Month: June 2016

After reading the NRA response to the shooting in Orlando it has finally sunk completely in what the term Political Correctness really means. It means any rights, due process or legal standing given to anyone who is not a white Christian male.

As a white male, who because of my religious beliefs fall into the label of Christian. I can only say Fuck all of ya’ll and your political correctness blaming, punk ass cowardly, bigoted asses. God forgive me for my anger and lead me away from my thoughts of hate and malice towards people who are too blind to see that the hate in their own hearts is no different than the gun mans! Help me Lord to understand how to deal respectfully and calmly with these problems so that I can make a difference in such a world controlled by hate. Lead me in the path of loving those who make me so angry.

Unless you have been in combat or an active shooter situation you do not know how you will react. Carrying a concealed or unconcealed weapon does not change the reality that without significant training all you may end up doing is firing blindly adding to the death toll. So please stop bragging about what you might do in a situation.

When only 3 of the mass shootings in the US within the last year were related to radical Islam, doesn’t mean you can just blame Muslims for all of the violence. This is especially true when one was committed by a radical Christian and another by a white supremacist. We have within this country a culture of violence; from the gun culture that lives in fear of the government and being unarmed to the glorification of violence in movies and on tv. Even this week we have heard from radical Christians who have come out in support of the shooting in Orlando, so this is not just a Muslim or immigrant problem despite how some people want to paint things.

Not only do we have a culture of violence but we also have a culture of hate, bigotry and complicity. From a presidential candidate who demonizes Mexicans and incites violence against protesters. To those who get their panties all twisted because African Americans want their lives to matter equally. Then there are those who think that because they and others like them hate President Obama, then he must be the most decisive president ever. Whiners who constantly complain about political correctness because they cannot use racial, bigoted or demeaning language without being called out for the bigots that they are. Then there are those who stand silently by pretending not to see or hear what goes on around them and their complicity fuels the bigotry and gives it more power. History teaches us that this combination can pretty quickly create a Situation where we fill slave ships, have Trails of Tears and fill gas chambers.

This is an idea I have struggled with in terms of God and where God is in relation to the world as a whole and my within my life. So often we hear about God’s control and God’s will framed in absolutism, ironically enough in relation to bad situations such as chronic illness, terminal illness or mass shootings and terror attacks. There are those who want to use these events to lay blame on something or another and to lay these horrors at God’s feet, people like Pat Robertson. 

I just do not think God is sitting around all the time deciding so and so is going to get cancer and die, bob over there is going to get rear ended at that intersection and suffer dibilitating back problems the rest of his life. That group of people will die in a terror attack. I really do not think God sits back and listens as people pray for healing, picking and choosing who he is going to help.
What I do believe is that if we follow the example of Jesus the Christ by living a selfless life, trusting and leaning on God, doing his work; that when we are doing these things God will pour his blessings into our lives. Our lives will not be free from problems and pain, we will make choices that cause us to suffer, others will make choices that cause us to suffer, the choices we make can cause others to suffer, bad things in life will happen. God’s peace and healing are first and foremost for our spirit, we are to learn to quiet our minds and let God guide us through the Holy Spirit that abides in us. As we build our relationship with God and move from our position of selfish self serving living then we can find freedom when we lay our burdens down. When we happily accept that our treasures are stored up in heaven not here on earth we are not burdening ourselves with fruitless pursuits.

So God if I am wrong show me the truth.

I do not think these words mean what some people think they mean. I read an article this morning on how white christian evangelicals in America moaned non stop about how they are being persecuted and discriminated against. How horrible their lives have become since prayer was taken out of school, now gays can marry and liberals want to protect them by changing discrimination laws. Every time I read these types of opinions I picture the character Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride saying "You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means." Even without getting into the religious, philosophical aspects of prayer in school or giving people equal rights within the secular community; I just want to address the biggest, smelliest part of this entire line of thinking. When a group such as evangelical Christianity uses their power and influence to control how other people get to think and act within the public and private space that is persecution. When Christian prayer in school is forced onto other children and their own religions prayers are denied, then they are punished for not participating, that is persecution and discrimination. Also denying equal protection and access to services under the law to a group of people for any reason is discrimination. Having your ability to persecute and discriminate taken away IS NOT!
Then there is the fact that by claiming persecution and discrimination you actually marginalize those who really are being persecuted and discriminated against. You are fighting this fake war on Christianity in America instead of providing resources to Christians in other countries who really are facing real threats.
Finally for all of your pissing and moaning you seem to have missed the message of the gospels, you know the one we are supposed to spread. You have lost the spirit of the law and become like the Sadducees and Pharisees, arguing about the law and trying to force the letter of the law onto everyone, in the Gospels at no time will you find Jesus forcing anyone to follow him. If we teach our children to pray and raise them up right at home, then will they stay on the path. Do the works that God would have us to do so the world sees God in Us.