Wearing white
OK, so I wore white today. Before you jump the gun, I hope you'll read this with an open mind. Here are three things I think you should know:
1. Who really says Christians hate gays?
Homosexual activity is just like any other disobedience with God. No different from greed, anger, adultery, theft. So, in exactly the same way that Jesus loves the sinner, we are required to love every sinner too. It is hypocritical for any Christian to say he hates gays, because that would mean he hates all sinners, including himself. As the Bible instructs us,"Love your neighbour as yourself".
BUT that doesn't mean it's OK to sin. Just as Christians still love sinners, absolutely including gays, we also love the hothead and the adulterer for example. But we still think it's absolutely wrong to be hot-tempered and to commit adultery.
So if Christians don't hate gays, why do so many people think so? It's because of the activists. The only people who consistently say Christians hate gays are gay activists and their friends, in order to promote their agenda and because it's cool to be in the in-crowd. Look at everything Pastor Lawrence Khong says. He always takes pains to make it clear - love the sinner, hate the sin. Conversely, look at all the hate filled speech Pastor Lawrence Khong receives on his Facebook page. Read what he says and then read what the comments say. Then tell me who is the hater.
Tell me how many "Christians are anti-gay bigots" memes and comments you have seen on Facebook, on TV, the movies and theatre. Then tell me how many "I hate gays" memes and comments you've seen. Then tell me which you think is the more confrontational side today.
2. So what if you're born this way?
Show me proof that being gay is genetic. Studies of identical twins show that when one twin is gay, there is only a small chance that the other twin will also be gay. If being gay really is genetic why would that be the case? See this link.
But even if someone could show that being gay has some genetic link, so what? Suppose I am genetically disposed to being angry (and yes, unlike the mythical gay gene, there IS evidence that anger is genetically linked). Or suppose I am genetically disposed to alcohol addiction. That doesn't suddenly make it OK for me to be angry all the time, or drunk all the time. We all have our predisposed weaknesses. But that doesn't mean we have to celebrate them. We have a choice.
Remember, no one is condemning anyone for having a pre-disposition for anger, alcoholism or homosexual relations. It's giving in to it that's the issue. So the "born gay" argument is akin to saying I'm born angry, I can't help it. I'm born an alcoholic, I can't help it. I'm born gay, I can't help having sex. Really? What would we say to people who try that sort of justification with us - yup, at its core, it's a rationalisation to do what you want. Come on man, give the human race a bit more credit. Yes, it's difficult, and in many cases, horribly horribly horribly difficult. But we all struggle with some issue or other. And if you really want to, you can choose.
3. Who's really standing up for freedom?
Why are we making a stand on this? Because when someone's angry, he generally concedes it's wrong for him to be angry. In the same way, when someone commits adultery, he usually admits it's wrong. But gay activists want the world to say that when someone engages in homosexual activity, that's not wrong. In fact, it should be celebrated with parades and parties. It should be taught in schools to children that this is fine. It should be mandated in the workplace that affirmative action be taken to promote homosexual activity. Anyone who disagrees should be censured for "hate speech".
In the US, it's reached the stage where churches are being sued to force them to marry homosexual couples. A cake business was sued because it declined to provide a cake for a gay wedding. A T-shirt business was sued because it declined to print T-shirts to promote a gay event. Note this critically important distinction. These businesses were not saying I won't deal with gay people (which in my opinion, would be discriminatory and wrong. Might as well say we can't deal with angry people either). They only said I don't want to bake a cake or print a T-shirt for a gay event. Surely they ought to have that right? Would you say it's right to force a teetotalling caterer to do business with a beer convention?
Voltaire (ironically an opponent of organised religion and Christianity) once said, "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticise." I think that today, he would find that the tables are turning.
So that's why I wear white today. If I don't stand up today for precious freedom, it may be too late for my children to do anything about it. They will no longer be able to publicly profess their faith. They will be brought to court to compel them to act against their conscience. They will be forced to subject their children to an education system which is opposed to their faith. The ideal of a family, and every child's right to have both a mother and a father, with each playing their unique roles, will be shattered.
So I hope the next time you think about "Christian bigots", you can see why this really means something to me, and to you too. How important is this to me? Well, I thought long and hard about publishing this. Hey, even the Mozilla CEO got sacked, just for making a donation to support a constitutional referendum (that was actually passed by the majority of voters mind you) that marriage = one man + one woman (yet another example of intolerance against any criticism of the homosexual agenda). But I figure, if I ever have a job or career opportunity that is dependent on me being ashamed of Jesus and keeping my mouth shut, then I'd rather not have that job. It's more important to be right, than to be merely politically correct (aka popular)!
