THIS INFORMATION REALLY BOTHERED ME SO I THOUGHT I’D SHARE IT AND ASK YOUR OPINIONS:
If someone is against gay marriage, are they to be taunted and derided in the news? If someone is for gay marriage, is that person a better person and applauded for speaking against the other? These are the impressions left by our media. Also, we must realize that young wannabes only have to say one thing that supports whatever the media’s bias might be and they become famous! You can call a decent person out for going to a church you don’t agree with and we’re suddenly saying your name? Meanwhile, really decent people suffer from unfairly damaged reputations.
If someone follows Biblical teachings, is THAT now “The Big SIN!” in our culture?
Now actors and the media are going after Chris Pratt and his fiancee, Katherine Schwarzenegger, for going to Hillsong Church, whose founder follows the Bible and God’s word on homosexuality…From one article on this:
“The actor’s church, Hillsong, has made headlines for not “affirming” the LGBTQ lifestyle. In a statement released in August 2015, Hillsong global pastor Brian Houston said he “holds to traditional Christian thought on gay lifestyles and gay marriage” and that “God’s word is clear that marriage is between a man and a woman.”
“Hillsong Church welcomes ALL people but does not affirm all lifestyles,” the statement reads. “Put clearly, we do not affirm a gay lifestyle and because of this we do not knowingly have actively gay people in positions of leadership, either paid or unpaid. I recognise this one statement alone is upsetting to people on both sides of this discussion, which points to the complexity of the issue for churches all over the world.”
IS THIS THE FUTURE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA? WHEN SCRIPTURE IS UPHELD, SILLY AMERICAN CELEBRITIES MOST PEOPLE DON’T EVEN RECOGNIZE CAN INSULT THEM TERRIBLY, THEREBY DRIVING THEM UNDERGROUND OR SHAMING THEM OUT OF EXISTENCE? HOW MANY PEOPLE MIGHT HILLSONG CHURCH HAVE LOST OVER THIS KIND OF PUBLICITY?
What i’d like to say to celebrities insulting people like Chris Pratt is the following:
We really don’t care that you don’t follow the words in the Scripture, though, for your sake, we wish you did. That’s your right. Following those words in Scripture does not make you a hater anymore than it does us. Our right is to follow those words. We wish you the best, you should be wishing others the best. We do not hate anybody, you should show the same concern.
“And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)
“as I have loved you”...yes, God means you who are farther than far from perfect, whether you attend church or not. You who have had abortions, you who are homosexual, you who have killed, you who have stood up for Scripture, you who have derided Scripture…YOU. And all of you are welcome in His church.
“I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.” Jeremiah 24:7
A secular celebrity deserves to stay secular and a religious celeb deserves to stay religious, so be it. If people are coming to Hillsong or any other church which teaches TRUTH, let their hearts be changed in His love. This is not evil. If they choose not to come to a church, all Christians wish them blessed, not criticized, which I do believe borderlines evil, unkindness.
THOUGHTS?
geeez2014
GeeeZ .... 
The issue of homosexuality is only contentious because the homosexual community makes it so. It is entirely possible for a parent to love their children while at the same time disapprove of his or her behavior. Love one another is a divine mandate in the Christian faith, but that does not at all suggest that a Christian must embrace an abhorrent lifestyle —which includes more than simply the debauchery of abnormal sexual behavior— true even if there is a screwy DNA strand that leads people down that path. “Judge not lest ye be judged,” is what we are told. And yet, normal society will seek to punish those who break the bond of the social contract … the murderers, rapists, pedophiles, thieves, and liars. We live in a secular society, which means that there must be room for those who shun religious faith, as well as those who are religious in a different way from ourselves.
Mocking religion or those who are religious isn’t new in the world; it isn’t something invented in modern America. Jews and Romans openly persecuted Christ; they crucified him for his messages. To reiterate, I don’t care what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes, but don’t ask me to embrace homosexual behavior. In my view, it is unnatural to “hang out” with people whose behavior we might find repugnant. To what end should we do this? And, to be perfectly honest, I’m tired of hearing about the odd fellows and sexually confused. I am disgusted that so many parents are leading their children into the totally unnatural world of sex-change, teaching them that abnormal is normal … it is bizarre. I no longer watch mainstream television because of the infusion of abnormal characters presented to their audience as ordinary and acceptable lifestyles. This is a form of brainwashing, and it is based on a peculiar leftist-perverted lobby.
