Ponderings of an always trying, always failing, always forgiven Christian.

Note: This blog uses the word “gay”- a lot. The word “gay” is not a horrible word. I am not somehow “intolerant” or “politically incorrect” by using the word “gay”. If you think I am somehow a horrible person for using the word “gay”, and not “homosexual”, just ask yourself: (Go ahead, use your own voice) “How many gay (oh, sorry- homosexual) friends do I have?”. Now, take that number, and forget about it, because there is a 97.9% chance I have more gay friends than you- and none of them are opposed to the word “gay”. In fact, they think the word “homosexual” is pretentious.

I have many gay friends. Many. I love my gay friends. Heck, they are some of the most fun (and honest) people I know.

I’d even go as far as to say that they can be much more virtuous than I at times. My friends are gay, but they aren’t liars (not any more than most people anyways), they aren’t thieves, they aren’t drunkards, and they sure as heck aren’t devil worshipers. Yet, none of them know what a relationship with God feels like. Although, to their credit (or discredit), some of them think they do (you know- the “I love God, but I’m going to live how I want to live” crowd).

I wondered for a while why most gays did not have a relationship with Christ, let alone, know what He did for them. The answer I got back a lot was usually something to the effect of (cue the Pharisee-like arrogance):

“Well, you see, homosexuals are so rooted in their ways, and so deep in their sin, that they have turned away from godly things so they can pursue selfish, sinful acts.”

Now, if you are gay, and you are reading this- let me apologize for the ignorance of a large percentage of Christianity- for the hypocrisy to proclaim the Gospel where the second most important commandment is “love thy neighbor”, while they turn around and call you despicable names and look down their noses at you.

It finally hit me, and it took revisiting my own spiritual walk (all the way from cynical atheist to a failing, forgiven Christian). I became an atheist because of my embitterment towards the church (the Catholic church in specific). There was hypocrisy galore, and there was no real love ever shown to me by those who preached on the importance of said love.

This is one mans opinion (obviously), but sometimes I wonder if our church forefathers convened in a monastery up in the mountains somewhere (under the cover of night of course), and heard a speech such as this one (delivered of course, by whoever had the biggest bible):

“Let us, here on this day, resolve to acknowledge that the vile sinners who call themselves ‘gay’, do so by their own choice. Let us make sure to denounce anything that starts with the letter ‘h’ and ends in ‘omosexuality’, even if that word is ‘hooperomosexuality’. If faced with the topic of homosexuality, make sure to tell everyone you can reach how evil it is, and make sure to seem completely unsympathetic to those who might be gay. Remember, they are dirty, low life sinners. We of course, are much better than that! Remember when the Apostle Paul says that homosexuality is reprehensible. But forget when Jesus said to show love to our neighbor! Cookies and punch will now be served.”

However over-the-top and outrageous that scenario seems, I sometimes wonder if maybe this is what people learn in their Sunday-school classes growing up. It seems like Christians who were raised in the church especially dislike homosexuals.

Now, there is a disclaimer that I must make, for the sake of political correctness and liability.

(1)I know not all Christians think this way. This is my own viewpoint, which is based on what I have observed in churches and from speaking to Christians.

(2)I do not, I repeat, do NOT think homosexuality is okay. I think homosexual relations are sinful. But then again, so are hundreds of the things that I do. Gays are no less able to receive the love of Christ than you or me. And just because they become Christians doesn’t mean that they just turn “off” their homosexuality. That is up to God and His timing, and His decision to renew the mind of a sinner.

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Something occurred to me today. I was watching the Rays v Marlins game, and at one point, the camera panned over to a tank containing a sting ray (it was a Rays home game). That made sense. Its their mascot.

So- follow me here- my mind is now thinking about mascots.

My mind wanders over each of the mascots that corresponds to a local team.

The Dolphins have a dolphin.

The Marlins have a marlin.

The Panthers have a panther.

The Heat has… I don’t know what this is.

What is that?! Ugh! Its horrible! Its disgusting! Its an abomination!

The God I worship would never create such a monstrosity (especially such an ugly one). This leads me to believe one thing:

The Miami Heat is the work of the devil. I mean, really. What good has the Heat ever produced? Trading off Shaq and a flurry of injuries to Dwayne Wade?

Devil’s work. I’m telling you.