I have opinions and I'm not afraid to share them

The title is long.

I'll try and keep this short.

We all have opinions. Some have more opinions than others. Some are more willing to share their opinions on everything, no matter what it is. I'm one of those people. It gets me into some great debates and conversations. It also gets me into a lot of trouble. There are some things you should just avoid.

I guess one of the things I've learned in the last year is when you speak, it should be quality, not quantity. 

Example: Joel gets onto me all the time because I tell him that I don't think home schooling is the best option. 

His parents were religious and for whatever reason they thought it would be a good idea to keep him away from the secular world. As if you could do that. (Didn't Jesus say you can't escape the world?) Joel agrees generally that public schools are better for social lives and relating to other children. The point we disagree about is the quality of their education. He thinks public schools aren't effective and I think home schooling doesn't give the kid the help they need if they're falling behind. If you have a child who isn't learning as well in public schools, they can get tutoring help and put into programs. You don't get that at home, I would think.

Maybe I have a valid argument. Maybe not. But that's not really the point. The point is it bothers him when I bring up my point of view. If I'm guilty of anything, it's of being insensitive. I like to tell it how it is, or how I see it. I'm brutally honest and obnoxiously blunt. It's a blessing and a curse.

To top the cake with icing, I'm kind of a hypocrite. If I had to make a list of my greatest sins and biggest character flaws, double standards would be on the top of the list. I often hold others to standards I'm not willing to follow. That's not fair. It's also not a good selling point for convincing others to respect issues sensitive to me, when I won't give them the same respect.

You've heard the saying, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all. Well for me it's "if you think you have something nice to say, think before you say it. If you think you have anything to say, think about it before you make new enemies."

P.S- That wasn't really all that short. See what I mean? I have opinions and I'm not afraid to share them!

God Hates Fruit Loops- Part 2

Libby Phelps isn't crazy.

She's actually quite normal, all things considered. She was born and raised in the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church; that engages in cult-like protests all over the globe proclaiming homosexuality is the sin that broke the camels back and that God is destroying our country and killing our troops because we won't obey.

It's sick and it's twisted. But it's what they believe and nothing seems to stop them. When they protest troop funerals, motorcycle riders will stand in front of them to cover up their signs and they'll start their engines to blare out any sounds from the Phelps. Yet still, the protests go on. Radio shows are now giving them air time to stop some of the funeral protests. And yet, they still continue. The father of a fallen soldier who was protested by the Phelps, who was told by them that his dead son was burning in hell for fighting for our freedom, took them all the way to the Supreme Court. They won. And it still continues.

Megan Phelps hinted this week on her Facebook the possibility of an reality show to get their message on an even bigger audience. Shirley Phelps-Roper is all over Twitter and all over TV and radio. They're bigger than ever.

Among it all, Libby Phelps got away. She's among a handful of Phelps who got away. She recently came out of hiding and did an interview at an Q&A session with Kevin Smith, the director of an Phelps-inspired horror movie called 'Red State'. What Libby had to say shocked me.

Not only do the Phelps do this for publicity, as expected, but they do it because they really believe this stuff. It's not some ploy to just gain attention entirely, it's attention with a message. And it's a powerful message. 

The message is:

1. God hates gay people

2. God hates America

3. God hates churches

4. God hates Christians

5. God hates dead troops

6. God hates alive troops

7. God hates dead celebrities

8. God hates alive celebrities

9. God hates President Obama

10. God hates everything he created

......BUT THEM.

Libby also said that she left the church after praying with the other members of the church (and I use that word loosely with them) for people to die. Innocent people to die? That's what they pray for?! Not for world peace, an end to poverty, that sinners would repent, that God's will be done here on earth. None of that stuff that Christians pray for. None of that stuff Jesus talked about. Nothing that the Bible would prescribe they pray about.

Just death. They want people to die.

That's sick--even for them. 

I've spent many years studying their church, researching their view point and even on occasion interacting with their church members. I've come to the conclusion that they've been brainwashed to hate. They believe God wants them to hate, as he hates. Or so they say.

In doing so, they miss the reality of God. They miss the big story line of the Bible. They miss the reasoning why Jesus died on the cross in the first place. And they miss the most important commandments of the Bible that Jesus uttered himself.

Love. 

It's love, stupid. 

Yet what Libby Phelps talks about is an environment where she was expected to hate other people. She was expected to spend all of her time, money and energy proclaiming a false doctrine of hatred. God does get angry, he does have wrath. But mostly importantly, he loves.

I feel bad for Libby.

I feel bad that she was lied to about Christianity. I feel bad that her picketing and her families picketing led to people getting a false impression of Christians. 

I just....feel bad.

Libby isn't crazy. Far from it.

She's compassionate, funny, warm, and...loving.

And that's something that God surely doesn't hate.

My take.

The 'Belief Blog' is CNN's websites religious opinion section.

They recently did a blog post arguing why the Bible condemns homosexuality. In response to that, based on the massive feedback they received, they added another blog called 'Your Take' posting some of the readers responses. There were a lot of responses but CNN picked these few as the best of the best.

Before I go any further, let's clear something up.

My sexuality is the hot button issue addressed by CNN.

It amazes me sometimes. My life isn't much different than my straight friends or my families. I like a lot of the same movies and music, I do many of the same activities and I have the same kind of boring routines in my daily life as they do.

But because of one aspect of who I am (my sexuality), I'm seen to some as spiritually broken, morally unacceptable and just plain wrong.

