Staighteners.

Those who harass gay people and try to straighten them are wasting their time.

Homosexuality can not be changed by subtle sabotage or force.

The best they can hope for is a hypocritical pretense that will not last.

Homosexuality is love.

And love is from God.

God loves his gay sons and daughters.

He does not discriminate.

So leave us alone.

And let our love flourish. 

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The Heart.

It is no use justifying yourself by the intensity of your feelings.

Passion is not Love.

And lawlessness is not freedom.

We are called to practise some principles and ideals.

Honesty and compassion are allies of the love in our hearts.

But if you have a black heart that is full of darkness and hate.

A heart that is merciless, sadistic, and vicious.

A heart that is blind and will not love.

This is spiritual death.

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Punishment.

The Old Testament teaching that God brings misfortune upon people as punishment for sin and disobedience is obsolete.

It is refuted in the Book of Job and in the New Testament.

But this mentality survives to this day as Prosperity Theology.

And it infects many Christian Churches.

The reaction of Fundamentalist and Evangelical Churches, particularly in the United States, to the AIDS crisis is a classic example.

They said that AIDS was punishment from God for the sin of homosexuality.

And that homosexuals would go to hell.

But these claims have long been disputed, even within the Christian Churches.

AIDS is cured.

There is no longer any pretext for their prejudice.

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Passion.

Generation X have Neptune in Scorpio.

They are all passion and no principles.

They justify corruption and violence by the intensity of their feelings.

And they normalize hate and evil.

But this is no high road.

It is the low road of pragmatism and base passions.

But it has been endorsed by the religious right and backed up by corporate-owned media.

It is the way of the world.

Not the way of God.

And it should be recognized as such.

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Thou Shall Not Kill.

In the Old Testament God tells the Prophets to kill sinners and idolaters.

And they killed the disobedient of their own free will.

But this is to disobey the Commandment not to kill.

Some of the Prophets put words into God's mouth.

These are assumptions or hallucinations inspired by unconscious fears.

But if they kill in God's name they have not reached full enlightenment.

Because God is non-violent.

God is beyond our human assumptions.

God is not a projection of worldly authorities.

He does not punish and judge.

God is transcendent - beyond sin and evil.

So do not take everything in the Bible at face value.

Any instruction to kill or use violence or force is mistaken.

And it should be overridden by the Commandments not to kill, or hold a grudge, or take revenge.

In the East God is non-violent - Ahimsa.

And we should be non-violent as well.

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Non-Violence.

Many people wonder why God does not make the world a better place.

The world is full of lies, violence, war, corruption, hate, abuse, treachery, and evil.....

God does not intervene to stop these things.

But that does not mean that He condones them.

When the world becomes dark and violent He sends a messenger to announce the Light.

God does not use violence to enforce His message.

But the powers of this world will not listen to His messengers.

They stiffen their necks and cling to the power they have won.

And this includes the religious authorities our world.

"'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!  How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!'"  Matthew 23:37 (NRSV)

"From the day that your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them day after day; yet they did not listen to me, or pay attention, but they stiffened their necks.  They did worse than their ancestors did."  Jeremiah 7:25,26 (NRSV)

They adhere to the theology of punishment and judgement, the carrot and stick of heaven and hell.

And they attack and persecute any dissent.

God's message is non-violent.

It is a message of mercy, forgiveness, and love.

But few will hear this message and act on it.

[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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Politics.

If you reject the political left it is no use merely turning to the political right.

The political right sells the idea that strength and economic pragmatism are the answers to all the world's problems.

They claim spiritual rectitude and enforce social conservatism.

But the political right does not reflect the ways of God.

They are mean-spirited and stiff-necked.

They oppose social welfare and use force and coercion.

And they have succumbed to the temptation to use Nazi propaganda techniques: demonization, scapegoating, and lies.

These are not the ways of God.

God is merciful, forgiving, and compassionate.

And His inmost nature is Love.

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