Ridicule is a useful strategy to silence other points of view … this is what is happening in the US today, across a wide range of issues. These odd fellows may “demand” that we affirm their abhorrent behavior, but we have a right to live our lives, associate with those who we choose, and reject behavior we find repugnant. In this regard, it doesn’t matter what the odd lobby thinks or says.
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Extremely complex issue that won’t even BE an issue in another 25 years or so.
It kinda boils down to a generational attitude: people born in the early-to-mid 20th century tend to be traditionalists whereas people born after the “civil rights” revolution are “woke” and believe that old-timey stuff, such as man/woman marriage, deprives non-straights of being just as miserable as everybody else, stuck in relationships they’ve grown displeased with.
To me the issue is one of definitions: i.e., (1) the difference between a marriage and a social contract; (2) the difference between civil and human rights.
All humans have basic rights, such as the right to defend themselves, the right to seek shelter, to seek relationships, to eat, to breathe, and to do just about anything they like until it begins to interfere with other people’s rights to do what THEY like.
Societies develop civil rights to define and regulate behavior to ensure that the tribe or city or state isn’t annoyed or endangered or disrupted by individuals or groups exercising their “right” to do certain things that the majority cannot tolerate.
Among those behaviors restricted or banned by various cultures are rape, murder, theft, child abuse, and so on. By common sense and through experience, human communities have realized that although selling out one’s tribe to an enemy might be considered a “right” by some, it’s not in the best interests of good order and discipline. Treason is therefore frowned upon and prohibited by public (civil) law.
Ditto for multiple spouses, incest, slavery, usury, cannibalism, and other practices, with variations depending on religion, tradition, culture, and necessity.
Social contracts, such as binding partnerships (gay marriage, if you prefer) are necessary for sharing or inheritance of wealth, properties, responsibilities, etcetera. If two guys or two gals want to set up a bond on paper which delineates duties, constraints, authority, ownership, and other features affecting them equally, who cares. Simplifies things for everybody.
But it’s still just a contract; it needn’t be called “marriage,” at least not in the traditional sense.
Of course in the US today, over half of ALL first marriages fail. Two-thirds of second marriages fail; and three-fourths of 3rd marriages fail. And many of those failures result in less-than-amicable settlements of the issues associated with the contract, such as wealth, property, child custody, and on and on.
Add to the brew that my grandchildren’s generation knows all that and is migrating toward cohabitation rather than spending money they don’t have for a ceremony they won’t honor a few years down the road, and if the partners’ economic statuses differ greatly, pre-nuptial limiters are established before exchanging rings and vows.
Now . . . having said all that, I still believe that common rituals, common traditions, common customs, common language, common religion, and common agreement on the differences between civil and human rights are essential to the health of a nation.
Breakdown of the family unit, repudiation of traditional values, indoctrination by liberal media, mockery of old-fashioned ideals, erosion of morals, scorn of ancestral ethics . . . they’re dissolving the glue holding together the once-sturdy latticework of the republic those old white guys constructed back in the dark ages before i-phones and Netflix.
As Wolfe told us, you can’t go back, and the X-gen and Millennial generations don’t want to. No one born in my era would recognize the US in 2050, if it even still exists as an entity. Traditional marriage is disappearing, along with traditional religion, morals, loyalties, self-discipline, patriotism, and Caucasians.
Back around 1983 or so I wrote a little sonnet which still works for Murkan so sigh at thee:
Legacies
Aflame with youth my heritage I spurned,
Abandoned claim to every hometown girl,
And chose instead a South Seas island pearl
As proof of how intensely my soul burned
Above the common level of my kind
Awash in seas of plastic and discards
Apace with Jones and Smith in best regards
And new-car smells and TV on their mind.
And now four halves of me with hers go on
All armed with my estate, my name, my blood,
A hybrid seed — perhaps more fit to grow
Amidst the glowing ranks of sterile spawn
Attesting what we thought we understood
Along the way . . . I simply do not know.
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Incidentally, if you noticed that each line begins with the same capital letter, yes . . . it’s by design, as part of a sonnet sequence narrating an observation I made and presented in 6 sonnets, each using a different letter for the initial words in each line, taken from my wife’s name.
The other poems are kinda personal, and nobody likes poetry anyhow, so I ain’t sharin ’em.
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@ Bocopro … well, you’re wrong about that. I like poetry; just not smart enough to write it.
