Pope Francis, Atheist America and Rampant Idiocy
Kim
Davis refused to issue same-sex marriages, claiming that it went
against her religious beliefs. That set off a national firestorm of
responses and put her small, quiet Kentucky town on the political map irreversibly. Social media is fraught with comments about the separation
of church and state and people's disdain or support for Kim Davis. All
of this is taking place even as Pope Francis plans to tour all three
cities that have served as U.S. capitals -- and on feeding the homeless of our nation's current capital while here. Sadly, this public pubic
debate is exposing the idiocy that decades of poor education have
rendered in the U.S.
I
have no particular interest in Kim Davis. I don't laud her for taking a
stand against gay marriage. I'm actually indifferent to the gay
marriage issue. (From an anti-gay perspective, it makes more sense to be
against sodomy and lesbian sex than it does to try to prevent those who
already live the LGBT lifestyle -- sex included -- from obtaining a
piece of paper that documents the state's recognition of their
condom-mitment.....err commitment to each other.) I'm not promoting
stronger enforcement of separation of church and state (SOCAS). However,
I AM appalled by people's misguided characterization of the issue as a
SOCAS issue. I'm angered beyond words by their irrational views toward
religion: dismissing the existence of a god before making any effort to
find out if one exists, expecting a person to put human law before that
of a god, demonizing religious beliefs that they neither hold nor
understand and using Bible scripture to support ideas that God is most
likely against.
When
it comes to matters of religious freedom, all people should ask
themselves, "Is there a god???" instead of asserting that they won't
have religion crammed down their throats. While I won't assert here that
there is a god, I WILL assert that the facts should be considered
before a person's feelings. It stands to reason that, if God DOES exist
and Revelation is right about the doom that awaits non-believers, then
these people who don't want religion crammed down their throats will pay
eternally. (I actually don't believe God puts women in Hell; but, I
won't cram that down your throat.)
It
is important to note that SOCAS forbids the establishment of a state
religion by government and it forbids government to interfere with any
person's exercise of that person's religious beliefs and practices. Kim
Davis didn't prevent gays from marrying in Kentucky. She refused to be
personally involved in the process, as her religious beliefs forbid her
to partake in such activities. If anyone's religious freedoms were
threatened, hers were.
Many
are they who suggest that Kim Davis should readily marry same-sex
couples because it is the job she willingly took on. Let's not forget
that the Supreme Court made gay marriage legal AFTER Kim Davis took
office. This puts her on the short end of a bait and switch. It makes
sense for all governments in the country to design a system whereby
various elected officials can navigate the issue of now having as part
of their jobs certain duties that they are adverse to and which they
didn't have when they initially were elected.
Throughout
this public pubic debate people have insisted that Kim Davis should
obey human law over God's Law. That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever
(unless you can prove that there is no god). Irrespective of a person's
religion, others should understand that the person's religion is first
and foremost in their life and that they fear what their god -- real or
perceived -- will do to them if they fail to do His will. It is not just
religiously insensitive, but also quite stupid, to suggest that a
person obey the laws of people who can imprison over the laws of a god who can damn eternally.
Idiotic
Americans who wrongly put their feelings before the facts and often
don't make any effort to learn the facts also tend to use irrational
sensationalism to demonize beliefs that they don't hold or understand.
Just to be clear, what makes a statement sensationalistic is a person's
use of emotionally charged words that are intended to elicit feelings
and take the place of a longer, bilateral reasoning process. Such is the
case when folk refer to devoutly religious people as "homophobic". Try
having a calm, rational conversation with such a person about the basis
for their beliefs. What if they were to call you evil, satanic or
lawless before hearing your views??? Let's replace name-calling with reasoning.
Not
only do many on the left have short memories; but, they have actually
forgotten their initial argument against those who are against gay
marriage -- that people fear what they don't understand. "Phobia" comes
from Greek and describes a fear that is so intense that it renders a
person motionless. (For reference, see the blonde woman cowering in the
corner in the scary movie of your choice.) This definition was
recognized in America as recently as 35 years ago. Since then, the left
has co-opted the term and extended its meaning to include dislike of
something such as homosexuality. Now, instead of fostering understanding
in both directions, the left labels the devoutly religious as
homophobes and alienates them altogether. So much for keeping your
friends close and your enemies closer.
To
the left's credit, they've read parts of the Bible for themselves
and/or been advised by left-wing Christians who never held the views of
people like Kim Davis. For that reason, some have concluded that Mrs.
Davis is required by Scripture to obey government. While that assertion
is correct on its face, it fails to draw out the conflict between
obeying God's marital laws and obeying God's command to obey government.
It also fails to recognize that God Himself was displeased with various
rulers -- a truth that calls into question this notion of blind
obedience. All of this makes it necessary to juxtapose numerous
scriptures and to objectively discuss how a devout believer might obey
each one simultaneously. In any instance, the left needs to stop its
hypocrisy whereby it is intolerant of the religious beliefs of the
people whom it accuses of being intolerant of alternative lifestyles.
The left should also recognize when an organization such as the church
was founded on doctrines that are now thousands of years old but with
the understanding that those doctrines were meant to stay the same. If
you don't like the nature of a non-governmental entity, don't join it.
Quite
idiotically, this country that has claimed that the Catholic Church
and/or Vatican was wrong for upholding centuries old doctrines which
include an all-male priesthood and forbid birth control. Furthermore,
the contracts that Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC has with DC Government were called into question when gay marriage
was legalized in the nation's capital and Catholic Charities refused to
extend employee benefits to same-sex spouses. The left often tries to
force its views on the right without any regard for the views of the
right -- the very thing they don't want done to them. Furthermore, if
you follow the logic that a person should comply with the policies of an
entity that they join as a member or employee, that makes the maverick
U.S. nuns and the gay employees of Catholic Charities wrong.
Now
I'm smart enough to know that this blog post seems extremely right-wing
to some. I prefer to see it as extremely right-thinking. There are some
basic sensibilities that should come to mind any time that a person
considers a faith other than their own. However, people let their
feelings get in the way and they insist that they are right either
before or without hearing the other side argue its case. That said, I'm
using the Kim Davis situation to revisit an issue that has bothered me
for years -- the dumbing down of America.
In
closing, I'll say that I associate with the left, having come to the
social justice fight as a homeless advocate. I would learn after
committing myself to the cause that I was expected to align myself with
all tenets of the left. I decided to simply remain silent on matters
where my stance differs from that of the majority of American leftists.
But for what it's worth to you, I have attended the Church of the Epiphany for 10 years and preached my first sermon ever on August 9th, 2015. My church (which is four blocks from where Pope Francis will feed the homeless on September 24th) currently has a female rector and
performs gay unions. I haven't even considered leaving it.
Eric Jonathan Sheptock
425 2nd St. NW
Washington, DC 20001-2003 My Blog
[Click] Forcing Results from Government:Asking an advocate for the poor to be nice is like asking a soldier to fight a war without a weapon.
[Click] Forcing Results from Government:Asking an advocate for the poor to be nice is like asking a soldier to fight a war without a weapon.
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