Just Sayn'

My conservative Christian friends hate it when I bring this up, but it's true.  Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, yet they live by the word of God in it's entirety.  Well... supposedly, because you know they break the law by speeding, drinking, dancing, cursing, smoking, and divorcing.   

Oh BTW, I'm Gay and a Christian.

My Christian Thoughts - Issue #6 - The History Channel and The Bible

I'm not going to say much in today's segment, just a short opinionated statement.  Ryan and I have watched the most acclaimed, most critiqued story of the Bible since The Ten Commandments and The Passion of The Christ - The History Channel's, "The Bible".  We have been watching it for over a month now, and we've thoroughly enjoyed it.

Now, I know most of you straight folks are asking, "Why are these two gays, "Ryan and I" watching a series that condemns homosexuality?"  But ye of little faith, behold your judgement.  Need I remind you that the Bible contains 6 admonishments to Homosexuals and 362 to Heterosexuals? But that's besides the point - Roma Downey (Touched by Angel) and Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Voice, Celebrity Apprentice) have done a decent job with the show.

Sure, they could have chosen another actor to play Satan instead of someone that looked like our President, and used someone a little darker to play Jesus, instead of the hot, Abercrombie model they chose to use; But then conservatives wouldn't have watched it, and liberals would have shunned it.  And just so you know - while The History Channel has garnered the most viewers it has ever collected in it's lifetime, the producers of the show love our President, are Christian and have contributed to the Democratic Party.  Now that I've clarified that, run, hypocritcal Christians, run!!!!

The Bible, covers as much as it can in such a short span. It's almost impossible to make a movie or series that would cover every aspect of the Bible, but you could obviously tell Burnett and Downey were trying to link the story of Jesus from the very Beginning.  Tonight we watch the series Finale, as our savior will die for all your sins.  

Oh and mine and Ryan's too. :-)
 

My Christian Thoughts - Issue #5 - The Bible Never Changes, Science Does

Honesty, thank God, Lord Jesus, this man was never elected.  OMG, what an idiot.  I'm sorry, but people like Joe infuriate me, especially those who claim to be God-fearing, God-loving Christians.

It's a Sunday and it's My Christian Thoughts!

So apparently, Joe the plumber can't stop reminiscing about those glory days when he and his football buddies would play "Smear the Queer" - because that was normal.  I'm going to say he was probably one of those that also beat up on the smaller boys.  But today isn't about smearing us gay men, it's about this video.

In it, Joe talks about when he became a Christian and his youth pastor showed him the light.  That unlike our Science books that keep being revised, because we humans are still trying to figure things out, The Holy Bible never changes.  Oh, I love how pastors like to use analogies when trying to explain things - it makes them so much smarter.

I'm going to refer you to an earlier  post, "Isn't This The Truth? How Many More Versions?", where I explained the reasoning behind "versions" and "translations" of the Bible.  So yes, The Holy Bible has been revised several times, and it's because "Humans are still trying to figure things out".

Has it ever occurred to Mr. Wurzelbacher that Science books change because answers are found, discoveries are being made, and Polio is 99% gone from the world?  That the car he drives to work, the pill he swallows for a headache, and the chair he is sitting on, are all owed to science.

I can go on and on, but I'm going to close with this.  Joe, if you're going to say something, do a little research on it before you speak your mind.  And for those who feel I'm wrong for saying the things I say, I'm sorry, but the truth may hurt a little.  These are My Christian Thoughts after all.

Quoted - Dan Savage on What The Bible Got Wrong

"The shortest book in the New Testament is a letter from Paul to a Christian slave owner about owning his Christian slave.

And Paul doesn’t say, "Christians don’t own people." Paul talks about how Christians own people.

We ignore what the Bible said about slavery because the Bible  got slavery wrong.

If the Bible got the easiest moral question that humanity has ever faced wrong, what are the odds that the Bible got something as complicated as human sexuality wrong?"   
                   - Dan Savage to a National High School Journalism                                                       Conference in 2012

My Christian Thoughts - Issue #4 - The Baptist Pastor Who Encouraged Parents to Punch Their Boys

I first heard the following audio on Anderson Cooper last May, and was so angry about it I wanted to immediately share My Christian Thoughts on the matter.   Unfortunately, I was on blog break and my blogging was sporadic at best; But now that I have this new series every Sunday, I do have something to say.

