Christian acceptance of Homosexuality is not Love but ambivalence.

Dear Blade Editor,

Rev. Bruce McDaniel stated in his July 13th letter to the editor, defending acceptance of actively homosexual Christians that “I choose to stand with my courageous GLBT brothers and sisters who have chosen Jesus' way of love, even in the face of hate and persecution. I will take my chances on being judged, ultimately, by how I loved in this life.” The problem with this philosophy is that, according to St. Paul, Homosexuality is an unnatural tendency which results in penalty.

Rom. 1:24-27 “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”

So if the bible is to be taken as truth, then allowing our Christian brothers and sisters to continue in sexual sin is harmful to their body and soul. This is not an act of love, but an act of ambivalence. If our brother was addicted to Heroin would we not do everything in our power to help him break that addiction? Yes, as Christians, we should certainly accept anyone regardless of their past sins. However, if no change occurs in that person’s life, due to their conversion, of what value is their ‘salvation’?

seperation of church and state

This post is a response to...

Ida said...
I just stopped by to ask you to check amendment 1 in the US Constitution. Thomas Jefferson's "Wall of Separation" letter inspired the "separation of church and state" mentioned in that clause. Because of that amendement, the government is no longer allowed to push one religion on America--freedom of religion, I am sure you have heard of it? Why then do you think other religions and those who don't practice religion, get such a hard time in the US? Everyone assumes we were built on a Christian nation, when in fact we were not--this is just something that has happened over the years.

Cheerio!

"Article the third [Amendment I]
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The modern definition of "seperation of church and state" is not what the framers of the constitution had in mind when they wrote the first ammendment. They were expressly stating that there would be no state religion and further that the state has no right to prohibit the free exercise of any religion. modern examples of what this ammendment is writing against are Iran(shia islam), Saudi Arabia(Sunni Islam), pre-civil war lebanon(mariaonite christian), and U.S.S.R.(athiesm). these governments sponsored thier own brand of religion and prohibited any other form. This move to make all religions private affairs of the individuals and to prohibit any public display of religion is unconstitutional since most religions, with the exception of athiesm, demand an application into all areas of life, both public and private.

Furthermore, the level of religious intolerance in this country is incomprehensible. Most of the people who are advocating removal of religious symbols and practices from all public spheres are athiests. Why so intolerant of other peoples beliefs? If you athiests are correct than there is no point in quibbling over petty things like this. Eat, drink, and be merry for soon you shall be dead and the memory of you shall pass from this earth like a breath of wind. From ashes you came and to ash you will return. Find what happiness you can in the short time you have on this earth. Stop trying to force everyone else conform to your views regarding privatization of religion. It is unconstitutional and intollerant.

Devotional

Psalm 22
For the director of music. To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
8 "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.
10 From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

Mathew 27:
35When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"
41In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " 44In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
45From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
47When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."
48Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."
50And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

Psalm 22 cont.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the LORD will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn—
for he has done it.

Mathew 28:
5The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."
8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." ...
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Expelled review

Yesterday a group of individuals with whom I study the bible with decided to go to a special showing of a movie called "Expelled". Being an ex-athiest/agnostic I was prepared for a Michael Moore style "documentary". What I actually saw was far worse. I do not know whether Ben Steins obtuseness is deliberate or unintentional, but it is profound. There were blatant misunderstandings of basic evolutionary principles as well as a blurring of definitions of the word evolution until the only definition left standing is one that includes the hypothesis of naturalism. The failure to define any of the real arguments of ID doesnt really seem to be a problem for Mr. Stein. Neither apparently is the blatant and disgusting attempt to place the blame for the atrocities commited by Hitler squarely on evolutionary theory and its proponents. In short this movie does nothing but build walls between the scientific community and the religious. It is devisive in nature. I believe that this movie is truly inspired. Unfortuneatly the muse is not God, but him to whom devisiveness is second nature.
The moment where the movie was over and the theatre packed full of christians began clapping and cheering was probably one of the most profoundly scary moments of my life.

Objective vs. Subjective Morality

Is morality subjective or objective? This is an intriguing question which has been debated over by theists and athiests alike. The theists usual argument is that if Morality does not derive from a higher power than it is subjective. I shall attempt to prove that this is the case.
I think it is useful to start from a point outside of the realm of morality to discover insights about morality. Human beings are creative. We constantly build things which make our everyday experience better or more pleasureable etc. When we as individuals create something for some purpose, we judge the value of that object as good or bad based on how well it performs the use for which it intended. For example a car designer is tasked with making a car that gets 30 miles to the gallon. after the car is made it turns out to only get 10 miles to the gallon. Thus the car is a bad car. on the other hand if the designer had made a car which went 40 miles to the gallon it would be a good car.
We do not make such value judgements on things which we do not actually create. For instance a tree or a rock or a stream of water is neither good nor bad. Thus we observe that we place value on things based on how well they serve the purpose for which they are created.
If we apply this same criteria for value on human beings we are forced with one of two options. Either man is a created being in which case we are good or bad depending on how well we performs the actions we were created for. Or Man is the result of random chance in which case we have no intrinsic purpose and thus good and bad are merely subjective judgements.

An old testament snapshot of modern america

Micah 7:1-7
1 What misery is mine!
I am like one who gathers summer fruit
at the gleaning of the vineyard;
there is no cluster of grapes to eat,
none of the early figs that I crave.
2 The godly have been swept from the land;
not one upright man remains.
All men lie in wait to shed blood;
each hunts his brother with a net.
3 Both hands are skilled in doing evil;
the ruler demands gifts,
the judge accepts bribes,
the powerful dictate what they desire—
they all conspire together.
4 The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen has come,
the day God visits you.
Now is the time of their confusion.
5 Do not trust a neighbor;
put no confidence in a friend.
Even with her who lies in your embrace
be careful of your words.
6 For a son dishonors his father,
a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man's enemies are the members of his own household.
7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.

These are the words of the prophet Micah concerning the people of Judah before God handed them over to the Babylonians to be slaughtered and enslaved. How fitting are these words to the society we live in today. Our politicians are thoroughly corrupt and the decadence of our society is everywhere for the eye to see.

Sexual revolution in China

An interesting story appeared today on CNN's website about a chinese sexual revolution and likens it to our own revolution of the 60's.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/02/china.sex.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
The thrust of the story seems to lay blame on 4 factors:
1. Declining authoritarianism of government.
2. The Taboo of the word sex.
3. The rise of capitalism.
4. Lack of sex education.
You would almost think that this story came right off of the presses of the communist propaganda department.

"China is in the midst of a sexual revolution, a byproduct of rising prosperity and looser government restrictions on private life. The relaxed attitudes about sex mark a historic turnaround from the days when love and sex were denounced as bourgeois decadence, and unisex Mao suits and drab austerity were the norm...Now, a government that once had say over when and whom people could marry is more concerned about regulating interest rates. And rising incomes have allowed urban Chinese to pursue much more than mere survival."

One fact in the story which they mention in passing, "the average urban marriage age has crept steadily higher, reaching 31 for men in Shanghai last year." , I think this is the root cause of not only Chinas recent problems, but also our own. The problem is not caused by lack of sex education or the rise of capitalism but a natural side effect of delaying marriage. One major side effect of industrial societies is that to be successful one has to have a much higher level of education than in an agricultural society. This causes us to put off getting married until we are 'ready for it'. Where once societies would marry off their young people almost as soon as their hormones started kicking in. Now we try to put off the sacrement of marriage until after the peak of hormonal urges start to subside.

I dont know if there is a solution to this problem but it is naive at best to blame the natural result of repressed nature on lack of education or capitalism.