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Life in general

Excuse Me While I Rant

Disclaimer: As I write this I am angry, disappointed and confused.  I am struggling to make sense of my emotions.  Nothing I say is meant to offend or condemn anyone else.

In the wake of the great change that awaits this nation upon the election of Barack Obama, I am left feeling happy for the nation, and sad for my great state of California.

As I type this, Proposition 8 has a 52% affirmative vote.  We wait for the final 4.6% of our votes to be counted, but the chances of it failing are slim at this point.  In light of the 20% gap between the yes and no votes on Proposition 22 back in March of 2000, I am happy to see that we have covered so much ground in the last 8 1/2 years.

But, as a Christian, I am left with doubts about my religion.  About the bible I have read and loved.  For the first time in my life, I am ashamed to say I am a Christian. 

We are taught to use our bible and our faith as a moral compass through the forest of life.  But as I walk, how can I ignore the signs around me, telling me that I am no longer heading North?  The compass tells me I am walking the path of righteousness, and yet.  The sun and the stars, the moss on the trees, my very own heart, mind and gut tell me the compass is wrong.

How can I continue to support a religion that preaches to love thy neighbor, judge not, and accept free will, and in the very same breath works hard to oppress people they don’t even know, in the name of God?  Regardless of what the bible says about homosexuality, this is NOT the Christian United States of America, and people have FREE WILL for a reason.  Just as I am FREE to be a Christian, so should other people be FREE of the shackles of my beliefs.  How does one person’s choice to love and marry another effect my life, my marriage, my religious beliefs?

I was one of those kids in history class who just knew she would have been one of the brave people to stand up for civil rights in the 1950’s, regardless of how her family, neighbors or church felt.  Heather’s brother Kyle pointed out that most of us probably felt that way. 

There are places in this country where they still believe people of color are less than.  They quote bible scriptures that affirm their beliefs in their minds.  I have heard it with my own ears, seen it with my own eyes.  These past few weeks I have heard and seen bible verses thrown at other people as a weapon – people who are just trying to live their lives in the best way that they can, just like everyone else – and tell them that they will take away their rights based on those scriptures.

I am appalled.  I am sad.  I am terribly, terribly confused.  I stand at a great precipice in the course of my life, and I must choose my compass wisely.

22 replies on “Excuse Me While I Rant”

I have struggled so much with this and stopped going to my Catholic church when a Catholic organization was one of the major backers of this proposition. I have no words right now for what is happening in California. I am deeply, deeply saddened.

I can’t past my own sadness on this matter today. So much of the joy I felt last night, like Amy said, has been swept away this morning. And I’m not even wrangling with the whole religion angle like you are.

I’m very sad by this too. We’ve come so far in so many ways, but apparently, we will only extend civil rights so far in California. I just don’t understand it. I don’t understand people who hide behind their Bibles and wield them like swords, using literal words as weapons. I am Catholic, but I can’t stand by the church’s support.

The good news is, there are people like you out there who are willing to stand up for what’s right. As long as we keep doing that, we may be able to change things.

Thanks for the support – I’m all over the place today, but so glad to know I’m not alone in my feelings.

The LA times estimates 18,000 couples will have to give up their marriage licenses. That’s 36,000 people!

HOW COULD WE?

I am from NY, and Prop 8 results were the first thing I checked in the news this morning (after double-checking that Obama was still the President-Elect). I have posted recently on my own blog about abortion, and about religion in general. I’m a Christian, too, and I ask the same questions.

When God created man, He gave us free will. I don’t know about being gay, so I don’t know if it’s a matter of choosing or nature. I don’t care, really. What I do know is that it’s not my job to pass judgement. I don’t get to say what’s right or wrong for other people. I am supposed to emulate Jesus, and love my neighbor as myself. Not make my neighbor love, as I love.

Just because some Christians and church communities and denominations may use their own free wills to condemn doesn’t make it Christ-like behavior. Don’t use those people as the model of how you should believe and behave.

I’m so glad I found your blog, (thanks to Amy on Twitter!).

