Christians Sue to Discriminate Against Gays

[chefmike]

The latest news concerning the BBB (Bushland Bible-Bangers)...

Christians Sue to Discriminate Against Gays, When They're Not Too Busy Suing For Divorce

The ever-inventive Christian right has unveiled a new tactic in their hate campaign against lesbians and gays.

In a brilliant piece of twisted logic, they're now filing lawsuits against universities and workplaces that protect gays from discrimination, claiming that anti-discrimination policies discriminate against their own Christian right to...er...discriminate. Got it?

You may be appalled by their grim determination.

But you gotta love how they use Christianity to attack gay people, and then expect us to ignore their own gross violations of scripture. Especially in the matter of divorce and remarriage.

After all, Jesus never said a word about homosexuality, which was widespread in the Hellenistic world. But he was crystal clear on divorce and remarriage.

Matthew 5: 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.

Luke 16: 18 Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

That's Jesus talking. Seems pretty clear to me.

And yet most modern denominations - including lots of Christian conservatives and people who claim to be born again - allow both divorce and remarriage. In fact, the highest divorce rates in America are in the Bible Belt.

A few years back I interviewed a high-ranking Christian conservative who was leading some typically misguided campaign against gays. I couldn't resist asking him about the divorce discrepancy.

He admitted that he himself was divorced and remarried. But no problem - he repented and God forgave him.

I asked him whether he ought to go back to his first wife if he really repented, since Jesus clearly says that he's still committing adultery with his second wife. He said no, to repent meant to promise God that he won't ever get divorced again.

Hmmm. I asked where I could find this in the Bible. He patiently explained that in Jesus' day people only lived to around forty. Today we live much longer, so obviously Jesus would have taught differently today.

Go ahead and snicker, but I actually have no problem with this, in itself. It seems like an enlightened example of how people can reinterpret religious injunctions to fit the times.

My problem is with Christians - like him - who are perfectly willing to rewrite the Bible to cut themselves slack in their own lives, but then turn around, attack gays, and cry: The Bible made me do it! I think it's called hypocrisy, and Jesus took a rather dim view of that.

Case in point is the Christian Legal Society, the organization of pious lawyers and judges that's spearheading the new campaign to overturn anti-discrimination laws.

I did a Google search that combined the words "Christian Legal Society" and "divorce." Guess what? Google immediately burped up several members of the Christian Legal Society who are...you guessed it...divorce lawyers!

This may seem surprising, given the very real damage divorce does to families, but I'm not surprised. Compassion is hard. Hypocrisy is easy.

Jesus, however, may not be so forgiving.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabriel-rotello/christians-sue-to-discrim_b_18935.html

[Hugh Jarrod]

Not sure those are the words of Jesus. I mean if you believe the bible to be written by God and not mankind then you would believe that. They're just so rediculous suing to discriminate sad and yet almost funny.

P.S. Nice location (love that song)

[chefmike]

Not sure those are the words of Jesus. I mean if you believe the bible to be written by God and not mankind then you would believe that. They're just so rediculous suing to discriminate sad and yet almost funny.

P.S. Nice location (love that song)

I agree, but I love it when the "good book" is used to show the hypocrisy of those who use it to support their bigoted agenda.

[Quinn]

My problem is with Christians . . . who are perfectly willing to rewrite the Bible to cut themselves slack in their own lives, but then turn around, attack gays, and cry: The Bible made me do it! I think it's called hypocrisy, and Jesus took a rather dim view of that.


I think this succinctly describes my problem with just about every established/organized religious and political movement. They’re all overwhelmingly characterized by one thing: hypocrisy. Come on, boys and girls, say it with me. Hypocrisy!!!

-Quinn

[Trogdor]

The bible, for centuries, was written by hand, by monks in candle lit rooms.

You're not gonan tell me that there was no way that at least one of these monks did not go and change something he did not like?

Or maybe the front page was removed and that page was,


To my Darling, Cindy. All characters within this book are completely fictional and all relations to anyone , living or dead, are totally coincidental

:mrgreen:

I don't know who's funnier......the right wing christians or the scientologists. :?:

[Quinn]

You're not gonan tell me that there was no way that at least one of these monks did not go and change something he did not like?


A great point. If you want to have some real fun think about this: The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew (I think two books were also written in Aramaic), translated into Greek, and then into other languages. The New Testament, for its part, was originally written in Greek, and then it was translated into other languages. It's generally acknowledged that much of the translating from Greek to English was poorly done. I can only guess at the translation from Hebrew to Greek.

-Quinn

[Caleigh]

Mike, i have to say you keep on having the most
um.. tantalizing avatars.

[The Mad Dragon]

This is why I am glad I am no longer a Catholic. Too much double talk gives me a headache.

[trish]

okay...so the bible is subject to random mutations as it's copied by scribes and translated by scholars. The mutated copies compete and are subject to natural selection. hmmmmm now all we need is one big meteorite from outer space.

_________________________
watch the skies

[Felicia Katt]

truth is stranger than fiction, but not funnier

http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=61307

FK

[Trogdor]

You're not gonan tell me that there was no way that at least one of these monks did not go and change something he did not like?


A great point. If you want to have some real fun think about this: The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew (I think two books were also written in Aramaic), translated into Greek, and then into other languages. The New Testament, for its part, was originally written in Greek, and then it was translated into other languages. It's generally acknowledged that much of the translating from Greek to English was poorly done. I can only guess at the translation from Hebrew to Greek.

-Quinn

And the Dead Sea Scrolls were, for quite some time, kept in a vault in a museum and no one was allowed, apart from a few scholars, to see them or photocopy them. And only after alot of pressure did they get released, and so on. And many parts of them are not translated at all yet.

Looks at the Judas news the other day. :idea: