I’m going to tell you right away, if you are a zealously religious person who believes in every word of the bible, you may not want to read this post. And some may find it disrespectful, especially since it’s Easter. But if you follow carefully, I’m not attacking religion here, but rather the people who use the bible in ways I don’t feel it was intended.
And while I am not personally religious at all, let me clarify that I do believe in religious freedom. And I have a lot of friends who are very religious. But they use it in such a way where it guides them in a life they’ve already established. I have no problem with that, and definitely respect anyone else who can use religion and religious beliefs in a positive, healthy way that is realistic.
I get worried about people who depend upon religion to tell them what to do, because they have no will power or thought of their own. That’s an unhealthy situation, if you ask me. And this is what I am going to rant about.
I just got done watching a TV special called, “Pray the Gay Away”, which talks about people trying to use religion to make them straight. They feel they are God’s error, and that they are unclean, unhealthy, and diseased. That the bible tells them they are immoral.
As the special points out, there are only 6 passages in the bible regarding homosexuality. Six. Do you know how many passages there are about how to care for your slave (Lev. 25:44)? Too many to count. Yet do we hear the so-called “Christians” giving us biblical slavery advice? A better question… why do evangelical Christians pick and choose what parts of the bible to believe? If they believe it’s all literally the word of God, then why don’t they:
- Sell their daughters into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7.
- Have no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness. (Lev 15:19-24)
- Kill people who work on the Sabbath. (Exodus 35:2)
- Stop eating shellfish, as it is an Abomination. (Lev 11:10)
- Forbid those with a defect in their sight to approach the altar of God. (Lev 21:20)
- Stop cutting their hair or trimming their beards. (Lev 19:27)
And a ton of other equally nutty stuff the bible says. Why aren’t they enforcing these passages? Because they want to promote their own agenda of hate, not “the word of God”. Well, sorry, you can’t have it both ways.
So with great pleasure, I present this pic of one of the many billboards that have been popping up all over Los Angeles. I show you now, so that I can tell you that I will be happily posting it again on May 22. “The bible Guarantees It”, indeed.
Julia Sweeney, the former SNL cast member, put out an album and one woman show entitled Letting Go of God, in which she discusses her journey from Catholic believer to atheism. It’s fucking brilliant, and I feel like everyone should listen to it at least once. I actually listen to it about twice a year, it’s so moving. And I like to reaffirm my non-faith every once in a while. 😉
