Scary Stuff

I just saw some disturbing video - 2 different pastors talking to their congregations about the merits of the American government rounding up all homosexuals and killing them, or putting them all together inside an electrified fence so that they can just die out on their own.

Remind anyone of anything? Say, Europe in the early 1940's?

While it literally turns my stomach to hear these kinds of "solutions" being spouted by people who claim to do it in God's name, and in America no less, sadly it doesn't surprise me.

What does surprise me is the need for some human beings to condemn other human beings. To vilify them, to blame them for everything that is wrong with the world, and to think that the best way to "deal with their kind" is to wipe them out.

These are men of the cloth people. Supposedly called to help make the world a better place. This is also America, where people are supposed to be able to live freely and with certain unalienable rights. (Those would be life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.)

Right.

So we can all agree that this kind of Nazi-inspired prejudice is abominable and unconscionable. (Well, except for the congregations that gave their leaders standing ovations.) But here's what I want to know:

Why the antipathy toward this minority? Did a bunch of homosexuals come and carry off their children? Did some homosexual people take their jobs away, leaving them destitute on the street? Are homosexual people harming them on a daily basis, or even affecting their lives in any way at all?

No to all of the above.

"But it's wrong," they'll say. According to whom, I would ask? "The Bible," they respond. Okay, so whoever does something that's considered wrong in the bible should be killed or exiled to die out.

Let's see how that would work out. The bible clearly states "Do Not Steal." So that must mean that the fourteen-year-old who makes a bad decision and shoplifts a pack of gum should immediately be put to death.

"No, no, that's different," they'll say. "That was just one mistake, the kid was young, it's not really 'wrong.'"

Well the bible also states that no one shall covet his neighbor's goods. So I guess that means that the guy who looks longingly over the fence at his buddy's new lawn mower, or bicycle, or television should be removed from his house and executed, the sooner the better.

"No, no, that's different," they'll say. "That's a natural reaction to things. It's technically wrong, yeah, but it's no big deal.Everyone does that."

So it looks like the concept of "wrong according to the bible" varies from situation to situation. To the vilifiers, homosexuality is somehow "more wrong" and therefore punishable by death.

Really? In America? From a religious pulpit?

It is worth noting that both of the pastors on these videos are considerably overweight. They clearly do not exercise on regular basis and do not practice healthy portion control. There's that bible verse from Corinthians that tells us to consider our bodies as temples of the Lord to which we should not add contaminants. So that means that anyone who puts excess sugar, salt, fat, etc. into this temple is directly disobeying God's commandments. They are doing something absolutely, fundamentally, biblically wrong. I wonder how these guys would fare being confined by an electric fence because they are fat? (and are choosing every day to remain so)

Lastly, I believe the word "love" is mentioned 697 times in the bible, and the phrase, "love one another," is mentioned 11 times specifically in the New Testament. Interestingly, it's not "love one another as long as they agree with you all the time," nor is it, "love one another as long as they believe in the same tenets and way of life that you do," nor is it "love one another based on how you are feeling on any given day." It's simply, love one another.

Love one another.

Around the world, all religions are based on the concepts of love, tolerance, compassion, and acceptance. Also on the "what goes around comes around" theory. If that theory is correct, these pastors had better watch their backs.