Heated

**exhale**

There are three conversations I do not like to get into: politics, sexual orientation, and religion. The reason I don’t like to get into discussions on these topics is because they are all hot-buttons – people tend to be very passionate about their positions, whatever they may be, neither side is likely to concede to the other, and there really isn’t any way to “prove” the right over the wrong, because its all a matter of opinion, upbringing and preference. People have a very difficult time agreeing to disagree on these issues, and one or both parties tend to walk away with rustled feathers. I aint got time for all that.
However, I was exposed to a volley of comments on my FB thread this morning that pissed me SMOOTH off, so I have to vent now.

In an effort to avoid triggering any emotional response deeper than the point, Im not going to get into the details of the conversation, but suffice it to say that a joke was made, which CLEARLY went over this guy’s head, and his response was extra as hell. He started arguing – more or less with one other person, although we all thought he was an idiot – about what he felt the bible means in respect to judging people. In the process of arguing his point, he thought it was okay to belittle that person’s opinion, because he is “so well versed” on the bible and that person, admittedly, doesn’t go to church. Dude was spewing scriptures and the whole nine, which might have been somewhat impressive if his interpretation of said verses wasn’t like watching a kindergarten kid fingerpaint a recreation of the Sistine Chapel. Now I think we all can concur that a lot of things written in the bible are subject to interpretation, but other things are not all that obscure. For instance, “love thy neighbor” isn’t saying that you have to be nice to the guy that lives next door, but its okay to slap a person who lives across town LOL. “Judge not, lest ye be judged” is pretty cut and dry too, and the stupid part is that in defending his position, dude was about as un-Christian as he could have been, without cursing and calling the girl out her name.

See, this is why a lot of people don’t go to church in the first place. There are so many supposed Christians out here who are so quick to judge another person and try to make them feel inferior because they don’t know the bible backwards and forwards and don’t have their butt planted in a pew every Sunday, Wednesday and revival. I cant stand when people get all “holier than thou” because they have the bible memorized. That don’t make you better than nobody. Like my homey said earlier today, “Going to church and reading the bible don’t make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.” Your path is paved in what you practice.

If you can cede that these things ARE subject to interpretation, AND we are all imperfect human beings, molded by our upbringing, how can you not cede that your interpretation of what you read may be (is LOL) flawed, and how does your insistence on being right justify your treatment of the individual youre brow-beating right now? Is that the image of God you want to paint for someone? I thought the purpose of “enlightenment” was to draw people TO the Lord, not push them further away or make them feel further justified for not participating. That’s why I hate when some of these pastors comment in their sermons about men wearing earrings and women wearing pants, when there are “offenders” of both sitting out in the congregation at that moment, looking to be led, when they could have been at home watching VH1 reruns. They didn’t even do like I did today – settled for TV church because they were too lazy to go to actual church. They got out of bed and likely drove to your service in search of spiritual guidance and that’s what they get from you? You have an opportunity to win souls for Jesus and you go and make them feel unworthy and out of place, in the place they should feel most welcomed. My old church was like that. Lyfe Jennings has a song on his first CD about this. It’s powerful too – made me wanna go to church the next Sunday and sing it and piss a lotta people off, but you know what I did instead? I stopped going altogether. It took me a long time to go back – to a different church – understanding that it was just a matter of finding a place I felt comfortable worshipping at. I also understood that God is wherever I am, and being up in the third row every week didn’t guarantee me a space in Heaven any more than having a Kobe Bryant jersey would make me a Laker.

People really need to be more careful how they treat others, and how they misuse the gifts bestowed upon them. Someone who knows the bible so well has the ability to really inspire another person and forge a connection they would otherwise not experience. Use your powers for good and stop pretending youre not subject to the same rules as the rest of us. I deleted that guy from my friend list after that, and it wasnt even because I didnt agree with him. It was because he was being an arrogant ASS and I cant respect a person who cant respect others and feels like they have a right to talk down to somebody who did nothing but disagree with their perspective. Not to mention, she's MY friend. Who the hell are you to come on MY page and make somebody you dont even know feel like they cant have an opinion? We dont operate like that around here, EVERYBODY is somebody and we dont judge and condemn folks for who they are, or aint. You think you can get to Heaven with hell in your heart? Good luck with that.

My message: God loves ALL yall. There are good Christians and bad Christians, just like there are good and bad everything else. That goes for any religion you subscribe to, whatever name you call your higher power. Believe in HIM, not the guy in the pulpit or the lady in the big hat. They’re just people. JUST LIKE YOU.