Postby Jd- » December 26th, 2011, 1:29 pm
IF YOU BELIEVE THE BIBLE OR ANY OTHER RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE RIGHTFULLY OUTLAWS HOMOSEXUALITY OR GAY MARRIAGE, YOU ARE DESPERATELY AND UTTERLY WRONG. TO FIND OUT WHY, READ THIS POST.
I am going to state what should be a fact of life for anyone that respects the rights of others and lives in what they consider a free society:
It does not matter what you personally believe is right or wrong—restraining the freedom of someone that is doing no harm to anyone else is not and never will be an undertaking you can morally make your own. It does not matter what your purportedly-holy text says, whether it be the Bible, the Quran, or the napkin the homeless scribe handed you on the street corner. You should care for your fellow man and their pursuit of happiness more so than you care about what your god or god "says", because if your god or gods does not respect your fellow man and their right to pursue their own happiness at their own luxury when it is of absolutely no harm to anyone else, then your god or gods is not worthy of your respect or your admiration—least of all your undying worship.
If your religion is more important to you than good, caring, loving, innocent people that just want to live a happy life as they see fit when it is of absolutely no harm to anyone else, then you're wrong. You're not even close to right and you never will be so long as you put your god or gods ahead of your fellow human beings. These are people that routinely show you love and compassion, every single day. There are amazing people on these very forums affected by this issue that would never, ever consider getting in the way of your happiness, whether you disagree with them on this issue or any other, and yet you would prevent them from seeking lifelong happiness.
Consider for just one moment that, say, the Bible is the product of man's imagination and also the product of the time in which it was written. Consider that, only briefly. Now, remember: You believe in this purportedly-holy text. You do. It means a lot to you. Let's also say that you think the Bible is the divine word and that human morality and character should be defined by it (which has to be the case if you truly believe in it and are willing to enforce it on others that may not even believe in it whatsoever).
Now, in Leviticus, it does say: "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." Leviticus is in the Old Testament. A lot of Christians are part of the reinterpretation movement, whereby things are not taken "literally" from the Old Testament except when they feel they should be taken literally. It's a game of picking and choosing from a scripture that is meant to define your life if you are a believer—I would imagine not listening to him would upset God much more so than allowing two homosexuals to wed, as he is a jealous and vengeful God, after all (his words, not mine).
Leviticus (again, from the Old Testament) does include the line quoted above. That's not really in question. But, what else is questionable in the Old Testament, apart from the endless rape, murder, pillaging, torture, and slavery? In fact, you won't even have to leave Leviticus to find something you won't defend with the same fervor with which you will so willingly deny gay marriage: "And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him."
You will defend this agenda that prohibits the marriage of homosexuals until death, but you aren't willing to rise to God's word and stone a nonbeliever to death, are you? Are you? Because, if you are willing to say that Leviticus is completely without fault and not just the product of the time in which it was written, I will personally fly to your hometown and volunteer to be stoned in public. That is not a joke. If you truly believe in the purported word of God and you will defend other "laws" set forth in Leviticus with the same fervor that you do the prohibiting of gay marriage, I will book the ticket tonight if you will go through with stoning a blasphemer. I repeat: This is an utterly sincere offer. If you are willing to stone me in public, I will solidify it by saying, "There is no God" at the altar at your Sunday service. As a result, in God's eyes, you will be in the clear to go ahead. And, if you don't, just remember from Jeremiah 48:10: "Cursed be he who does the LORD's work remissly, cursed be he who holds back his sword from blood."
Here, I could reproduce any number of examples from both the Old and New Testaments showcasing just why you shouldn't let the Bible, especially, dictate or otherwise define your personal moral code. Actually... Why not, let's name a few!
[Let me reiterate before we begin that all of this IS in the Bible.]
God says that young women that are raped must then marry the rapist and never be allowed to leave them because, hey, that's logical:
— If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her. (Deuteronomy 22:28)
Be careful when beating your slaves! Don't go overboard and it's totally OK to mess them right up:
— When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property. (Exodus 21:20)
Chivalry, according to the Bible:
— Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the people went to meet them outside the camp. But Moses was furious with all the military commanders who had returned from the battle. "Why have you let all the women live?" he demanded. "These are the very ones who followed Balaam's advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the LORD at Mount Peor. They are the ones who caused the plague to strike the LORD's people. Now kill all the boys and all the women who have slept with a man. Only the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves. (Numbers 31:7)
Kill your family and closest friends without remorse and feel vindicated in doing so should they so much as suggest another religion:
— If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:7)
The reason I cite these examples of lunacy is because we both know no one in their right mind would ever agree to such tenants today. We know that. And yet, you are able to disregard the above for whatever reason you deem suitable, but still will not budge on the issue of gay marriage? Why is that? Is it because it's one of the few things in the Bible that at least seems defendable without resorting to the violence that God encouraged so much?
Some people will of course disagree with my having posted this, but there comes a time when religious fanaticism has gone far enough. I do not personally care what people believe. They are free to believe whatever they want, but the moment they begin forcing that agenda on others, expect a throwdown. Every single time. Just remember: It's no longer "your religion" when you start pushing it on everyone else. At that point, you're trying to make it everyone's, and you better be ready for the consequences.
I want to leave with you one more quote, this time from the New Testament, from Ephesians 6:5. It goes:
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ."
What are your thoughts on that statement? Foremost, should human slavery be legal? The Bible (and that statement) certainly thinks so because you can just about flip to any page and see guidelines on how to keep your slaves under control or how to go about selling your own daughter into slavery.
Most people find the idea of slavery deplorable. Who on earth would want to be put into hard labor against their will with no personal liberty at their disposal? Better yet, who on earth would say such a thing? You should obey your human slavemaster with deep respect and fear and serve them as sincerely as you would Christ?
Wow, what madman would even dream of suggesting such a thing?
I'll tell you who: Jesus Christ. That's right, the man who just said your slavemasters should be obeyed at all costs and served as you would serve God was Jesus Christ himself. It's in the Bible. You can go and read the line for yourself right now. Go ahead, I'll wait.
The reason I bring this up is quite simple. Even if you disregard all of the rape, murder, pillaging, torture, slavery, and other countless atrocities in the Bible and the Old Testament (though if you're willing to disregard some parts of the Old Testament, you could very well go ahead and disregard Genesis as well and solve this whole problem), you still have lines like the above from the tamer New Testament to contend with. Let us also not forget that the line so often quoted about forbidding homosexuality comes from the Old Testament, where there is more rape than salvation. You know you disagree with God on all of the above. You know you do. Otherwise, you're insane.
You disagree with God that you shouldn't rape innocent children and make them your "wives" and disagree with him that you shouldn't murder entire villages just because one person there doesn't believe in him.
That's why, when it comes to gay marriage, I have to ask you: What's wrong with disagreeing with God one more time?
Last edited by
Jd- on December 26th, 2011, 1:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I mean seriously. They're not all over you and trying to disturb society, so leave them be. I'm not a fan of yaoi or yuri in anime, nor do I particularly like GLBT, but I wouldn't treat anyone any differently because of it. To sink as low as to abuse someone verbally or physically or to treat them differently because of how they were born is fairly despicable in my opinion. 
Though we are protestants, but still.
)
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or >:D are attached, that paragraph may not be 100% serious. Seriously.
