Michael Sam was just drafted by the St. Louis Rams. So were a bunch of other guys, so why is Sam in the news? What makes Sam unique is that he is the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL. Given the nature of the NFL, I can see why this is news, but from a Christian perspective, I don’t consider this to be a big deal at all. Neither do most Christians. Unlike some on the Left, Christians do not think that those who disagree with us do not deserve to be employed. If Sam’s athletic abilities qualify him to play in the NFL, then he should be allowed to play in the NFL. His sexual orientation/behavior is irrelevant.
What I do consider to be a big deal is the fact that Miami Dolphins’ safety, Don Jones, was fined, suspended, and forced to undergo sensitivity training for expressing his personal disgust at Sam and his partner’s televised celebratory kiss. Jones tweeted the words “OMG” and “horrible” to describe this public display of affection. The very next day the Miami Dolphins’ head coach, Joe Philbin, described Jones’ tweet as “inappropriate and unacceptable,” and that it required them to speak to Jones about “respect, discrimination and judgment” because such “statements will not be tolerated.” Perhaps it escaped Coach Philbin that he himself was passing judgment on Jones and discriminating against him based on his comments.
Not surprisingly, Jones immediately issued a groveling apology, begging for forgiveness for expressing his opinion about the propriety of two men kissing:
I want to apologize to Michael Sam for the inappropriate comments that I made last night on social media. I take full responsibility for them, and I regret that these tweets took away from his draft moment. I remember last year when I was drafted in the seventh round and all of the emotions and happiness I felt when I received the call that gave me an opportunity to play for an NFL team, and I wish him all the best in his NFL career. I sincerely apologize to Mr. [Stephen] Ross, my teammates, coaches, staff and fans for these tweets. I am committed to represent the values of the Miami Dolphins organization and appreciate the opportunity I have been given to do so going forward.
Apparently no one is able to express public disagreement with homosexuality anymore…at least not if they want to have a job. I think all Americans – both those who support homosex and those who don’t – ought to agree that this is a bad direction for America. If we are not free to publicly disagree with and express our sentiments regarding a morally suspect behavior (that Americans are evenly divided over), then how are we the land of the free? What room is there for free speech? Where is the right to express one’s personal views?
Is what Jones said deeply offensive to those who support homosex? Yes. But why does that give people the right to silence and punish Jones? Lots of NFL players use the name of God in vain, which Christians find deeply offensive, but do you ever hear of a Christian demanding that such players be fined, silenced, suspended, and forced to undergo sensitivity training? No. Why? Because by and large, Christians are an extremely tolerant group of people. We don’t seek to silence or punish those who disagree with us or disrespect us. It’s the liberals in this country, by and large, who want to silence and punish those who do not agree with them. While they extol the virtues of tolerance and decry the intolerance of conservatives, they are the ones guilty of intolerance. They are only willing to tolerate those who agree with them, which is not tolerance at all.
This isn’t the America I once knew, and not what made America so great. If you are pro-homosexual, and if you consider yourself tolerant, why don’t you express your disgust at the actions of the NFL? Why don’t you help establish a culture in which it is safe to disagree with others without fear of censure and punishment? Why don’t you stand up to the bullies? Standing on the sidelines and allowing this sort of behavior to go on without protest will only encourage more of this behavior in the future. It’s time for everyone to support freedom of expression over political correctness. If we don’t do that now, it’s only a matter of time before all of us are silenced and punished for one or another of our views.
May 22, 2014 at 12:10 am
It is praiseworthy to be intolerant of blameworthy intolerance, thus no double standard.
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May 22, 2014 at 6:31 am
There is nothing wrong with standing with the oppressed against discrimination. Nothing could be more Christian. When attempts to address the concrete suffering of real people are denigrated as mere “political correctness,” than priorities have become dangerously disordered.
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May 22, 2014 at 9:26 am
This is an totally appalling !!!
It goes to show how far the homo-sex agenda has gone…..too far…
Naz
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May 22, 2014 at 9:50 am
It’s gone too far and it’s working on the unsuspecting masses….
The enemy will use emotion to deceive people into thinking that we should not discriminate against anything or anybody because that would be intolerant and hateful.
This sort of thinking does not work in the real world and will lead to all sorts of nonsense.
Naz
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May 22, 2014 at 9:10 pm
I’ve seen worse on MTV and was surprised by the tweet. I was wondering if this was a staged kiss? According to people in the know it was spontaneous and I take them at their word. He spoke against the LGBT community, one of the most favoured minority groups. Because of recent events like at the NBA blood is in the water and for fauxpas as this a sincere apology will no longer satisfy the masses. The NFL probably felt they had to slap him down hard to protect their financial interests, they can’t take a chance at a fan backlash.
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May 22, 2014 at 11:11 pm
Great post Jason, but our current state is not by accident, it was carefully plotted while Christians and people of sound morals were distracted or sleep.
