To begin I want to state my beliefs. I am a Christian, raised a Pentecostal, but after a more in-depth look into my beliefs, I found myself being a part of the very small minority of Christians, who believe in evolution, but yet still believe in a creator. I have theories behind how it works out, but my theories are not the subject of this diary, and don't serve the point I am trying to get across. The point is show that with an actual study of the Bible, it becomes clearer and clearer that a liberal view of most of the social arguments is the way that most Christians should believe in.
"But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not. So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up Himself, and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." (John 8:2-11 KJV)
That story is one of the best examples of how Jesus was more liberal than most conservative preachers, or conservative leaders would allow you to believe. Although this story is used to show that only Jesus is without sin, it is also a parable of how judgment towards another human, is not reserved for any of us. We must allow those who sin, to be allowed to sin, and not "stone", or for a more modern sense, demonize them, but forgive them, pray for them, whatever you choose.
So instead of protesting against gay marriage, we should allow all people the right to marriage who they want, and sin if they want to sin (Although there is a negative connotation surrounding the word sin, I will go in how sinning is not such a negative thing, and that all humans will sin, everyday of their life, and so when I say a person is sinning, I am not condemning them or demonizing them, I am merely stating the perspective of the doctrine). But the religious right cannot look past their own judgmental self's, to see what they are chastising, is no worst than what they do everyday.
The Christian faith has become a follower's religion. People have lost the sense of interpretation, and instead just go by whatever their preacher says. They don't read their Bible, they just read letters, and don't absorb any of the messages. They are also blind to study the history of faith (All faiths) and how this shows itself in the two separate books of the Bible.
People will say if we are suppose to be liberal, then why would the Bible condemn all of the things liberals stand for? But what they fail to understand is that the Bible is set into two different sects, and basically two different religions. We must look it at like this: The Old Testament is the guidelines and rules of a very strict conservative God, who believed in strict punishment for those who did not oblige to those rules He set. Then the New Testament was a new chapter in that believe, that said the strict rules and guidelines was still there, but the method of salvation is much more relaxed, and the "Spiteful God" image was not to be there anymore, instead it is an image of forgiveness and acceptance.
Many Conservatives will that the "He Without Sin cast the first stone" story and look at the last line as the all telling line of that passage. "Go and sin no more", they will say that Jesus will forgive, but he still doesn't respect those who sin, but if you really look at it, what he is saying is "Go and live, but respect me as I respect you". Basically he is telling her that you are forgiven, and you always will be, but do your best to live a good life. It is not a call to denounce those who are sinners who do not come to salvation, it is a call to live a good life in the eyes of God, which can be done no matter you sexual preferences, you past, etc.
Which goes back to an argument that I have had many of times with conservative religious members of my family, and friends of mine.
I say, "You know I truly do believe that there can be a homosexual Christian, and I do believe that on Judgment Day, they will be given a spot in heaven."
They respond, "There is no way that God would allow homosexuals to ever be in his sight in heaven, they are a blasphemy in his eyes."
"Well why is that? Is it because they sin just like we do?"
"They sin, and they sin continuously, they don't have the ability not to be sinners."
"Well, let me ask you this, did God not say, all sins are equal in his eyes?"
"Yes he did say that"
"And Jesus said, if you are of the mind of the sinner, than you a sinner, meaning if you think, then you have done it?"
"Yes he did say that."
"So you are telling me that throughout the entire day you will not sin once, and remember that includes thinking a woman is attractive, thinking about lying whether you do it or not, wishing you were richer?"
"That would impossible for anyone not that one of those thoughts, but why does that matter?"
"Well it matters because that means you are just as much as a sinner as they are, so if you can be saved, then guess what so can they, and they can be saved, and be gay, and live gay, and still make it to heaven, just like you can sin, and be saved, and still sin, and still make it to heaven, it is not exclusive to heterosexuals only."
They usually either end the conversation at that point and walk away, or say that God would not want homosexuals in heaven, which my response is, so he talks to you now? Wonder how I can get on that calling list. But that all leads back to main point, they can't think logically for themselves about what is really unforgivable and what is just another sin. They cannot think for themselves for what is the word of God, and what is the word of the man in front of the congregation.
