Rule # 1 - Keep your mouth shut

The post is regarding this story that was recently published about a man being fired for his comments regarding a lesbian wedding. Let's get the simple stuff out of the way -- this guy was a new employee and he insulted one of his bosses. Hello!?!? If you are new, keep your mouth shut ... I'm sorry, anyone who walks into a new position shouldn't be spouting their mouth off if they want to keep a job. It's common sense, especially when what you're saying is in direct contrast to the companies HR policies.

On to the more difficult aspects -- he says he was told by God to confront this woman on her wedding. I'm sorry; I completely disagree for a huge number of reasons ... if you want to go the supernatural route, it's more likely he was listening to Satan. Here's my simple reasoning:

1) His decision to bring this up and call her a deviant was based on, by his own admission, his own discomfort. Welcome to being a Christian. However, by trying to force someone else to deal with his discomfort, he was being selfish. It was 100% about him, no matter how you view the situation. Selfishness goes against everything Jesus taught. Sin #1.

2) He didn't follow Jesus' teachings, which, I find, most Christian's ignore unless it's easy or comfortable for them to follow. Let's turn to Matthew 7, 1-6:

1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Note verse 6 -- basically, a Christian trying to dictate to a non-Christian what God's law is ends up in you being torn to pieces. Jesus said don't do it. This guy ignored it and lost his job. Looks like Jesus was right. Sin #2.

3) Did him speaking up lead this woman closer to God or push her away? If he is a Christian, and he pushed her away ... wow, what worse sin could there be? Sin #3.

The fact is, him acting in this was is no different than a Muslim believing Sharia law should be enforced on everyone. There is a radical Christian movement, though they call themselves "conservatives" that want to force everyone to act by their morals, their laws. Well, guess what -- faith only works if it's a choice, people. Forcing your opinion down someone's throat, forcing them to live your way, will not lead anyone to salvation.

The scary thing is, I see amazing parallels between Muslim radicals and the far right here in the US. It's disturbing. This woman was legally wed and had experienced what most people consider to be one of the happiest days of her life. This person broke not only his company's rules, but his own religious beliefs just to simply tear her down.

Nothing I have ever read in the Bible leads me to believe this is something Jesus would desire ... but, then again, look at the hate and vitriol constantly spewed by those that claim to be Christians.

Forgotten ...

Yep, I pretty much forgot about blogging there for awhile. Go figure. Anyway, I need to start again - it works as a good warm-up to actually writing fiction, like I keep promising myself I will.

So, here's my writing deal right now. Still waiting to hear back where my screenplay ended up in the contest I submitted it to. I know it made the semi-finals, but they just haven't announced the finalists. It's taking forever!

I'm working on short story right now to try and get into a writing groove and kind of clear my head for the writing to come. Regarding that, I really need to reassess the beginning of Shiloh's Way and rewrite the ending. That's going to be a lot of work, but I don't feel like I can more on to something new until I do it.

My procrastination is just out of hand. I'm about half done with the short story, so I'm moving along with that. I want to finish it up this week, mess around with editing for a bit, then get Shiloh cleaned up by the end of the year.

Onto happier stuff, here's a little funny video I shot from my friend's wedding -- about how their 3 hours of wedded bliss had changed them: