What happened to "love the sinner, hate the sin"?

[tsukikage]

*bites tongue*

This kind of stuff makes me sick to my stomach.

And the scariest part is, if I were a Christian, I think I'd try to make myself come to terms with the "truth" of the "evils" of homosexuality, since I don't believe in a-la-carte religion.

*goes to bed curled in a fetal position*

Comments

[angstacularness.livejournal.com]

Ah, Jack Chick... Dude's got the Crazy.

I'm gonna quote Abby here: "Every time I start to think, 'What if this guy's right?' I realize that I can't believe that, because I can't believe in a god who would hate people."

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

Thank you for that quote, Nicole (and Abby). My heart needs more weapons to use against my "brain"...

[o3nsmash.livejournal.com]

Perfect reason why I think other Christians are crazy. And why some Christians are probably don't really understand their religion.

[jadeejf.livejournal.com]

Wow, that was a scary cartoon. A little too much hate for my taste.

I am a Christian, and while I agree with parts of the cartoon, some of it's a little overreaching. I'm with you on the love the sinner part ;) First off, I think there's a distinction between temptation toward homosexuality and actually engaging in gay sex acts. Secondly, I don't consider gay sex to be any worse of a sin than lying, premarital sex, gossiping, etc. All of which I've done, so really, I can't claim to be any more moral than someone who has wholeheartedly embraced that kind of lifestyle, because for quite some time I was engaged in a lifestyle contrary to what God wanted, and I still screw up most of the time.

But, unlike psycho girl in the tract, I don't have a problem being friends with gays and lesbians (and bi kids, too), and I understand desire towards someone of the same sex, so, I guess the cartoon puts me off because it demonizes gay couples, and there's just no reason for it. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, after all. The tract authors clearly forgot that the all includes them, and little children as well.

/rant

[o3nsmash.livejournal.com]

The only problem I have with all of that is, where did being "gay" come from? If it is a sin to begin with, then why have a world where people are like that? I mean, you can't choose to be gay, just as much you can choose your family. Just a thought.

- Corey

[jadeejf.livejournal.com]

I think we disagree on that at a basic level, as I do think it's a choice. At least, there's definitely a choice to act on those feelings. I have desires to do a lot of things that I don't think are right, and that would make life harder for me, and I generally choose not to do those things (although sometimes I don't). In any case, if you really want to get into all the logic behind my stance, you'd do well to read through the previous posts on christianitysex. Just a thought :)

Besides, I'm adopted, so the whole not being able to choose your family thing doesn't work at all for me ;) Best wishes.

[o3nsmash.livejournal.com]

I am adopted as well and I didn't choose my family. Other outside factors (God, people, etc.) did, but not me.

I agree that you definitely choose to act on such activities, but the attraction itself is not a choice. You don't choose to like males or females. It's something that is with you from the beginning. But I can agree that acting is a choice.

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

You know, this is a totally different topic, but I always wonder why Catholics don't allow gays to become priests. Isn't a life of celibacy the "best option" for a gay Catholic?

[jadeejf.livejournal.com]

I think it is personally. I didn't know Catholics didn't allow gays to become priests. Interesting. I'll have to take that one up with my Catholic friends and see what they say. I myself, am a sad pathetic plain Christian.

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

You may be a Christian, but that's the only one of those you are!

[jadeejf.livejournal.com]

Yay, another adoptee. Cool :) Well, granted, we didn't exactly choose our own families, but as adults, we can choose to remain a part of our adopted family, and in some cases can choose to become a part of our birth family. But that's a tangent anyway.

Yep, all I'm saying is that people choose to act on things. That's the whole basis of sin. I don't think temptation is necessarily a sin (although dwelling on the temptation may be... I still haven't worked that one out yet), as Jesus himself was tempted. But yes, it's all in the choices we make. After all, I'm quite tempted to not go to work tonight and spend the evening getting drunk and celebrating being finished with undergrad. :D But I won't, because that wouldn't be the right thing to do. :P Even though it'd be really fun :D Maybe tomorrow.

