Homosexuality

How come people treat people who are homosexual as worse than anyone else? Why are we so afraid of it? The Bible says that a man should not lie with another man, as with a woman. And it adds, "For the Lord detests these things." But I ernestly believe that the latter statement was referring to the entire section, which was about a variety of sexual behaviors. We all know people, are friends with people, and may even be people who have sinned sexually, one way or another, and yet we treat homosexuality as the worst crime. Most people lust- usually after the opposite sex, and the Bible says that this itself is a sin. But we treat this as normal humaness, while we treat homosexuals, who lust after the same sex, as evil. And gross, disgusting, etc.

We are hypocrites. I don't see a difference. Sexual sin is sexual sin. We all sin; even if we don't lust, we sin some other way. But it's easy to attack the sin that's far from ourselves.

We do a diservice when we separate them from us so completely. Who's going to listen to us preach, "You are evil!?" Their response is that we are hateful, afraid, judgemental. There's no room left to listen because we force them into the defensive.

The truth is, the Bible says that it is wrong to live a homosexual lifestyle. If you believe the Bible, it's fair to agree that the action is wrong. But in the same breath, you must agree that it is wrong to sleep with someone's spouse. It is wrong to sleep around. It is wrong to sleep with people you aren't married to in general. And it is even wrong to fantacize about it.

That said, how many of us can accuse without being accused?

But many of us treat homosexuals with hate and disgust - even those who choose not to live a homosexual lifestyle. We use "gay" as a derogatory phrase, attacking our own friends who are afraid to say that they feel this way themselves- especially now that they see how we feel about it.

And we treat people who are gay as "gays." That becomes their identity. But my identity is not my sexuality, so why should they be defined by their sexuality. I doubt that gay people think more about sex than the average heterosexual. What about the rest of who they are?

My friend, Brian... supposedly, he's gay. I've never asked him. But everyone else "knows" it. I've never talked about sexual issues with him, however, so I wouldn't know. And that is because gay or not, he also has hobbies, political ideas, etc, that are more relevant to our friendship.

Those of us who believe the Bible need to stop attacking these people. This does not mean that you should ignore behavior that you believe is wrong. If you know someone is doing something wrong, and you care about them, you should find a way to confront it. But if you care about them, you can find a caring way to confront it. And ultimately, if the individual does not accept your source of reasoning (ie: the Bible says so), then using the source holds no value. First, you must prove the source, before you use it in reference. And anyone that you would chose to confront in their actions must be welcome to confront you in your faults, because we all certainly have them.

Darfur Genocide

This one will be updated, because there is so much information. A genocide is currently claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Darfur, Sudan. I started hearing about this genocide about a year ago, after watching Hotel Rwanda with the church youth group that I volunteer with, and deciding to look up the term, "genocide" online. At first, I didn't believe the information I was finding because I hadn't heard anything about it in the news. I decided to research the information myself, thinking maybe the term, "genocide" was a rhetorical phrase used by one special interest group to get people's attention. After spending the day online, however, looking up news articles, special interest sites, and even official governmental sites, etc, I was convinced that it really is a genocide; a whole culture of people really are being killed, though not currently in the way Hitler did it- Darfur is instead using forced poverty and forced homelessness to lead the group down the trail towards death. Then again, Hitler didn't start off killing everyone directly either.
Our government (the U.S.) is involved, trying to end the genocide, but we are not doing much, certainly not enough. The UN is involved; they have agreed that it needs to stop. There have been peacemaking efforts, and some states are creating economic sanctions to force it to stop, but a whole culture of people are being forced into a death-trap lifestyle. I will give examples, but I want to give sources with those examples, and don't have them right now. I know that many people do not believe in involving themselves in the affairs of another country. But if my country forced me out of my home, into refugee camps full of desparate people, where I could not work to obtain food, but had to rely on sharing the minimal in rations, or quite possibly starve, and where I would be fighting a huge risk of being beaten, raped, etc, I would hope that someone somewhere would see me as an individual, and get me out of my situation. A country is like a parent; if it is not willing to provide for the basic needs of its' people, then someone needs to step in. If you want to look it up, for now, here's one path: type "Save Darfur" into your search engine (and press enter). ...update: I now have a site specifically dedicated to understanding the Darfur Genocide: http://understandingdarfurgenocide.blogspot.com

What Political Party Would Jesus Join?

I don't think that Jesus would actually choose one of our political parties; he'd start his own. But what values would characterize that party?
When the disciples asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, he gave two: to love God with everything that we are, and to love others in the same way that we love ourselves.
The most important aspect of Jesus' party would be to show love. It would not be a party that suggests every man for himself. Instead, I believe it would seek to help each of its' members to grow and to attain their purpose/goals.
As a camp counselor, we did group games that required a team to get from one point to another, through various obstacles. One game used a tire hanging from a branch, to represent a ring of fire. The teams that said, "okay, take turns. Everyone jump through the ring of fire" ended up with a minimum of one person stuck on the other side. But the groups who figured out how to work as a team, showing concern for each member, were able to get everyone across. If you climb up a swinging ladder, all the way to the top, how do you reach down and help the person below you. But if you take a step, then help pull the person below you up a step (to whatever degree they need it), and take another step, then you both can get to the top. Jesus' political party works to help each member through life, pushing even before they themselves are safe, and pulling from ahead, or even going back through the fire to help, when someone gets stuck. Jesus' party would not stop, though, at helping its' own members. It would help everyone who is willing to accept assistance. The Samaritan that Jesus spoke of and praised helped someone he did not know, a fellow member of the human race, but that was it. Jesus' party does not stop at helping only people in the church, or only people in one's own country. Jesus' party helps everyone it sees who needs or could benefit from help.