Religious Freedom or 'Silly Prejudice'?

tiponeill1 »

Tue Jun 23, 2009 1:27 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 1

>Churches aren't dictating that gay marriage can't occur. They are just refusing to participate.

No - some churches WANT to legally marry gay couples, but other churches not only "don't want to participate" but want to make it illegal for churches which don't share their doctrine.

They want to use the government to force their doctrine on other churches.

Religious Freedom or 'Silly Prejudice'?

tiponeill1 »

Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:52 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 1

My new career plan is to become a Registered Pharmacist, and then convert to Christian Science.

I will refuse to fill any prescriptions, but I will offer to pray for my patients.

Checkmate!

tiponeill1 »

Sun May 31, 2009 4:58 pm Agree: 4   Disagree: 2

"Checkmate" is a term used when a game is over.
This is a battle that the christians have won, but not the war.
It is far from over and will be back both in the courts and the ballot box.

You can gloat over the victory in one battle - but the war is far from over

FOTF Praises Obama on Adoption Concern

tiponeill1 »

Sun May 31, 2009 4:55 pm Agree: 12   Disagree: 3

IN the meantime, another christian terrorist has assassinated another doctor

Seek God's Will in the Choice of a Spouse

tiponeill1 »

Tue May 26, 2009 8:31 pm Agree: 9   Disagree: 2

Hey don't worry about it - as long as you marry someone of the opposite sex you are a good christian, evidently

Maine Becomes 5th State to OK Gay Marriage

tiponeill1 »

Thu May 07, 2009 12:42 am Agree: 3   Disagree: 0

"I find this heart braking and a threat to Christians. I think it is only a matter of time before same sex marraige will be the law of the land."

True it is only a matter of time, but why do you think it is a threat to Christians ?

I don't think God cares - at least He hasn't destroyed Canada yet, and the Christians there seem unthreatened

Maine Becomes 5th State to OK Gay Marriage

tiponeill1 »

Thu May 07, 2009 12:38 am Agree: 3   Disagree: 1

"rolln4him tip-
I find it quite hilarious that, you being a heathen, are telling other Christians what their faith is about. "

Belief and knowledge are two different things - in fact I've found that often those with the strongest beliefs are the most ignorant.

No one has to listen to me explain their faith to them, but when they make the claim that they are the "true Christians" and that others of sincere faith and knowledge have completely different beliefs, it's always good to remind them that they might be suffering from pride, and might want to sincerely dialogue with those other Christians.

They might even pick up a little knowledge, to augment their faith.

Maine Becomes 5th State to OK Gay Marriage

tiponeill1 »

Wed May 06, 2009 11:49 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 2

"believer »tip, considering Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world and i.."

As I said, luckily the Muslim population of the US is negligible - they don't even show up in the polls.

Even Jews barely show up - there are more gays than jews.

Maine Becomes 5th State to OK Gay Marriage

tiponeill1 »

Wed May 06, 2009 11:46 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 2

"jturning >
I think what people miss is that there are a lot of people that call themselves Christian, but don't really know God or Jesus. "

You do realize, don't you, that many of them are sincere Christians who think they know Jesus better than you do, and who don't believe that Jesus came to earth to outlaw abortion and persecute gays ?

Your definition of what a christian believes is very narrow and only shared by some sects.

Maine Becomes 5th State to OK Gay Marriage

tiponeill1 »

Wed May 06, 2009 11:34 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 0

"rolln4him » Actually, we claim Lincoln - pal! You can try to sabotage our faith, but you aren't going to re-write history"

Sorry - I didn't realize that Lincoln led the secession of the southern and midwest states from the Union, and that it worked out so well for you.

Wouldn't want to "re-write" your "history" LOL

Maine Becomes 5th State to OK Gay Marriage

tiponeill1 »

Wed May 06, 2009 11:26 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 1

"We sensible folks will take the mid-west states and south."

I think you "sensible folks" have already tried seceding once, and it didn't work out that well for you.

