Deeply held beliefs? Really?

The President of the U.S. announced that he will sign an executive order that will bar companies with federal contracts from discriminating against sexual orientation and gender identity when hiring.  On Tuesday, 7/1/2014, a group of 14 faith leaders wrote a letter to the President of the US, basically asking him to give them an exemption based on their "deeply-held religious beliefs" to this executive order.  

In their letter, they wrote "We believe that all persons are created in the divine image of the creator, and are worthy of respect and love, without exception."  And then, in the very next sentence, "Even so, it still may not be possible for all sides to reach a consensus on every issue."  Excuse me but you're the leaders of your faith communities.  If anyone should be able to lead people to accepting another human being, it should be you.  You've read your bibles.  You know that Christ never said to make people feel less deserving of life and love and respect.  You said in your letter yourselves and yet, you think that showing them respect and love means telling them they're not worthy of a job, simply because of the person they love?

Here in the United States, we have this wonderful tradition of accepting people as they are, into our melting pot of a society.  But we haven't always been that welcoming at first.  We took the natives and put them onto reservations.  We made it difficult for the Irish to find jobs.  We took Japanese-Americans and put them into camps during WW2.  And now, we have people trying to make other people feel like they're less than human.  All because they're different.  Because a book that was written centuries ago, in a different time and age, translated many many times from the original language by people who wanted to make their own agendas shine, we have people trying to tell others that their love isn't real or true.  That they don't deserve jobs or homes.  Some so called faith "leaders" have gone so far as to say they should be taken out of society, placed behind high walls so none can see them, and have food dropped to them every so often, until they all die.  We even had a candidate for office in one state say that he believed they should be stoned to death.  Is this showing them respect?  Is this how you believe they are worthy of love?

Years ago, I had a priest reach out to me and several other women and tell us that Christ had loved us so much, he chose to die among others just like us, criminals.  And yet, a year later, I had a priest tell me that people can't change who they are and once a criminal, always a criminal and we should shun criminals.  Respect?  Love?  I don't think so.

Anyone who knows me knows how much this frustrates me.  How these so-called leaders can be so ugly, I just don't understand and I'm pretty sure that NOTHING will ever be said that can change my mind.  It boils down to a few things for me.  As a Christian, you follow the words of Christ.  He never said anything about discriminating towards anyone.  When He was asked what the greatest law was, He said the first law was to love your God with all your heart, mind, and soul.  And then He said that the second greatest was just like it, that it was to love your neighbor as you love yourself.  Well, let me tell you: If these religious leaders are showing how they love themselves, I want no part of it.

I get it.  Sex with a person of the same gender is a sin and therefore it's wrong.  But there is nothing in the bible that says one sin is worse than another.  That's part of the reason why we have the saying "Hate the sin but love the sinner."  Because each of us is a sinner and none of us are any better than anybody else.  So tell me please, why is it that your faith, the same faith that Christ passed on, tells you that you can discriminate against someone because of their sin but you think your own is ok?

The bible said in Leviticus that lying with a man as you would a woman is an abomination.  But it also said in Proverbs that that a lying tongue is an abomination.  So saying that you respect and love everyone, without exception, in one sentence and then asking for the right to discriminate (which means you DON'T respect THAT person) against someone, anyone... what's that?  In my book, that's a lie.  Either you believe that everyone deserves respect or you don't believe it.  But don't try to tell me that your faith, your deeply held religious beliefs, is demanding that you do that.  Because it just isn't the truth.  No way, no how.  And someday, as you keep telling everyone, YOU will be judged for your words and your actions.  I'm just not sure the judgment you get is going to be what you THINK it will be. 

For me, the bottom line is simple.  Treat others how you want to be treated and leave the judgment to whoever your God is.  You'll be a lot happier and less stressed out when you stop worrying about everyone else's future and concentrate on your own.