Which is why most is unwilling to accept that heaven is merit based, not faith based. As being a different viewing Christian, I have come to believe in the idea of a merit based heaven, where if a person lives a good life, and does as they are suppose to, and never harms another person, and when having sinned, pray or mediate in hopes of forgiveness, that person should be allowed to heaven. It is impossible to believe that somehow a God who created all in existence, who then be so arrogant that allowance into his heaven would reside only a belief. If you believe and try your darnest to be a good person (whether you do or not) then you are ok, but if you actually live a good life and do no wrong, and what wrong you do, you try to make up for it the best you can, but you don't believe, so sorry, you are not allowed. It would be like father disowning a son of his, because his son doesn't want to live with him, and would rather live with his mother, any father who is actually father would never disown his son, and would love him still, and would do anything for him, as long as they both were alive. It's asinine to believe that, but most do, and there are verses in the Bible that say that without faith, your merits are nothing, but I would find it hard to believe that those verses could be true, no matter how strong my faith is.
"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."
-Dalai Lama
All of the rhetoric that these people push, have pushed people further and further away. People without strong faith listen to them take of fire and brimstone, and here they say, it is this way 100%, if you don't believe in it they way I do, then you are a sinner, and will go to hell, no if, and, or buts about it. It makes people believe that since they don't believe in what these people believe, and their logic is broken, that must mean Christianity is altogether false, and then they denounce all religions and become an Atheist. (To all the Atheist out there, I understand why you are atheist, and I see the logic behind what you say, and I could see why it is a much more viable belief than what the mainstream Christian faith pushes).
But why do they continue to say and do this, even though it pushed members away, and makes the faith look more and more loonier as they denounce every single scientific findings, and denounce all people they don't like as sinners? Because they are blinded by money, or by faith.
Being a pastor used to be a job done by volunteers, it was done out of the love of the faith, and whether they preached the truth or not, it was what they believed, and what they preached is what they practiced. But with the expansion of an organized church it became more and more needed to have some collections to be able to fund the church, build new churches, etc. But of course with anytime money gets involved, it became easier and easier to start charging people and collecting more and more money, making the church more and more powerful. It was suppose to end with Martin Luther, and his "crusade" on the Catholicism of that time, and for a very short time it worked. But in the modern church, the preacher is paid once again (And if not paid, is given a big house, a nice car for him, his wife, his children, and all the spending money he would need), and once again the evangelistic effort of "Give me money, and you will be saved" has started up once again. People believe that if you give their preacher or pastor huge amounts of money, that it will equal to eternal salvation, or they will be "healed" by people with no more connection to God than most Atheist.
So with money, comes a change of sermon. They will say they came to preach this because God told them to, or for this reason or another, but it is all about fear. If they get up there and scream, death, fire, hell, Armageddon, etc. It will scare the congregation to give more and more money, and it will them out there and vocal about how good my pastor is, and how good his service is. The pastor in the mean time is making more and more money off the collections, and it is the same cycle we went through with the Catholicism of old Europe. It benefits them to have an enemy, and it benefits them to tell these followers that the enemy is out there right now, wanting to destroy marriage, wanting to have an abortion, voting liberal, etc. And so it benefits them to have their people scared, and have their people ready to fight, and possibly kill, to get their point across.
But why would people listen to this garbage and not take the initiative to read for themselves, and judge off of that to where they should stand? Because these people are dependent. As I have written of political dependence, where they must be told what to believe, what to be angry about, and what to fight for, they must have the same thing when it comes to the church. They either grew up in the church and have been brainwashed into being completely dependent on the word of the pastor/preacher, or they have lost hope, and they find the church and it becomes like a drug for them, they believe everything, absorb the sermon, without absorbing any reality. It's dependence that make them believe in one holy word, and believe that all others are sinners and will go to hell, and that instead of doing the right thing, which is either pray for them or try talking to them or listen to them and gauge what is the most logical response, they must demonize them, denounce everything about their beliefs, and if it comes to it, fight or kill them to rid the world of these people.
So without any knowledge to the common sense beliefs of others, they hate those who don't believe exactly like they do, and even though their own religion shows us to be forgivable to others, or to accept them even if they if they think they are doing something wrong, they will never accept but what they are told to accept, they will never believe except what they are told to believe, and they won't look past the blinders to see the world around them. They are the main problem with Christianity today, but instead of most problems, where it is a small minority that can be getting rid of, they are an overwhelming majority, and they are bringing down the same faith that they are trying to force down people's throat.