Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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.

5 comments:

  1. The whole bible and homosexuality and marriage thing upsets me in general, and I wonder if it was put there through god or through the simple hand of the human who wrote it. Considering that a lot of gay people don't choose this path (it's been shown as a genetic predisposition) I really don't think it's fair to judge them.

    That having been said...

    I don't have a problem with gay marriage, however, I think it should be up to specific churches and their hierarchies to pick their support of it. The fact that the states are the ones disallowing it/allowing it pisses me off because there is supposed to be a separation of church and state, and if a church wants to marry gay people they should be allowed to do so, and shouldn't have the state's consent. By the same tone, if the state allows gay marriage, churches should not be forced to marry gay people if they don't want to.

    Just make it a civil union from a government standpoint, no longer a marriage, for everyone. This way it has the same constitution, doesn't discriminate, and still allows for all the wonderful tax credits all gender preferences should be able to enjoy. The actual marriage can be left to the church, or mosque, or temple, and to their selection and discretion. It is about love, which is one of the greatest gifts God gives, and why should that be discriminated against?

    Sorry for the rant :-(

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  2. You're welcome to rant anytime - that's why comments are open :)

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  3. yup- what Ginger said! She's brilliant. :)

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  4. As a Christian I have a word on this little rant: Brilliant. Seriously, it's always bothered me that Christians get a bad name because of close minded people like this.. Christian's duty is to show the love of Christ to others, not force beliefs on them.

    Some Christian's believe homosexuality to be a sin, and if that's true none of us has any place to speak considering we all sin on a regular basis. If this guy doesn't confront every single person he meets, he's a hypocrite.

    I don't know if it's a sin, I know homosexuals didn't choose to be gay any more than I chose to be straight or any more than my girlfriend chose to have depression. I also know it's up to God to decide and not up to us to make divisions and remove others from civil rights.

    Don't let me get started on conservative Christians, either..I've had someone straight up tell me it's impossible for a person to be open minded and be a Christian... despite the fact that on paper I've lead a more conservative life style than she did. Ugh.. anyway.. Keep up the great rants !

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  5. Meh, whatever. If I were him, I would've just kept my mouth shut, and the store had the legal right to fire him, but it sounds like she was the one trying to force her view down everyone else's throat. Why else would you keep repeatedly telling people at a store you didn't even work at about how you'd married your gay lover unless you were trying to stick it in their face?

    And the sharia law angle is just ludicrous. The guy merely stated his opinion (sort of like the woman had been doing). It was foolish, but there was no attempt at force involved. The only coercion or exercise of power involved in the whole story is where she got him fired.

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