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Bocopro, I think that the A doesn’t strike you every time you read an “A Line” says a TON of the excellent way you wrote it.
“….old-timey stuff, such as man/woman marriage, deprives non-straights of being just as miserable as everybody else,” Cracked me UP!!
Great stuff there, as usual…thanks!
“Breakdown of the family unit, repudiation of traditional values, indoctrination by liberal media, mockery of old-fashioned ideals, erosion of morals, scorn of ancestral ethics . . . they’re dissolving the glue holding together the once-sturdy latticework of the republic those old white guys constructed back in the dark ages before i-phones and Netflix.” And it worked well for a lot of years, didn’t it! But let one person decide to freak out and the whole world needs to change. Thanks, idiotic liberals.
Mustang” …..it is unnatural to “hang out” with people whose behavior we might find repugnant. ” This is so true….I just want those people to live their lives and not expect too much from me other than kindness and cordiality.
Did you hear of the parents who gave a birthday party for their teen girl who is now a guy? They had blue balloons and signs with IT’S A BOY! all over the place…they are THRILLED.
Color me creeped out for society, for the kid……………..I can’t even comment on the parents.
I’ve never been of the ilk that if you’re way off base, you celebrate it in public.
I like poetry and I write pretty good stuff when I do it.
Thoreau said “only great poets read great poets”…RUBBISH!!
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Anti-Gay is the new anti-Black racist. Few people are interfering with blacks getting ahead just like anyone else. Ditto gays. Now some have decided they want more than everyone else too.
The government loves it because it keeps the attention off of them and their evil activities. It also creates votes for them as they pretend to support whatever group has decided it needs more attention.
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ANYBODY NOTICE THE APPEARANCE OF MY BLOB? THE PICTURE AND FONTS?
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Z, I can think of no better way to describe those morons as my lunch pal’s retired teacher sister, who more than a few times crosses her arms over her chest, looks skyward and proclaims how proud she was to vote for the first black president. Or his wife’s mother who voted for clinton because he was purdy.
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I haven’t seen your blob lately, but I have noticed the font change here. I like it.
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I like your BLOB too, Z.
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A few days ago when I read a letter to Dear Abbey from a gay guy who was upset because his lover left him for another, he stated all he wanted was for them to be a couple and have kids, I thought fine, if the two of you can make a child without a female, go ahead and have at it! Can you imagine the burden being put on the adopted children given to gays of either gender? How do they explain it to their little friends?
What Bocopro said about the economic status of gays, it got me thinking about the Social Security benefits afforded the spouse of a deceased. They get the higher of the two monthly benefits. Does that also apply to gays? I imagine that is another reason for their insistence on calling their union a marriage.
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BLOG, not BLOB! OOPS!! I have a big wrapping on my pointer finger as i cut it and had to go to the ER last night…so I’m not typing too well….
Kid, I was about to jokingly correct you when I thought ‘I’ll bet YOU typed BloB!” and, sure enough!
Mustang and Mal, thanks for piling it on!! 🙂
Mustang, I’ve come a long way to change the header and font, eh? Remember how untechie I am, and you helped with the blog!
But seriously…I love the new picture (the old was the seashore of a deserted island in New Caledonia…with my “Z” in the sand, written and photo taken by stepdaughter, as is this picture!!
KID: Imagine people voting for THOSE REASONS? Holy COW!! Then they complain about the state of our union!?
Mal, I think financial considerations are a big part of it, yes.
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Z, back around 2012? I was sitting in a doctor’s office and the TV had Ted Cruz talking about something. Couple older ladies looked at each other and one said ‘I could never vote for him, his voice is just weird”. Couple seats away from them was a black dude and we just looked at each other and bust out laughing.
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Course, that was nothing when Timmy and I buzzed the terminal at Sacramento in our SR-71.
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It boils down to who you want to be in charge. They want to run their lives and resent and hate the fact that there is a transcendent God to whom they are accountable. Greg Koukl read a parallel example recently. The Christian couples young seven-year-old daughter was speaking with a young adult trans gender cousin, a girl who is making herself out to be a man. The little daughter – just remember this is a seven-year-old – blurted out you sound like a girl!