A brief article about the Michael Sam issue is at this web site.
http://newschristianview.weebly.com/news-christian-view-blog
The article references this web page that gives a great explanation for how we got where we are today. Just amazing what happens in a short period of time when the righteous fail to study and speak up.
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/issues/gay_strategies/after_the_ball.html
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May 23, 2014 at 1:15 pm
Dan, I totally agree with you. This is no accident.
I can’t think of something so obviously demonic as the kind of brain washing and manipulation of the public mind that is going on here.
Thanks for the links, interesting read……..
Naz
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May 23, 2014 at 2:44 pm
Thanks Naz, it would be interesting and useful to see a study on how many organizations have already been infiltrated by such activists and what level of decision making power they have risen to. Also, what kind of percussions are in place in Christian organizations to prevent closet Homosexual activist from advancing up the levels of leadership. The well publicized North Eastern Christian University’s blunder that allowed an atheist student Eric Fromm to run for Student Government president and win is why such questions need to be asked and answered.
http://www.booksie.com/religion_and_spirituality/article/danzil/former-christian-goes-public-as-atheist#cmIIkhAGVXpISD3u.99
More Christians and Christian leaders need to take this more seriously or we will find ourselves in a country where we are the enemy.
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May 24, 2014 at 3:04 pm
Dan,
So what’s a pluralist society like ours to do? If you swing the pendulum back how far do you want to go? I don’t want to live in a society that kills homosexuals for engaging in homosexual activity nor do I want to live in a society that would kill someone for denouncing homosexual activity as sinful. I think it is wrong for a Christian to compromise his/her personal beliefs for the sake of going along to get along. However, is it wrong for a Christian to compromise on a question of morality politically (eg. same-sex union)? As a Christian do I have to say homosexual behavior must be illegal and anything less is wrong (ie. no compromise)? The Supreme Court of Canada (SCOC) ruling I’m aware of says you can’t make homosexual activity between two consenting adults illegal. So if not illegal where to draw the line? My red line was civil union, I opposed SSM not because a gay/lesbian saying they were married offended me or took away from my marriage it was because if SSM became the law of the land instead of civil union the government would have to change the marriage act and provide a new legal definition of marriage, which of course they had to do. The other side says so what, a new definition of marriage why do you care? As you probably know that’s not my concern. My concerns are: A. the new definition opens up the door to a smaller less liked fringe group that can now say “Hey why can’t we get married also? Our relationship meets the new definition of marriage also and we want the right to marry. B. If you can redefine marriage legally for same-sex relationships how about other groups? These people getting married I disagree with but the group I wish to protect are children. If we keep lowering the bar on who can get married how long before age of consent gets challenged again? In Canada they already tried to lower the age of consent to what I believe is too low. There have been lots of rumors and some cases of older men marrying young girls already in British Columbia (FLDS). How long before other groups who practice a much more liberal age of consent in their country of origin bring a child bride here or say why can’t I marry this girl in Canada? Why go to the extreme of children being married off? Because in other changes the “Left” always takes things to the extreme, busting every possible barrier and I’ll bet the farm they do it with marriage also.
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May 26, 2014 at 10:17 am
“So what’s a pluralist society like ours to do? If you swing the pendulum back how far do you want to go?”
Paul, I understand what you’re saying. Ultimately our goal as Christians is not to try and establish a Christian government through political means. This is what the Jews thought when Jesus came, that He would free them from the Roman empire.
While I would favor laws to prohibit SSM, the question in my mind is what is the role of the church and of Christians in taking a stand for righteousness ?
Our role is not to try and control the sexuality of people by establishing laws to make it illegal to be a homosexual. Just as God gives us the right to choose what we do, I think we must give people the right to be who they want to be and we would be kidding ourselves if we think that we can control people’s sexuality.
As for SSM however, this is something that will affect the very fabric of society and as you pointed out, more specifically our innocent children. I think it’s here where our voice must be heard and the alarm should be sounded.
It appears though that the SSM agenda is gaining ground and I believe that this is the case because of the decaying spiritual health in society. Even those who have been brought up with good moral Judeo-Christian values have compromised and succumbed to the pressure of the SSM agenda. The issue is a spiritual one, not a political one. We are living in a world that does not know God. Our job is to point them to Him. As for all these societal issues, I’m afraid they will remain and based on what I’m reading in my bible, it’s going to get worse.
Hang on…..bumpy ride ahead……..