We can argue why that's so. But in doing so, I think we'd all agree that religion plays a big role in the equation.

CNN knew that, addressed it, and let the readers respond.

Taking it a step further, I want to address and respond to those readers:

Josei
Interesting that gay is a sin. However, I never see the "correct" religious people fighting to save families and male-female marriages. Are you out there condemning those "straight" couples who cheat, beat and abuse one another, then flee a marriage? No, you don't. But, yet I see you "correct" religious people fighting to keep gay couples from being married in even a civil union when straight marriages are trashed every day.

I like this response. We've all seen the statistics that half of heterosexual marriages end in divorce, many due to sins like adultery and sexual immorality. How come we never see those so violently opposed to same-sex marriage bring up these numbers? In Matthew, Jesus asks the question: Why do you see the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye but not the plank in your own? The word choice Jesus uses is hypocrite. It's hypocrisy!

If you want to address the problem with your brother's sexuality and their perceived sin, maybe you should first acknowledge and address the big problem you face with your own marriages.

Neutralizer
Why does my son have to learn at school that being gay is cool and OK? Tell you what, no praying in school and no brainwashing our kids that being gay or transgender is acceptable?

First of all, what school system teaches that being gay is cool? Public school systems are embracing anti-bullying measures to address the growing problem of homosexual teen suicide and depression. Much of the problem is due to attitudes like this. Some parents don't want concepts like acceptance taught in schools. The only thing that acceptance does is teach children we are all different and while we have different opinions, it's not okay to discriminate or bully someone because of their individuality.

You call it brainwashing, I call it responsible. We have to address bullying.

FYI--You're allowed to pray in public schools. Does the school push prayer? No it doesn't and it shouldn't. We have separation of church and state in this country for a reason. The two issues are apples and oranges.

kcv
As a Christian, I know the No. 1 rule is to not to play God ... which means not judging! We all have our prejudices, which is human nature, but I try very hard to not judge. Here's a very simple rule that makes it easy:

You can look at your neighbor and decide that you would NEVER do, act, or speak things that they will do, act, or speak ... but they are looking at you thinking the same! None of us are perfect, and we ALL do things the Bible says not to do (including abominations like eating pork, shellfish, gold, etc..)!

They bring up an important argument: We shouldn't play God.

We're allowed to oppose things because God opposes them.

But we are supposed to love our neighbors.

Love is not hatred. And unfortunately, that's how a lot of Christians express their feelings towards homosexuals.

Let's have a conversation and a dialogue on what the Bible opposes. But let's do it with love--not hatred.

Salvatore
Like Sirena I have read the Bible multiple times. I was raised Catholic, parents were religious educators and lectures ... I think reading the Bible, front to back, and not just the little snippets you get on Sunday, would turn most reasonable people away. It is so full of contradiction you have to suspend belief to believe. How can you take one "instruction manual" and wind up with so many "products"? It's ridiculous.

I don't really have much to say to this readers response. Disbelief in the Bible's accuracy isn't a good starting place for answering the question. To make it worse, the reader didn't really address the question at hand. Just like homosexuality, the Bible is a hot button issue. Which is why neither side gains much traction in these debates. Too many emotions and feelings get involved and it turns into a pissing contest.

The last readers response was similar, so I won't address it.

I just want to finish with this:

War.  Rape.  Murder.  Poverty.  Equal rights for gays.  Guess which one the Southern Baptist Convention is protesting? 

Think about it.

Don't let me fall.

Why are we obsessed with watching people fall?

Reality television has been dominating networks since Y2K. But that style of television has seemed to evolve towards embracing shows that show the failures of others. People with drug habits go on Intervention. People with weight issues go on Heavy or the Biggest Loser. We can't get enough of watching people at their lowest point.

Why is it fascinating to us? Is it because we realize we're a few bad decisions away from that person? Is it because we're so insecure with our own lives, we'd rather watch as others lives tumble around us?

I watched Hoarders the other night with Joel and the only reaction we both had was "how could these people do something that stupid?" One man had so much stuff on his two acres of land, he wasn't able to get into his own home. Instead he would sleep in the only ten feet of room left in a camper on his property. And I couldn't look away. His failure and misery was my entertainment. It's cultures entertainment.

Pain, suffering and, yes, failure is our favorite entertainment of choice.

Personally one of my biggest fears is failure. No one wants to fail. We all hate that feeling of not being thin enough, pretty enough, rich enough, talented enough, etc. Does watching a show about obese people make me feel better about being thinner? Does a show about people with drug problems make me feel good inside because I don't have a drug issue? No, not really. But it's not me, I'm not the one failing. They are. 

Lady Gaga was recently interviewed and she said something that stuck with me. She said that people would like to see her die. Why? Because she's a worldwide celebrity and a pop music icon. Society would love to see her dissolve just as fast as she rose to stardom. We love to watch them fall, right? Britney Spears having a nuclear meltdown, Christina Aguilera on a downward spiral and Charlie Sheen going postal. It's our obsession.

Society is so sick that we'd rather watch the failures of other people than make something of ourselves. Maybe that's why our education system is in crisis, we've got moral decay across the board and our government is as corrupt as it's ever been. It's all our fault and we could care less. Show us someone else failing, we want to be entertained. 

Give us politicians in sex scandals, celebrities in rehab, ordinary people in crisis. But don't let us fall.

We're just bored. And they're just interesting.