1. Who really says Christians hate gays?
Homosexual activity is just like any other disobedience with God. No different from greed, anger, adultery, theft. So, in exactly the same way that Jesus loves the sinner, we are required to love every sinner too. It is hypocritical for any Christian to say he hates gays, because that would mean he hates all sinners, including himself. As the Bible instructs us,"Love your neighbour as yourself".
BUT that doesn't mean it's OK to sin. Just as Christians still love sinners, absolutely including gays, we also love the hothead and the adulterer for example. But we still think it's absolutely wrong to be hot-tempered and to commit adultery.
So if Christians don't hate gays, why do so many people think so? It's because of the activists. The only people who consistently say Christians hate gays are gay activists and their friends, in order to promote their agenda and because it's cool to be in the in-crowd. Look at everything Pastor Lawrence Khong says. He always takes pains to make it clear - love the sinner, hate the sin. Conversely, look at all the hate filled speech Pastor Lawrence Khong receives on his Facebook page. Read what he says and then read what the comments say. Then tell me who is the hater.
Tell me how many "Christians are anti-gay bigots" memes and comments you have seen on Facebook, on TV, the movies and theatre. Then tell me how many "I hate gays" memes and comments you've seen. Then tell me which you think is the more confrontational side today.
But even if someone could show that being gay has some genetic link, so what? Suppose I am genetically disposed to being angry (and yes, unlike the mythical gay gene, there IS evidence that anger is genetically linked). Or suppose I am genetically disposed to alcohol addiction. That doesn't suddenly make it OK for me to be angry all the time, or drunk all the time. We all have our predisposed weaknesses. But that doesn't mean we have to celebrate them. We have a choice.
Remember, no one is condemning anyone for having a pre-disposition for anger, alcoholism or homosexual relations. It's giving in to it that's the issue. So the "born gay" argument is akin to saying I'm born angry, I can't help it. I'm born an alcoholic, I can't help it. I'm born gay, I can't help having sex. Really? What would we say to people who try that sort of justification with us - yup, at its core, it's a rationalisation to do what you want. Come on man, give the human race a bit more credit. Yes, it's difficult, and in many cases, horribly horribly horribly difficult. But we all struggle with some issue or other. And if you really want to, you can choose.
3. Who's really standing up for freedom?
Why are we making a stand on this? Because when someone's angry, he generally concedes it's wrong for him to be angry. In the same way, when someone commits adultery, he usually admits it's wrong. But gay activists want the world to say that when someone engages in homosexual activity, that's not wrong. In fact, it should be celebrated with parades and parties. It should be taught in schools to children that this is fine. It should be mandated in the workplace that affirmative action be taken to promote homosexual activity. Anyone who disagrees should be censured for "hate speech".
In the US, it's reached the stage where churches are being sued to force them to marry homosexual couples. A cake business was sued because it declined to provide a cake for a gay wedding. A T-shirt business was sued because it declined to print T-shirts to promote a gay event. Note this critically important distinction. These businesses were not saying I won't deal with gay people (which in my opinion, would be discriminatory and wrong. Might as well say we can't deal with angry people either). They only said I don't want to bake a cake or print a T-shirt for a gay event. Surely they ought to have that right? Would you say it's right to force a teetotalling caterer to do business with a beer convention?
Voltaire (ironically an opponent of organised religion and Christianity) once said, "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticise." I think that today, he would find that the tables are turning.
So that's why I wear white today. If I don't stand up today for precious freedom, it may be too late for my children to do anything about it. They will no longer be able to publicly profess their faith. They will be brought to court to compel them to act against their conscience. They will be forced to subject their children to an education system which is opposed to their faith. The ideal of a family, and every child's right to have both a mother and a father, with each playing their unique roles, will be shattered.
So I hope the next time you think about "Christian bigots", you can see why this really means something to me, and to you too. How important is this to me? Well, I thought long and hard about publishing this. Hey, even the Mozilla CEO got sacked, just for making a donation to support a constitutional referendum (that was actually passed by the majority of voters mind you) that marriage = one man + one woman (yet another example of intolerance against any criticism of the homosexual agenda). But I figure, if I ever have a job or career opportunity that is dependent on me being ashamed of Jesus and keeping my mouth shut, then I'd rather not have that job. It's more important to be right, than to be merely politically correct (aka popular)!
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