"And they'll know we are Christians by our Love, by our Love..."

I know I am a little bit late on this Special Comment from Keith Olbermann (I believed it was aired on 11/10/08). I really do think this Special Comment is amazing because as he stated in the beginning he has no personal stake in the Proposition, but he eloquently talks about why he is dismayed about it and he effectively, in my opinion, compels other people to consider the reasons they are supporting it. I am not going to sum it up to much because I've already embedded it into this post, so watch it if you haven't watched it yet. :)

Did you watch it????

DO It.

Ok now we're ready for my 'two cents' on the issue:

You know, I was raised Apostolic. It is very similar to Pentecostal, however, I would say a tad bit more strict. The church taught me that piercings, tattoos, makeup, sex (before marriage), rock n roll, girls should only wear skirts (not short ones), and of course that homosexuality is HUGE Heck NO. All this was laid upon me as a child in conjuction with the Christian principles that my Pastors and Parents taught me. I am very much so in Love with the Christian beliefs that live within my foundation. I truly believe without them I would be NOTHING. However, as I got older and my family's experience with the Apostolic church progressed I started to find little contradictions that made me really reject the rules and regulations that aren't created by God, as seen in the Bible, but are created based on some Man's interpretation of God's word. Thankfully, I was able to distinguish between God's Word and Will and a Man's Word and Will which only proved to bring me closer to God which is what all religions ultimate goal should be. (The ultimate goal being, bring followers closer to the supreme deity being worshipped by the respective religion.)

God is Love (see John 4:16). Those are three words that every Christian must understand I feel to really make the steps to living the righteous life that God has intended for us to live, or simply to just be a Good Christian. We are all supposed to be striving to be like God/Jesus and if that is the case then we must always respond in Love and let Love guide our actions. John 3:16 states that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This scripture demonstrates the Love that God himself showed to a world that had yet to learn to honor, love, and fear him. In John 15:13 it says, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." you are able to see something on the Love that Jesus showed when he allowed his crucifixition. (Yes he allowed it, because Jesus did have a choice and it took him 33 years to understand and accept the choice he made.) Jesus had to die in order for anyone that came before or after him who believed in God to have everlasting life. He had to justify the love that God had showed to the world and the only way he could do that was through an act of love just as awesome. All of this love was shown with no regards to the amount of sin that was going on during the time period. Great acts of love despite less than desirable circumstances. And when all this was said and done God commanded that we should love one another as he has loved us (John 15:12).

With all the Bible "quoting" (paraphrasing is probably a better word) that goes on to justify homophobia, I just presented three scriptures that flat out expose the ungodliness in the discrimination and hate shown towards homosexuals. We were not put on this earth to pass judgement on anyone (see the Ten Commandments). We are humans, born into a world of sin and unable to be perfect while on this Earth. However, God did create a straight and narrow path that we should follow in order to navigate this world. That path is depicted in the moral of the Crucifixition story. That path is Love. It is straight and narrow because how hard is it to Love someone that has done you wrong, or to love someone that you believe is doing wrong. It's hard but you know what Jesus, who walked the same Earth and encountered the same world as us, somehow was able to do it. Despite what he saw, what he heard, and how he was treated, he still laid down his life so that we would have a chance.

I say all that to say this: First of all, we can not point the finger to condemn anybody. He who is without sin please cast the first stone at homosexual couples that are just trying to make the best out of the world they live in and marry the one they love like everyone else is able to. No sin is greater than another sin. So yes, you who cheats on your wife, you who chooses to steal, and lie, are just as much a sinner as someone who chooses to have sex/love someone of the same sex. We will all be judged accordingly to our OWN WORKS on this Earth so what concern is it to anybody what works someone else will be judged upon?

Second of all, we are supposed to hate the sin but love the sinner. As Christians we should not be taking any steps that discriminate against another human being. We can say well it's to keep the world "pure" or whatever, but this world is not our home and it will one day perish, we need to stop trying to create Heaven on Earth because that cannot exist. So what happens in this world that is unlike God should just be of no concern to us. We are called to show our Christianly love to people in order to bring people closer to God. Showing hate, spewing hate, will not turn anyone into the God-fearing Christian you want them to be.

I think the world, christions, and other religious folk have sincerely messed up because they have become more concerned with condemnation instead of salvation. They are more concerned with passing judgements on people and saying what one individual can and can't do that they have forgotten that we are supposed to Love and that we are supposed to spread the message of God (God is Love...thus the message of Love) to everyone. As a matter of fact 1 John 4:8 states that "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is Love." I just wish everyone that claims to be a Christian would remember what it really means to be a Christian and TRULY submerge yourself in God's word and develop a personal relationship with him so that the meaning of his words can be revealed to you.

IDK....

I just know that I'm not allowed to cast judgement. I know that I am supposed to love my neighbor. I know that God didn't send me here to stop sin because sin is an inevitable in this world. He did send me here to spread Love though and that's what I'm going to do.

Allowing homosexual couples to get married will not hurt anyone! It will only hurt people's 'moral conscious.' And instead of responding with hate and restriction to something that you hold in your heart as wrong, why not show love and believe that the only thing that can conquer sin is God himself. If we as humans could do something, the Devil and sin would have been eliminated already. I know this because the Devil makes me MAD! And I honestly say God just give me one round and I'll take care of him, I'm sure a human bold enough would have emerged by now to conquer the thing that brings nothing but lies, destruction and deceit. God will deal with us sinners when we meet him. All I can do is share the Love and Word of God when I get the chance and hope that people are doing that with me so as we all stumble down this road called Life we make sure that we stay on the straight and narrow.

Christians, Religious Folk: stop judging and condemning. start loving and teaching...and watch how many people you can bring to a place where they understand, appreciate and LOVE the Love of God.