It's past three AM California time, I'm starting to get sleepy but I just need to get something off my chest. I read an article on the SF Chronicle website about a
Christian Youth Rally at San Francisco's AT&T (Formerly SBC, Pacific Bell) Park. This diary isn't necessarily about that rally but it got me thinking about the religious right.
Again, I just need to get something off my chest.
Now we all know about the outrage over
Abdul Rahman the Christian convert who is facing a possible death sentence for the crime of apostasy under Sharia law in Afghaninstan. The common response from around the western world is outrage that somebody's freedom of religion is being abridged under Sharia law. That's the response you get from the adminstration. But don't you think it's a tad bit hypocritial to criticize Sharia when it seems that the line between chruch and state gets blurred here at home?
The Bush Administration who is outraged at Sharia law in this instance is the same Adminsitration that waxes poetic on the "Culture of Life" and the "Sanctity of Marraige."
What's up with the "Sanctity of Marraige anyways? This is the definition of "sanctity:"
sanc·ti·ty
n. pl. sanc·ti·ties
1. Holiness of life or disposition; saintliness.
2. The quality or condition of being considered sacred; inviolability.
3. Something considered sacred.
-dictionary.com
So answer me this question, what business does the secular government of the United States worrying over the sanctity, or holiness, of something?
All this uproar over Gay marraige, Intelligent design, the Ten Commandments displays seems just a part of a plan to impose Christian morals and values on America. And that's what I have a problem with.
People are wrong to say the America is a Christian nation. The United States are a secular nation where the majority of the population are Christians.
I am a regular chruch going person, but I also believe in a strict separation in Church and State. I don't want my government telling me how to believe in God as much as I don't want my government to tell somebody else how to belive in God.
All those outdoor prayer services, and people clutching the bible or Jesus icons seems damn hypocritical. First, the use to the image of Christ the bible seem downright like idolatry to me. Secondly, whenever I see these people a passage from the book of Matthew comes to mind.
(But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words...
..."When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you. -Matthew 6:1-7, 16-18
What is up with this brand of miltiant Christianity? Why do you feel persecuted when you, in fact, are the majority? What ever happened to "God is love?"
I always though Jesus was one of those anti-establishment hippies.