly

Tom the Dancing Bug

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Bigots present another false argument

“Liberals want to force kosher delis to serve bacon against their will!”

Seen that argument yet? Stupid, isn’t it? Somehow, people who support bigotry think that if we require bakeries to make cakes for gay couples that then we will be forcing businesses to sell products that go against their religion. imagesizerNo, no, no.

This is not about forcing a business to sell something it doesn’t want to sell. Don’t want to sell bacon? Fine, don’t sell bacon.

This is about selling a product and then deciding that you’re going to sell it to everyone except a certain group. If you are opening a business, you open it to everyone. You don’t discriminate.

Didn’t we already decide this years ago? Is there any difference between pizza parlors in Indiana refusing to serve gays and lunch counters in Alabama refusing to serve blacks?

Oh, and don’t go giving me the argument that you are supporting freedom and libertarianism and all that crap. Look at the end result: You’re supporting allowing someone to deny rights to someone else. It’s as false as the argument that the South was fighting for “state’s rights” and the fact that it meant people would thus be held in slavery is irrelevant.

 

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Editorial cartoon: Cross to bear

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My Favorite “Fool” posts

Sometimes my blog posts are just silly, sarcasm-filled rants, and I usually think they’re obvious enough that you can tell. Once in a while, however, someone writes to me, “Is this true?”

So here, for April Fool’s Day, are a few of my favorites:

Man in Dress Says Gay Marriage Will Harm his Non-Marriage : Taking marriage advice from the pope?  Sure!  Who’s better qualified?

Latin?  As in Latin America? :  Make a state motto in Latin?  Clearly the work of them damn ferners!blog-woodyallen-111811

Ted Cruz replaced by wacky inflatable tube:  Just as effective!

Nation’s bigots subject of hate-filled intolerance:  How dare we criticize bigots?  Aren’t we supposed to be tolerant?

South Carolina Joins the 21st Century;  Senator Graham has the Vapors :  And hits his head on the closet in which he lives.

How to Speak Republican:  Lessons to GOP politicians on how to take good news for America and make it sound bad.

Cruz Control:  Giddy over the government shutdown, Cruz plans other ways to destroy the country.

Tyrannical Obama tyrannically uses his tyrannical power to tyrannically force gays not to be discriminated against:  The clear sign of tyranny is giving more rights to people.

Hero of the Day:  Governor Rick Perry sure is a hero when it comes to photo ops.

Why won’t they vote for us? :  Republicans try to figure out why those sinful gays and illegal Mexicans don’t want to vote for them.

Editorial cartoon: Hiding bigotry

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Indiana’s “Religious Freedom” law is different

The outcry over Indiana’s new law allowing discrimination is valid. Arguments that “other states have similar laws” is not.

Many states have religious freedom laws, and they’re good laws. They prohibit the government from interfering with one’s religious practice, as provided for in the 1st Amendment.bigots For instance, such laws protect a Catholic school that only wants to hire Catholics to teach their classes. That makes sense, doesn’t it? It’s the same concept that says a church cannot be forced to perform a marriage they disagree with. These laws often apply to various non-profit charities and businesses where it makes a difference who gets treated and/or employed. Charities often have religious foundations, for instance.

Indiana’s law is different.  Indiana’s law explicitly allows for-profit businesses to have these same rights. Thus, Jim-Bob’s restaurant is allowed under this law to discriminate when it violates Jim-Bob’s personal religious views. “Sorry, my religion says no coloreds can sit at my lunch counter.” (This, of course, is exactly what we predicted would happen when the Supreme Court decided the terrible Hobby Lobby case, giving corporations a religion.)

This is unprecedented. Here in Pennsylvania, for instance, our “religious freedom” law specifically prohibits for-profit businesses from doing this.

If you want to open a business, you need to open it to everyone. Don’t give me that tired libertarian argument that the marketplace will solve this. It didn’t do that for a hundred years before civil rights laws were passed, and clearly it is not doing that now or else we wouldn’t even be discussing this. In some small communities, there may only be one store within close distance, so don’t go arguing that this is a minor inconvenience.

Bigotry has no place in our laws, and the government should be supporting the people who are being discriminated against, and not those who wish to discriminate.

Editorial cartoon: Freedumb