I can really relate to the frustration you’re feeling right now as a Christian. I often write about how maddening it can be to claim the Christian faith in the face of so much hypocrisy, judgment and hatred. I’m so thankful that people like you are willing to say “I’m a Christian but I can’t reconcile my faith with this viewpoint/action/belief that others are tying so closely to Christianity.”

Thanks for your strong, honest approach to this difficult topic.

I thought religion was supposed to help people, be the light in their lives, help them weather the storms. So how does this happen that religion is used to harm people and offend their sense of wholeness and validity?

I hope that you all don’t decide to stone me but I hope you will accept my 2 cents here. Andrea, feel free to delete this if you want-no hard feelings, ok?

I am a Christian also, and I voted yes on 8. Not because I ‘hate gays’ or because I think that they shouldn’t be given the same rights that I am. I think that gay couples should have every benefit of partnership under the law that a heterosexual couple has, and they already have most (all?) of them by law anyway. I voted yes because if marriage is redefined to include gay marriage then YOUR BIBLE AND MINE can then be considered a ‘message of hate’ against a ‘legally protected minority.’ It may not happen tomorrow or next year but with a law like that on the books then it is bound to happen. Our churches, pastors, bibles are all at risk. Our free speech and free religion will be limited because our bibles teach that marriage is one man and one woman, and that homosexuality is a sin. Someone will question our right to our bibles based on marriage being open to whoever wants to get married. I voted yes for the wider-reaching free religion and speech issues.

It’s not a stretch.

We left our church over 4 years ago – just couldn’t identify with it, anymore. It was sad…for awhile. Now it is extremely liberating. I have met so many wonderful people who are doing good works and are not affiliated with a religion. The people I know who are doing good works would be doing it with or without the church. There are so many times throughout history where the church has caused more harm than good – I am skeptical of its ability to always know what is best. I’m in Texas – we passed our own version of proposition 8 not too long ago. A sad, sad day, that was.

Thanks for stopping by because now I’ve found your blog! 🙂

This just gets me, too. I’m so torn on it. I think that the legal rights conferred by marriage should be available to all, but I don’t think that a church should have to sanctify a union that goes against their beliefs. So fine, let them get married at the courthouse. Lots of people do. Why people are so opposed to gays having civil ceremonies is beyond me.

I don’t pretend to think that this will change your mind or be well received by you or any of the other commenters here. But I recommend you listen to the podcast here…

http://www.moodyradio.org/brd_ProgramDetail.aspx?id=28536

Before you listen, you should know that Moody Radio is a Christian station. That might prevent you from listening, but I hope not. I don’t remember hearing anything taught via it that was Scripturally solid.

😀

“How can I continue to support a religion that preaches to love thy neighbor, judge not, and accept free will, and in the very same breath works hard to oppress people they don’t even know, in the name of God? Regardless of what the bible says about homosexuality, this is NOT the Christian United States of America, and people have FREE WILL for a reason. Just as I am FREE to be a Christian, so should other people be FREE of the shackles of my beliefs. How does one person’s choice to love and marry another effect my life, my marriage, my religious beliefs?”

I think I understand how you feel in regards to wanting to be tolerant and accepting. After all, the Bible says “they will know us by our love for one another”. However I don’t understand how any Christian, who believes that the message of God’s grace through Jesus Christ can leave out the rest of the Bible. Many people see the “rules and restrictions” of the Bible as such, however God said these were put in place to set us free.

I am in no way a gay hater. However I do believe that God’s word and His law’s are clear. Jesus drew lines in the sand, figuratively and literally when it came to the law. This proposition is merely preserving, i believe, the laws of God. The very laws upon my faith and beliefs were founded. And like it our not, you stated that this is a free country. We have the freedom to put this proposition up and the freedom to vote for it.

I’m sorry you feel so ashamed of the very thing that has given you life and freedom.

It has nothing to do with oppression, hate, or opinion of a person. It only has to do with democratic votes, of and by the people, as to a life style. If this were pedofiles instead of gay marriage, would you still say the same thing?

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