"So your little son starts to act a little girlish when he is four years old and instead of squashing that like a cockroach and saying, “Man up, son, get that dress off you and get outside and dig a ditch, because that is what boys do,” you get out the camera and you start taking pictures of Johnny acting like a female and then you upload it to YouTube and everybody laughs about it and the next thing you know, this dude, this kid is acting out childhood fantasies that should have been squashed.

Can I make it any clearer? Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give him a good punch. Ok? You are not going to act like that. You were made by God to be a male and you are going to be a male. And when your daughter starts acting to Butch you reign her in. And you say, “Oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play them to the glory of God. But sometimes you are going to act like a girl and walk like a girl and talk like a girl and smell like a girl and that means you are going to be beautiful. You are going to be attractive. You are going to dress yourself up.”

You say, “Can I take charge like that as a parent?”

Yeah, you can. You are authorized. I just gave you a special dispensation this morning to do that."

There's a special place in hell for Baptist Pastors like you, Mr. Sean Harris.  And if any of you reading this think and act like this, there's a special place for you too.  Oh, I'm sorry, am I being judgemental?  Am I judging you?  Since it's okay for you to do it to me, I think I have that right too, no?

But guess what, I'm not.  I'm not a hater - I'm a lover.  I love you regardless if you hate me.  I love you regardless if you rather see me in some prison camp for the gays.  I love you regardless if you "choose" to be straight.  I love you because my heart has no room for nothing else.

See the clear picture? 

It's love.  Jesus loves, God loves, and I love.  And this is who I will emulate - not you - the Christian who pretends to be of God.

My Christian Thoughts - Issue #3 - 13 Things The Bible Forbids (That You're Probably Guilty of Doing)

You mean apart from speeding? Because you know everyone does it.  LOL.  

I grew up as a Christian - still am.  My own father baptized me, because our Pastor was ill that particular Wednesday night.  But being Christian is more than just believing in a higher being.  Being Christian is loving your neighbor as thyself.  And I can name a few who proclaim to say they love me, but it's more like "I love you, that's why I'm telling you you're living in sin and are going to hell.  This thing you are, 'Gay' is an abomination!".  Kinda funny since Jesus never mentioned anything about homosexuality.

Courtesy of the Huffington Post, I am using these images as part of today's "My Christian Thoughts".  So if you're getting a haircut today, or going to work - I'm sorry, but you're damned to hell!

It's probably not a good idea to get any Tattoos.  If you have some, get them removed.

Leviticus 19:28 states:
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

Thinking about getting a haircut?  It better be certain kind or else.

Leviticus 19:27 states:
Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.

If there's ever been a time where you've cursed your parents, I'm sorry but you should have been killed a long time ago.

Exodus 21:17 states:
"And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death."

I sure hope your marriage lasts, because getting remarried after divorcing is not a good thing.

Mark 10:11-12 states:
Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.

Sorry men, but if you're private parts are injured or removed in some terrible accident.  You're not allowed in the building of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 23:1 states:
He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.

If your husband gets into a fight, I recommend you wives better stay out of it.  If you still want your hands!

Deuteronomy 25:11-12 states:
When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets

Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her.

Ahhh, for those who love to eat ham sandwiches, pork skins, or bacon!!!

Leviticus 11:7-8 reads:
And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.

Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.

You women need to keep your mouths shut.  No, really.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 states:
Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

Ohhh gossipers!  None exist. LIE!!!!

Leviticus 19:16 states:
Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I am the LORD.

If you're going to work today - you better not.  This is no time for typing, shoveling, or trying to support a family.

Exodus 31:14-15 states:
"Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

I'm not even going to go here, because the likelihood that you're a virgin before getting married is slim to none, and a lot of you women - men included - should have been put to death a long time ago.

Deuteronomy 22:20-21 states:
But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:

Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you

And don't go talking to a Psychic, much less look for Harry Potter.

Leviticus 19:31 reads:
Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

Finally, for those who love their shrimp, lobster and many other types of seafood.  You're Screwed!!!!  See you in hell.

Leviticus 10-11 states:
And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:

They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.

My Christian Thoughts - Issue #2 - The Subway Preacher

In today's My Christian Thoughts I'd like to talk about a video I saw last week.  The issue hits close to home, because I remember portraying the pastor or preacher in this video.  The debauchery that takes place really upsets me and it does so, because who are we to judge other people?  Who are we to tell other people what to do?  I understand teaching or sharing The Word, but I don't agree with forcing it down a person's throat.  In the end, we will be judged individually by a higher Being if this is what we choose to believe, and for those who don't - more power to you.

