Nick Anderson for March 21, 2014

Here’s hoping they broke the mold!

Hey Nick, Glad you pointed out the .00001% of people that go around carrying signs like that.Kinda like the PETA Lefties that call people who eat meat MURDERERS!

It’s topical because that .00001% guy died. The example of “we ain;t Russia yet, because this guy’s still not in jail.”

It is true that in the chapter of Leviticus in the old testament of the bible, homosexuality, bestiality, and even adultery were all sins punishable by taking the sinning individual outside of the Jewish Communities and stoning them to death. However, there were over 300 other sins also so punishable in the same manner!

This would include the sin of usury. Which was the sin of charging excess interest on a loan to others of the community by the one performing the sin itself. An old testament Jew could only charge a small amount of interest to a non Jew. He could charge no interest at all to a fellow Jew. And within Jewish families every financial dealing was an out-and-out grant. So the modern concept of compound interest, and the kinds of high interests charged on credit cards is absolutely usury, and should be punishable by taking the bankers responsible (and what banks do not charge these kinds of interest?) out of our communities and stoning these bankers to death!

My main point is that to an all holy and powerful God there is no distinction of severity between sins against God! So, in the reckoning of God, we are ALL sinners equally. However, as a Christian, I fully believe that the death and resurrection of My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ some 2000 years ago is sufficient punishment to that all holy God for all sin forever, and therefore my eternal soul (regardless of its enumerable sins) is going to be with Jesus in paradise forever and ever. And knowing this, I have absolutely no reason nor right (as Jesus himself stated when he said “Judge not, least ye be Judged”) to condemn or judge others for their sins. The only thing that I am able to do is to regret that such sin even exists in all mankind. So, compassion, love, and forgiveness, are far more important to God (and therefore should be far more important to me) than righteousness ever could be!!

Phelps died? Ah, I don’t normally say this but: good.

I was taken with George Takei’s gracious response to Phelps’ death. He said roughly that he hoped that God was merciful (and don’t worry about it if you don’t believe in God – just let it go), and that he hoped Phelps could find the peace in the afterlife, which he could not find in this life. Takei, of course, is someone Phelps had frequently attacked verbally.

Bottom line is that we don’t know what God thinks or who He hates. Maybe he hated Fred Phelps for presuming to know God’s mind.

The irony here is that his son really hopes that people don’t protest at his funeral.

People shouldn’t protest at his funeral. He doesn’t deserve that kind of attention. He was a hateful little man who had no business calling himself a Pastor. He’s no better than that Butler character from Idaho who was a neo nazi that’s also thankfully no longer with us.

God doesn’t hate. Ever. But He does mete out justice, and offers redemption and salvation. Mr. Phelps has much to answer for. May God have mercy on his soul.

Now that Phelps is gone, it will be interesting to see what happens with his “church.” Phelps was a charismatic leader, and those who left his “church” liken it to a cult. It remains to be seen if there is a smooth transition in leadership, a power struggle, or if the “church” will even be able to sustain itself without its leader.

Where will he be buried? My owner needs to take me for a potty break.

The thing about religion is that you get out of it what you want to get out of it. I know a couple of devout Catholics who proudly displayed lawn signs in support of gay marriage. Those who want to use religion to support anti-gay causes will use those specific biblical passages. Those who want to focus on living their own lives without judging others will focus on those passages.

“They will continue their bigoted ways and still protest funerals of our fallen soldiers mane and women”And people will counter-protest, thus feeding them the hateful vibe they seem to enjoy. I think it’s unsustainable in the long term. As the older, more fanatical members die off, I think it will eventually fizzle out. If everyone could get on the same page and ignore them, it could happen sooner than later.

I’m an atheist, but if I were religious I think I’d embrace the philosophy in this quote (don’t remember the source; if you’re curious, google it): “Because I believe in the Bible, I believe in heaven and hell. Because I believe in God’s infinite mercy, I believe that hell is empty.”

Only thing better for Phelps than the trapdoor to hell would be if he were let into heaven and saw all the gay people who are there too.

will be standing next to george tiller // what is it with wichita?

Karma