God Gave Me This Message for You

Though he may be saving the gift of heaven for special people like you, he gave rights to every human being.  His perfect will for you, for all of us, is, at the very least, to keep hands off the souls of others--which partly consist of their autonomy as people possessing free will and the capacity for reason and love.  It also includes their physical lives and well-being--and their right to pursue happiness so long as doing so does no real harm to others.

Zeal is understandable, times being what they are--especially so, the more furious your concept of God happens to be.  But think hard--where might Jesus hanging on the cross for the sins of the world stand on the issue of church leaders and religious groups opposing legal protection for children and young people whom others perceive as gay, lesbian, or whatever, regardless of whether they are or not?  How might he, who took the sins of the world on himself so as not to put the blame on anyone else, look at his would-be followers blaming every earthquake, hurricane, and economic downturn on a group of people his followers happen to revile (or rather, as you might say, whose sins you revile, not the sinners)?

He knows you hate it when other people think that perhaps you act and look the way you do because you are a self-loathing homosexual.  So imagine how you would feel if people bullied you or your children because of this idea that somehow got put in their heads--and how would you feel, inside, if you heard others who claim to love God objecting--with some vehemence--to the idea that anyone might want to do anything to stop that bullying.  What if the time came when simply badmouthing gays and lesbians all the time no longer convinced others that you yourself are not a child of Sodom?

He also wanted me to tell you that while you're doing a pretty good job at resisting the temptation to engage in homosexual practices--though you might do a better job of it when you think nobody is looking too--he wants you to obey the WHOLE revealed truth--which means you probably ought to stop eating pork and shrimp, gossiping, and working and shopping on Saturdays--and, if you're really serious about this (it's your choice so I won't push it), you need to give away all your possessions, leave your families, and follow him only.

That's quite a lot to ask, I know.  I couldn't do it, but then I don't claim to be one of God's people.  Possessions and families are nice and hard to resist (but then so are the other pleasures of the flesh).  I suppose it's a lot easier to oppose the gay agenda (which is, basically, to protect everyone's God-given rights, including yours) than to actually follow all the commands God mentions in the scriptures.  Whew, there are a lot of them, aren't there?  By the way, not one of them is to boycott gay-friendly businesses or petition for legal injunctions against homosexuality or the miserable sinners (and here we're all in the same boat, aren't we?) who practice it.  (Some, I hear, not only practice it, but have gotten pretty good at it too.)

God doesn't talk to me a lot, but he did press upon me the importance of urging you to clean up your own life, seek goodness and holiness in private (and stop praying in public--he hates it--Matt. 6.5), and leave other people in peace.  Much better that the godless look upon God's followers as people who make the world a better place for everyone--or at least no worse--than as a bunch of meddlers whose own gnawing sense of guilt triggers the persecution of those who have never met you, much less done anything to hurt you.  

If Jesus wants you to turn the cheek when others hit you, imagine how he wants you to behave towards those who have done nothing whatsoever against you, who would be just happy enough if you were to mind your own business and leave them in peace--perhaps to find God and God's will for themselves in their (and God's) own sweet time.