I lost countless of friends in high school and in college, because I was preaching to them - telling them they were going to hell, because they didn't belong to the true "Church of Christ".  Imagine me going up to a Catholic, a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Methodist or a Mormon, telling them, "you, your mom, sister, brother and family are going to hell - all of you!  And if you don't change your religion soon, you will feel the fire deep in those pits!"

Yep, that was me.  Don't get me wrong, I believe in God - a loving and beautiful God who made me who I am.  Who is there beside me every day, and will be, until the day I die.  And this is what I choose to believe.  It's not your or anyone else's job to tell me it's not gonna happen.  My transformation took time, and I am so grateful to God that it happened, but that's another story - another issue of "My Christian Thoughts."

What is so remarkable about the video is the response the gay man receives after being chastised for over two minutes. 

[Excerpts from the video]
Instead of attempting to ignore a "preacher" spewing homophobic rants, a gay New York City subway rider decided to confront him.

On Saturday, a street preacher went on an anti-gay tirade on one of NYC's subway lines, according to New York Mag's Daily Intelligencer. The preacher yelled about society's poor influence on children, likened gay men to pedophiles and claimed "Michael Jackson died because he was gay" to a crowded subway car.

But one stranger wasn't having it.

"You teach hate," the man, wearing a khaki coat and a large fur hat, responded. "You are false. You are a false prophet. Do not listen to this man. He's scared. He's full of hatred."

The man continued to stand his ground and revealed that yes, he is gay, and yes, God still loves him. "I'm a man. And I'm a good man," he said. "And I'm a gay man and Jesus loves me! Jesus loves me!"

The gay man's eloquence moved his fellows riders so much that it was met by a rousing round of applause. 

My Christian Thoughts - Premiere Issue: Alfie's Home

Honestly, this has got be the most atrocious thing I have ever seen in my entire life.  We start today's new series, "My Christian Thoughts", with a book titled, "Alfie's Home".

It's a Sunday and most people are at church.  I know, I know.

Ironically enough, I used to be a frequent church-goer as a child - and way into my teenage years.  Taught Sunday School, led hymns even gave one sermon.  I wore a suit and tie often, carried around my Bible and even spread the Word of God to fellow school mates in and out of school.  What happened, you ask?  Nothing happened, I just realized the truth.  God created me as I am, and he loves me as I am.  He made me who he wanted to be.  I've said this many times before, I didn't wake up one day when I was four years old and say, "I think I want to be Gay today".

It's people like the author of this book that terrify me.  And I'm sorry to say this, but most Christians & Republicans believe in this manner.  No, I'm not sorry - most Christians & Republicans DO believe this way.

Earlier this month, PFOX (Parents and Friends of Gays and Ex-Gays) and the Family Research Council submitted a brief  that states that gays and lesbians shouldn't be a "protected class" under the law because homosexuality is something that can be changed or corrected.  So to show evidence, they provided this children's book.  I about threw up.

Alfie’s Home was published in 1993 by Cohen’s International Healing Foundation. [Image Excerpt Source]

The book starts with a picture of the protagonist on a boat with his dad.

But it goes bad fast, going right for the right-wing myth that homosexuality is caused by childhood sexual abuse…

…and by insufficiently attentive parents:

Eventually, Alfie seeks help and takes part in the “touch therapy” advocated by Cohen…

…which leads him to “realize that I’m not gay” and start dating a woman:

Oh and by the way, I was raised by two loving parents who were both excellent teachers and the most amazing people in the world. They taught me to cook, clean, change the oil, work on farm, write, read and most importantly love. And while some gay boys are molested as children and teenagers, most are not.  So to hell with this author - along with the images and story he's trying to convey.

"Ain't No Homos Gonna Make It To Heaven"

C'mon, join me now... "I know the Bible’s right, somebody’s wrong...ain't no homos gonna make it to heaven."  A little louder... "I know the Bible’s right, somebody’s wrong...ain't no homos gonna make it to heaven." 

Yep, those are the words sung by a mere child in front of a congregation in Greensberg, Indiana.  


Isn't that just lovely?  And to think that all along I thought our preachers and pastors were men of God and all they cared about was love. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing that everyone is not like that, but as more and more churches are declaring death to us gays, and spewing hatred month after month, what else are we to believe?

I believe in a loving God.  A building is not a church.  What makes up a church are its people, and if there is but more than 1 that condones this hatred and death towards myself and my partner, then you are part of a bigger problem.  You are, in part, congregating with them, singing and worshiping with them.  The bible states where two are more are gathered in his name, He is there with them.