Maine Becomes 5th State to OK Gay Marriage

tiponeill1 »

Wed May 06, 2009 11:11 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 1

"rolln4him » tip-You're right though, if the church and those of faith would just go out and vote, the minority perverts and their political croonies (including the big "O") wouldn't be in positions of power. "

Actually they do get out in vote, in large numbers - as you point out atheists are a small minority.

It's just that their "faith" doesn't consist solely of hating gays and abortion and our President.

Not all "christians" believe what the fundies do - actually the fundies are less than 30% of the population nationwide, and are highly concentrated on the South and midwest

Maine Becomes 5th State to OK Gay Marriage

tiponeill1 »

Wed May 06, 2009 11:07 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 1

believer »tip, I was responding to your response to rollin with regards to other faith groups ..

We were discussing the politics of gay marriage in the US. - luckily there are so few Muslims that they are irrelevant

Maine Becomes 5th State to OK Gay Marriage

tiponeill1 »

Wed May 06, 2009 10:24 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 0

"tip, have you ever heard of a faith called Islam, the Muslims are adamantly opposed"

Well, duh.

What does that have to do with anything ?

Maine Becomes 5th State to OK Gay Marriage

tiponeill1 »

Wed May 06, 2009 10:22 pm Agree: 3   Disagree: 1

"But wake up and smell the coffee, bonehead. Only 10% claim to be atheist, so ... hello? "

The "bonehead" may be inappropriate, since MA,CT,Vermont, New Hampshire, Canada etc are not "atheist".

They are just not fundie christian like the South.

Maine Becomes 5th State to OK Gay Marriage

tiponeill1 »

Wed May 06, 2009 10:04 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 0

"There are plenty of atheists and people of other faiths (just as in abortion) that will fight to preserve traditional marriage."

No there aren't - there are some (few) secular types that are prejudiced against gays, but they aren't motivated to spend money or campaign against something which doesn't affect them - they don't care that much.

The anti-gay war is being conducted and funded by the churches, and the more "secular" a state, the more they favor gay rights, the more "evangelical" and churchgoing a state, the more they oppose it - so much so that the really red states match up perfectly with the Old South and the maps of states that prohibited racial intermarriage.

Maine Becomes 5th State to OK Gay Marriage

tiponeill1 »

Wed May 06, 2009 9:12 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 0

"mightily embarrassed for promoting discrimination."

I doubt it - I've been thru this before and the Strom Thurmonds and Helms' and Falwells almost all went to their deathbeds unembarrassed - George Wallace was a rare exception.

People get stuck in their bigotry and rarely change, but society changes because they die off and are unable to pass their prejudices on to younger generations.

That's why they are running scared - the younger generations don't share their prejudice.

Torture Survey Reveals Gap Between NAE, U.S. Evangelicals

tiponeill1 »

Wed May 06, 2009 8:57 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

There is a huge difference between a position paper and a principled stand that results in multiple sermons and fund raising and activism.

The churches may quietly say on occasion that they oppose torture, or war, or capital punishment - but they regale their parishioners with fire and brimstone jihads against gays and abortion.

Of course the followers think that being "Christian" means being against gays and abortion - what else could it mean ?

House Passes Expanded 'Hate Crimes' Bill

tiponeill1 »

Fri May 01, 2009 3:39 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

It's no surprise that christian churches should support hate crimes against gays.

What is also no surprise, although they find it more difficult to explain, is that the more people go to church, the more they support torture.

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/30/churchgoers-more-likely-to-back-torture-survey-finds/


Those of us on the outside understand this about modern American Christianity - those on the inside are in complete denial.

TIME - Is Same-Sex Marriage Inevitable?

tiponeill1 »

Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:16 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

Well Mohler isn't throwing in the towel, nor Dobson - but no one expects that and the ground IS moving.

Just as with George Wallace and Jesse Helms, progress often requires older generations to pass away.

So yes, gay marriage IS inevitable but there's a good chance that Dobson and Mohler don't have to worry about being around long enough to see it.