| BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE |
Are We Lying On God To Justify Our Own Bigotry - Again?
I just reread an editorial entitled "Don't Shake Your Fist at God." It was written by a friend mine. In the editorial he comes out against same-sex marriage based on the Bible, and his view that it is not a civil rights issue. He refers to gays as "reprobates" and implies that by allowing same-sex marriage our society is on the threshold of becoming a latter-day Sodom and Gomorrah.
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My friend is a very gifted writer, but I found his position on this particular issue to be absolutely ridiculous. While I'm as straight as they come, and it's beyond my comprehension why with all the beautiful women in this world one man would want to marry another, it is just as incomprehensible to me why one group of people would insist on shoving their belief system down everyone else's throat.
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It simply eludes me why a person who's against same-sex marriage can't be satisfied with simply taking the position that since I'm totally against same-sex marriage, I'm going to make it a point to marry someone of the opposite sex, then just leave it at that. But that's not good enough for some people. Some people aren't satisfied unless they can make their opinion THE LAW. There's simply got to be some kind of pathology attendant to that kind of obsession.
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I was raise by devout Christians, and most of my values are consistent with the values reflected in the Bible, but I didn't get any of them by reading the Bible. All of my values evolved around the principle of minding my own business and treating people the way I want to be treated–and I didn't get that from the Bible either; I got it through what God gave us to live by long before there was any such thing as a Bible–it's called, common sense.
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For that reason, even though my values are consistent with those of the Christian tradition, I have refused to formalize my association with the Christian community, because I've known too many Christians over the years who are more interested in looking down on other people than looking up to God. Too many tend to be narrow-minded and discriminatory in mind-set. They also tend to be more interested in preaching a sermon, than living one.
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I've pointed out several times in my columns that true Christians are some of the most loving and beneficent people in the world, but unfortunately, there are far too many demagogues hiding among their number. Some of the most vicious bigots in the world find the Christian community a very convenient place to hide and spread their hatred and bigotry. By feigning to be Christians, these demagogues are allowed to say, "It's not that I hate everybody who don't look, think, and act like me, it's just that God does." That allows them to promote the demonization and slaughter of anyone who is different from themselves, while at the same time wrapping themselves in the alleged "word of God" - ask Sitting Bull.
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That creates a serious problem within the Christian community, because much too often these bigots are in positions of authority, and since many Christians believe that these authoritarian bigots have a direct pipeline to God, their poisonous bigotry tends to seep into the thinking of legitimate Christians.
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So I want to take this opportunity to point out to my well-meaning, but grossly misguided colleague, that whenever one group in our society attempts to demonize another, that's not God's will - that's the will of bigots, and it is, indeed, a civil rights issue.
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When I was a kid, about five years old, I had a friend who was quite effeminate. It was clear that he was "different" long before we even knew his sexual orientation. It was obvious that the adults already knew he was gay - even though he didn't even know what the word meant at the time - because they use to whisper and giggle whenever he'd come around. But of all my friends, even then, he was the smartest and the most loyal.
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Later in life, it turned out that he indeed was gay, but there is no one on the face of this Earth that can tell me that he had a choice in the matter, anymore than I had a choice in growing up to love women, because he was effeminate before he was old enough to make a choice, or even know their was a choice to be made. Therefore, if God made him gay, who are we to discriminate against an act of God?
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With respect to the Bible, many Christians tend to be quite hypocritical in picking and choosing what scriptures they choose to adhere to. While those who are against gay marriage often select scriptures that tend to justify their bigotry, there is another scripture - one that seems to me to be much more reflective of what Christianity is suppose to be about. It says, "Judge ye not."
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What makes that scripture so important is that it seems to be a warning from God. It tells man to stay out of God's business, because man is much too narrow-minded and stupid to understand why God chose to do what he has done.
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It is also important for Black "Christians" to remember that the people who taught us the attitudes and religious beliefs that many Black people so passionately embrace had us tied next to the mules when they taught it to us. They were killing and abusing us even as they taught us to "Love thy neighbor," and it seems that many of us have learned their lesson well - that God wants us to love our neighbors, except for the ones the bigots taught us to hate.
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We should also remember that at the time that Barack Obama was born, there were many states in this union where it was illegal for his mother and father to marry. There were many people who thought that reflected God's will as well - and many still do.
Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.