Discuss
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Discuss, Religion
(h/t: NeoMugWump…and by the way, go over and read what Dennis Sanders has to say about this)
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 6th, 2006 and is filed under Discuss, Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 6th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
That is disgusting.
And a waste of $260,000 that could have been more effectively used to help those in need.
July 6th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
That’s what gets me. So much money!
Me thinks Jesus would be slightly upset at this false idol…
July 6th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
I’m not disgusted by it, but I definitely disagree with it. I doubt there has been any law broken, as I would assume the statue is considered a type of “free speech”.
I doubt this church would like it if a mosque created a similar type statue, but holding a Quran and a sword instead. It’s a slippery slope and overall just a really bad idea.
July 6th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
I read Dennis’ post on this at NeoMugWump. It adds great perspective to the picture. For those that don’t want to take a look, he basically says that an African American congregation is responsible for this – a congregation whose pastor is a man with a serious anti-gay attitude. Quite a commentary about how people of all races and cultures can still persecute another minority, even while recognizing that they themselves have been or still are a persecuted minority.
I have a gay, African American friend, and he has told me many stories of being shunned by his church, even though he is very religious and seems to be a “good” Christian – I guess except for the part about being gay. He finds it to be extremely hurtful, as I imagine others do, who find themselves involved in similar predicaments.
July 6th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
So much for separation of church and state, or ironically, freedom of religion.
July 6th, 2006 at 5:06 pm
$260,000!?? Yes, that is utterly revolting. The statue itself doesn’t bother me, it’s just (tasteless) free speech. But how can a Christian congregation reconcile spending this much money on a publicity stunt when there are needy people to feed, clothe and shelter?
Meredith, sometimes I wonder how many of my fellow Christians would disapprove of Jesus eating dinner with and generally associating with prostitutes, tax collectors and the like. “Love the sinner, hate the sin” seems to be lost on so many otherwise faithful people.
July 6th, 2006 at 5:06 pm
Unfortunately, the Republican party panders to the black vote by pandering to their homophobic tendencies. So even though most Republican policies hurt the black community or at the least don’t help them at all, a certain number of black voters will vote for Republican candidates because they trot out the gay marriage ban before every major election.
July 7th, 2006 at 7:27 am
Justin, you should ban people based on IQ.
Brian of Atlanta, this is very true — but you know very well that the modern push is to eliminate the concept of sexual morality, period. In other words, sodomy is not a sin, so there is no sinner and we Christians should not judge any sexual behavior.
Well, no matter how many names I’m called by the Enlightened, I believe the act of homosexual sex is an unnatural, deviant sin. My belief is scripturally based, but also philosophically logical. With that said, I have several homosexual friends and I do not preach to them because I believe good & evil is written on the heart of every person. I hope & pray that they can overcome the temptations & sinful inclinations in their life. I hope & pray that I can do the same — although homosexuality is not one of them.
July 7th, 2006 at 9:49 am
“I hope & pray that they can overcome the temptations & sinful inclinations in their life. I hope & pray that I can do the same â€â€? although homosexuality is not one of them. ”
Judge not. Lest ye be judged.
July 7th, 2006 at 11:23 am
Is there any activity that can be condemned? Must I condone all sexual proclivities and their manifestations? Is there a line where…yes…one can judge that.
July 10th, 2006 at 9:51 am
Judged or condemned? Christ himself was seldom, if ever, reputed to judge or condemn his fellow man (to the extent of my knowledge). he was content to leave that to God. The laws of men govern our temporal lives, but the moral authority to judge and condemn the sins or souls of our fellow man does not reside in human hands. Let man govern himself and his brother by his laws, but let God be the one to judge the measure of our sins. If another person’s actions offend me, that is my burden so long as those actions do me no harm.