Politics, Religion, and . . . Football?

I do believe this is the first time I've ever brought politics or religion to this blog, and I'm doing it all in one post. (Click here to read the Huffington Post article that precipitated my need to do so.)

Heck, if the Pope played football, I'd find a reason to work in the third taboo subject I tend to avoid in conversation. I become far too passionate about all three subjects sometimes to discuss them rationally.

[Is this thing on? :taps mic: Where's my soap box?]

If you've read my facebook, or twitter, or Google+ posts, you've already figured out I'm a bit more liberal than moderate. You've figured out I'm pro-gay, pro-choice, and pro-marriage equality. I believe that every individual has the right to choose his or her own path in this life and it's nobody else's right to do it for them.

I was raised in a Roman Catholic family. For a short while, I went to a Catholic school. And the one thing that was drilled into me, beyond any other, was to hate no-one. NO. ONE.

(The crazy, senile, verbally and mentally abusive, old nun who ensured I would never grow up to be a Catholic is the exception, not the rule.)

I even do my best to use the word "hate" as little as possible. That said, I can honestly admit that one thing I DO hate is hypocrisy.

That is also one of the reasons I am no longer a Christian or a member of the Catholic church. It's not the religion that bothers me. It's the things some people do in the name of religion.

It absolutely INFURIATES me when I hear "Christians" spouting off about any group not deserving the same rights as everyone else because the Bible says they are wrong. The Bible also says, "Judge not lest ye be judged."

I look at friends, gay or straight, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist, raising children with good family values and I ask, "Isn't that all that really matters?"

I know so many people who accept Christ as their savior. Who are kind and loving and generous. They are so completely unlike the very loud, vocal few who spout hatred based on sexual preference, or any other preference. They may not all agree with me when it comes to certain subjects, but they accept that not all opinions are the same and that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion.

To the haters I say: Your God didn't tell you to deny or hate anyone. He told you to love thy neighbor. He told you to help others where you could. He told you to spread His word, one of positivity and righteousness, and that He would make the final judgement.

What I want to know is whether you've learned anything from the stories of the Bible. From the Samaritan who stopped to help his fellow man. From Jesus spending time with lepers and easing their suffering. From the woman at the well.

It's been a long while since I've opened a Bible (although it was on a Kindle app), but I don't recall it saying, "Love thy neighbor who is a heterosexual white male."

So, to the R's, and even the D's, who are like the person in that HuffPost article I ask one question: How can you vilify a group of individuals and deny them equal rights and then, in good conscience, call yourself a Christian?

Namaste