Pence said that he hoped the law would protect millions of state residents “who, like me, have been practicing this religion passionately for years.”…. The bill would grant politicians like Pence the right to observe their faith freely, even if their practice of stupidity costs the state billions of dollars. While Pence’s action drew the praise of stupid people across America, former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was not among them. “Even I wasn’t dumb enough to sign a bill like that,” she said.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: if your religious faith allows you to conflate your hatred and prejudice into an excuse to treat others as “less than,” as second-class citizens worthy only of scorn and oppression, you have no religion. You’re a sociopath who’s bastardized cafeteria Christianity is as much a religion as stupidity is.
Perhaps you slept through the Sunday School lessons that made it clear that Jesus didn’t preach hatred and exclusion. Or perhaps you’ve simply chose to ignore those teachings that don’t dovetail with your “sincerely held religious beliefs.” Or, even worse, perhaps you simply are just that homophobic and hateful that you’d use whatever means might be at your disposal in order to avoid catching The Gay.
Isn’t it amazing how so many socially conservative radical Christians are obsessed with what happens in the bedrooms of consenting adults? Instead of Christians focusing on themselves and how they can lead more Christ-like lives, too many focus their considerable energy on what others are doing behind closed doors. Never mind that Jesus never preached about homosexuality, or even that the Bible Christians profess to read, know, and understand portrays Jesus as someone who taught love, tolerance, and acceptance, not hatred, exclusion, and oppression.
The current emphasis among radical socially conservative Christians has little if anything to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ. It has far more to do with those who feel themselves to be righteous setting themselves above others they feel to be “less than” and unworthy of what they believe to be the treasure waiting for them in Heaven.
“Religious freedom” has nothing to do with homophobia or hatred. It’s not about having the legal right to discriminate against others in order that you might feel holier and more Christ-like. Refusing to provide goods or service to others because their sexuality and/or lifestyle violates your “sincerely held religious beliefs” doesn’t make you a better Christian. It just makes you a hypocrite and yes, stupid…because you clearly can’t be bothered to understand the teachings of the Lord and Savior you pretend to worship.
Discrimination and hatred aren’t Christian values. Nor is ignorance.
And people wonder why I don’t believe in God….
