This is your love and compassion?
Reverend Phillip Kayser is pastor of the Dominion Covenant Church in Omaha, Nebraska:
“For example, in a society that was being converted, homosexuals could continue to be converted as they were in the church of Corinth. Even after a society implemented Biblical law and made homosexuality a crime, there are many checks and balances that would be in place. (See Appendix A page 40 for specifics.) The civil government could not round them up. Only those who were prosecuted by citizens could be punished, and the punishment could take a number of forms, including death. This would have a tendency of driving homosexuals back into their closets. (p. 24)”
This is the dangers of a supposedly loving and compassionate religion. It’s absolutely acceptable to me for anyone to have their religious views but when it crosses the line to hatred and bigotry and is used to manipulate and control others to carry out heinous acts and spew such hatred, it is not ok.
My belief system, no matter how fundamentalist i become, causes me to care more for all of mankind, not kill those that i disagree with. I think i espouse the tenets of Christianity without subscribing to it better than almost every Christian i’ve ever encountered and far more than most.
Fear is a major factor that keeps people believing in their religion. I’m not afraid of hell. And I certainly don’t believe that self-reenforcing belief systems, especially those which depend on fear and ignorance to ensure compliance, would have been required by a supreme being. If i know better, and i’m only human, i’d have to assume a benevolent God would be infinitely more wise than me and accept souls to heaven based on their thoughts and actions, not based on some ridiculously arrogant rules about a God in which i must believe.
It’s really easy to love people, and to be empathetic and compassionate. It only seems difficult for the people with religious beliefs.