The cousin tweeted the parents to get their daughter in line and instruct her on how to behave. Stand to reasons staff crafted a gracious response to help them respond to this person. The sum of it was we love you you are welcome in our house, but we don’t agree on everything and I’m sure you would understand if you had a child and we asked you to teach your child something that is counter to your values that you would not want to do that. So we hope you understand why we could not be instructing our daughter as you have requested. But you’re always welcome here, you’re always a loved member of our family, etc. Did that evoke a response like: oh yes I understand, I don’t agree, I’ll just have to disagree on this. No! It lit a Phillippic that ended with “and you are no longer family to me.”
The tolerance only goes one way. there’s powerful forces that hate Christians not because some are hypocrites, or some are inconsistent, or some they just don’t like, but they hate them because they hate the idea that there is a God above them who has designed them and specified certain parameters within which they are to live their lives.
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Kid, now a voice IS imporant!! But seriously, isn’t that something?
LOVE that video audio….he sounds like such a great guy! Thanks!
Baysider, sadly, most people couldn’t care less about the God who designed them, but I agree with you.Yes, tolerance only goes one way and it’s against Christians.
It’s just incredible that WE sit back and take the insults … A young nobody actress can insult 1 of the only ‘cool’ heroes of Hollywood, get a name for herself and create division in that church (we have to know this is BAD PR for them) and create more uneducated hatred toward Christianity…as if anybody would hate gays…??
The story you relate is so sad….the perversion will win every time because there is no shame anymore and if we’re against ONE perversion, WE are the hateful, not the perversion.
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Z: For a while I thought I was the only one to note the new theme for your blog. I am thinking about doing the same thing, i.e. , forgoing pictures which usually mean nothing to anyone else. I think a lot of blog themes over do the graphics, unless you are blogging about visual things.
It is hard to make fresh comments after the likes of Mustang, Bocopro, Kid, Mal, and Baysider do their thing, but I will give it a try.
You may remember that my son was gay (before he killed himself) and his homosexuality had nothing to do with his upbringing, nor was it a “lifestyle”. We tried counseling, both within the church, psychologists, and psychiatrists for reasons related to his suicidal depression caused in part bullied and badgered unmercifully by high school kids. He was hard wired to be what he was, and whenever you hear the homosexuality can be cured, think ignorance of the speaker. He was 21 years old and in his senior year of college when he hanged himself in his dorm room.
He had professed his faith in Jesus at an earlier age, and like many argued with us and God about his affliction that might not allow him salvation. My wife and I have concluded that God is merciful and creates our son as He intended. Someday, I will know the truth about this, but until then I will keep praying.
That being said, I agree with Bocopro that our society has changed a LOT since the second half of the twentieth century. Societal shocks of civil rights for all, birth control that allows ancient values of sex to change, being part of the most free nation in the history of the world, and our comparably huge individual and societal wealth have changed us in ways we could never have imagined. The natural outcome of all this change is that we have no idea how to manage our new value systems.
Our values have decimated the very sanctity of marriage and normal, biological sexual relationships. The worst thing is that there are those who want us to adopt their values, by fiat or force when necessary.
Individual rights are being attacked, even though guaranteed in the US Constitution. Collectivism is on the rise. Collectives made of racial groups, gender based groups, and grouping based on income and wealth are being viewed as a necessary way to define societal groups. I believe we can weather any of these changes given the protection or our individual rights, but fear the next civil war will be all about individual freedoms versus collectivism ideas like socialism.
There will eventually be another civil war.
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Bob, tears in my eyes here…I wish I had known your boy. And yes, I don’t care what anyone says, I do believe homosexuality is hardwired (great term) in some. In others, these days, I believe some are going for it because it’s “cool,”…also because girls are so easy these days. Can’t explain my thoughts on that, so I won’t, but I have my feelings on it.
YES!! You said “there are those who want us to adopt their values…” That is exactly what I awkwardly tried to say in my post. THANK YOU.
They are TOTALITARIANS NOW AND THAT HAS TO STOP or we WILL be in Civil War you talk about.
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Bob, I’m so sorry about the loss of your son. Like Z, I also believe it is “hard wired” as are many other things in our bodies.
We lost a daughter to a very rare incurable form of thyroid cancer. She did everything right. Didn’t smoke or drink, ate healthy and exercised regularly. She worked for the largest HMO in Washington State for over 10 years so had access to all the help and info possible. She kept saying “Why me? I did everything right!” She was 56 but looked 40 and died within 5 months.
Why do these things happen? Where do they come from? These are abnormalities no one can explain.
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