You don't have to go to a building to worship with people who hate your son or your daughter.  Get together with those you love and worship together, at a park, in your home, at a school - worship with them - they are your church.

Are People Really This Stupid? Issue No. 26 - Crazy Church Lady

One of the most read series on my blog gets another great story... And it's all about this brilliant woman right here... Stacey Pritchard.

Remember my post from last Tuesday, the one about the Baptist pastor who told his congregation that all gays, including Ryan and myself, should be detained in electrified camps until we're all dead?  

Well the stupidity didn't end there.  Anderson Cooper had a member of the church on his show, AC360, who states that the Pastor's words were taken out of context.  And when Anderson grills her with questions, she continues with her stupidity by agreeing that those who commit adultery should also be put to death.  And she does this throughout the interview, rolling her eyes; stating that everyone is taking the words out of context.  

Honestly, Christians love using the phrase, no really, they do.  You see, I'm a Christian and this went on in every church I attended.  It's true we would always tell non-Christians that they are taking the "true words" out of context.

Check out the video, it's great!  Go Anderson! Love ya!
 

Isn't This The Truth? How Many More Versions?

I don't blog about religion much, because a lot of folks want to get rude and nasty, instead of discussing the issue at hand.  But since I found this great picture I had to say something :-)

I wanted to be a preacher growing up, and well, we all know how that turned out.  But one of the many questions I was asked during High School was why there were so many different versions of the Bible.  In the English language alone there are over 60 or so.  It's a sad reality, but it's true.  Most Christians will tell you that instead of saying versions, you should say "translations".  But I'm going to argue that point, because you can't keep saying there are many translations when the Hebrew and Greek text that it was originally written in has been changed to reflect a different meaning.  That is not a translation, that is a version.  Translation is the taking of a word or sentence and converting it from one language to another, like from Spanish to English or from French to German.  We know there are many translations, because not everyone can read Hebrew or Greek.

For example, here are three different versions of 
1 Corinthians 5:9

I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators.

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people

I did write to you in the epistle, not to keep company with whoremongers

Really?  Whoremongers?  I'm sorry, but these do not constitute three different translations, these are three different versions of a verse translated into the English language.  So which version is the right one?  

Yeah... my thoughts exactly.  

And then you wonder why so many people are exhausted over religion.  Its up to you to decide, do some research, but most importantly have faith.  As to why there are so many different versions of the Bible?  I'll leave that up to God to decide which version we should've been using.  Look, I'm gay, I believe in God, and most importantly he made me in his image.  Take with it what you will, because I'll be judged according to Him, not by you.

It's Okay To Be A Bully, So Long As It's For Religious Reasons

Jacob Rogers

Yep, the good 'ol south - you gotta love'em. It hasn't even been a month since a local gay teen in Tennessee was buried that a new law allowing kids to bully is being proposed by the State Legislature.  I know, you're thinking I'm trying to push some liberal agenda, that no conservative would ever do such a thing.  But guess what, it's true!

As local news channel WSMV is reporting, the proposed law change by state lawmakers would allow students to speak out against homosexuality without punishment if that's what their religious beliefs call for. [source]

So in other words... if my child is walking through the halls, minding their own business, and a religious kid comes up and tells him or her they are going to hell, they're a sinner or sodomite, they will have every right to ridicule them and belittle them?  Yes, this new law will allow that.  You mean to tell me, if they tell my child "you're a fag and are going to burn in eternal fire," and my child might not even be gay - that will be okay? YEP.

It's true and it's sad, but this type of behavior is what led many of us to contemplate suicide when we were younger.  I would often find myself praying myself to sleep asking God to make me normal, asking him why would he made me this way if I was his child.  Depression kicks in, and everything you're taught to believe in this world turns out to be a lie. You start to believe that everyone, and every thing is a lie!

In correspondence with the Tennessee Equality Project, the state's main gay rights group, state Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, claimed gay people commit suicide at a higher rate than others and suggested Jacob's sexuality itself drove him to kill himself. Ragan asked whether the suicide could have had "more to do with his own proclivities and behavior than anything to do with schoolmate bullies ..."

Blaming the victim is necessary to prevent Jacob's death from damaging chances for passage of Tennessee's 2012 state legislative priority—a bill to make it easier for young bigots to mistreat gay schoolkids. This legislation brought by conservative Christians who oppose special protections for gay people actually gives special protections to homophobic bullies. [source]