Eh, anyway, I really am not big into discussing homosexuality and christianity- I get rather bored with it. God loves us all, even when we do make dumb choices, and He's always there for us, no matter who or what we're attracted to (mmm, sheep...). And that's about the whole of it, imho. Now, politics and religion shouldn't be mixed... so unlike most crazy evangelicals out there, I'm all about delegalizing marriage, making civil unions the norm (for everyone, no matter who they want to marry, gay, straight, cousins, whatever), and leaving marriage covenants to the church of the couple's church. If you can find a church to marry you (which you pretty much will), go for it :)

[alcarilinque.livejournal.com]

Damn humans. I realize its mostly satire, but still. aghh.

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

Um... I wish it were. These are the little "comics" extreme evangelical Christians hand out in hopes of a) interesting outsiders enough to make them read the content and b) scaring aforementioned outsiders into repentance.

Here are some Finnish "tracts" (what they call these religious comic books) just for you:
- This Was Your Life
- The Little Ghost
- The First Jaws
Now wasn't that fun, kiddies?

[alcarilinque.livejournal.com]

I want to slay them O.o

YOu arent on AIM by any chance, are you?

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

Now I am. And now you're probably in bed, like good college students. =P

[alcarilinque.livejournal.com]

In bed, or studying.

[belindabird.livejournal.com]

Oh boy, i got one of those Jack Chick tracts given to me while I was at work one time. It reminded me of why Zealotry is insane and destructive.

Firstly, it paints a picture of Christians that isn't true for the most part. I know plenty of Christians who don't believe a word of this awful tract, and I wouldn't call them any less devout or serious about their religion. And that's one reason why I won't allow something like this to make me start believing that all Christians are bad or that it's the wrong choice to accept Christianity as one's religion.

I myself am not Christian and I have the sort of values that allow me to accept homosexuality as valid, and so I find this particular tract especially laughable. In my opinion, sexuality itself isn't sinful, and homosexuality is just another aspect of this uniquely beautiful and human interaction. I also don't believe that homosexuality is a choice; just as we don't choose to be a certain race or have a certain hair color, our expression of sexuality is also not a choice. Why would one make a conscious choice to be something which is vilified by a large portion of society and put oneself in danger of harrassment, assault, or even in some severe cases, murder? People commit suicide because they're told time and time again they're making the wrong "choice", but they're unable to change how they feel. Trying to live a sham of heterosexuality is destructive, both to they psyche of the person trying to be something they are innately not, and to the militantly heterosexual members of society that begin to think that they are the default, correct, or "normal" ones.

I believe that Christianity is a religion of loving one's fellow human beings, and so I refuse to take this tract seriously because, rather than "loving the sinner, and hating the sin" the children in the comic are being fooled into hating their fellow human beings by the biblical vagueries included in the tract. This tract, reduced to its purest message, is one of hating a large group of fellow human beings, and should be taken as the author's personal opinion, not a representation of Christianity as a whole. This is a personal opinion of course, but I tend to take any biblical quotes with a grain of salt, since even though the bible it touted as the word of God, it was transcribed, translated, and edited by human hands which are imperfect and controlled by their own personal prejudices.

Anyway, it is in my personal code of morals not to purposely harm anyone, and so I can't really identify with the hateful message of this tract. Instead I just thank my lucky stars that the type of people who believe this thing are in the minority, and I pray all the time that logic will someday dawn on them that they really aren't following the tenets of the religion they purport to follow.

Anyway, Nastassja and friends, don't let yourself get too upset over the stuff this guy writes, because most of the info that he has is wrong wrong wrong (compare Jack Chick's inflammatory history of Halloween with an actual look at Halloween history from a reputable website, and even a look at Jack Chick himself and his rampant inaccuracies here). He's laughable and not worth getting yourself worked up over :)