Naz
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May 26, 2014 at 4:02 pm
Naz,
As the saying goes, “you can’t legislate morality”. However, every society needs rules. The problem is who’s rules? If God’s rules, who’s God? And who interprets for God? I’m sure you’re aware where that could end up. My concern is the extreme “Right” or “Left” always takes over and when that happens it doesn’t end well. In a society as ours I believe Christians should be involved to make up those rules and come up with the best possible compromise our Constitution will allow. Once the rules are made, we should set an example how to live and with dialogue try and convince people to our way of thinking. IMO, the SSM debate (as is all these other moral issues) is the “Left” pushing back against the “Right”. This is their revolution as it were and as you know some revolutions are bloody. The “Right” took things too far and now the “Left” wants payback in spades. Under my scenario, some people think compromise is a dirty word. We have been fooled in the past so we must be careful. All societies will eventually fail, will ours fail because of the “Right”, “Left” or “Centrists” like me? I don’t know, but I find the “Right” and “Left” positions not appealing.
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June 4, 2014 at 9:18 pm
“……good moral Judeo-Christian values…….”
Now is that statement ironic, a conundrum, an idiom or just religious insanity?
Killing people because of sexual activity; stoning for adultery; blasphemy; thou shalt not suffer a witch to live? eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth; crucifixion; devouring widows property; hypocrisy; great Judeo-Christian values?
REMEMBER THIS: All religion, all prophets, all gods, all concepts, caricatures and ideas about the supernatural ….all OF THEM, and every last one of them, DERIVE from a person so stick a sock in it because none of man’s creations can be higher than man himself.
If you can use your reason you will understand that Man is Lord of all that he creates, including prophets, religion and divinity. There is nothing sacred but the sanctity of life of Man himself.
Blasphemy is one of the most ludicrous follies of religion. BLASPHEMY IS THE INSIDIOUS STUPIDITY OF THE RELIGIOUSLY GARBLED MIND, MEANINGLESS AND WORSE THAN MERELY USELESS.
Man is Lord and Master of religion, of prophets, of the supernatural, of the gods, of divinity of virtue and all things conceptualized in the mind’s imagination. Blasphemy be damned. If you think blasphemy has any legitimacy whatsoever, you are full of dandruff.
Even the Bible supports this. When the Clergy questioned Jesus about why he and his disciples were doing things forbidden demanded by religion on the Sabbath: Mark2:27,28 and “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”; Lk 6:5 affirms the same thing.
The Constitution? “…..make up those rules and come up with the best possible compromise our Constitution will allow…..” The Constitution demanded as part of the absolute unconditional surrender of the Japanese military. The ceremonies, less than half an hour long, took place on board the battleship USS Missouri, anchored with other United States’ and British ships in Tokyo Bay.
says: Article 20:
Freedom of religion (and freedom from religion) is guaranteed to all. No religious organization
shall receive any privileges from the State, nor exercise any
political authority. 2) No person shall be compelled to take part in
any religious acts, celebration, rite or practice. 3) The State and
its organs shall refrain from religious education or any other
religious activity.
What righteousness? Judeo-Christian righteousness?
“We are living in a world that does not know God.” What God? Zeus, Allah
It was only Abraham who started the One god concept but that was merely a way to lump all the failed gods into one and 1000 failed gods are equal to one failed god and are exactly the same; before that, there were thousands of Gods created by man in every generation; all man’s creations called mythology.
and from what Holy Books?
The Analects, Confucius;
Bhagavad Gita A Sanskrit poem that is part of the Indian epic known as the Mahabharata ;
Five Classics, Five works traditionally attributed to Confucius;
Koran (Arabic, al-Qur’an) The primary holy book of Islam.;
New Testament The second portion of the Christian Bible;
Old Testament The Christian name for the Hebrew Bible.;
Talmud A compilation of Jewish oral law and rabbinical teachings;
Tao-te-ching (The Way and Its Power) The basic text of the Chinese philosophy and religion known as Taoism;
Upanishads The basis of Hindu religion and philosophy;
Veda The sacred scripture of Hinduism.
Guru Granth Sahib is the Sikh Holy Book. It contains all the sayings of Sikh gurus.
Your petty objections were answered by Jesus. You can’t hear his words for the meaningless objections of self righteousness:
Listen to Jesus:
“But you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy and faithfulness. You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel”
SWATTING BLACKFLIES BUT RUNNING FROM HORNETS. You make your own bumps in the road to be heard of men.
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June 4, 2014 at 9:27 pm
Current Morals of Judeo-Christian values exposed:
Nearly 800 dead babies found in septic tank in Ireland
Remains found near a former orphanage for the children of unwed mothers that operated until 1961
June 3, 2014 6:41PM ET
The Catholic Church in Ireland is facing fresh accusations of child abuse after a researcher found records for 796 young children allegedly buried in a mass grave beside a former orphanage for the children of unwed mothers.
source: http://news.msn.com/world/800-babies-buried-in-septic-tank-at-irish-home-for-unmarried-mothers
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June 4, 2014 at 9:33 pm
“You’re hopeless, you religion scholars! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God’s Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics!—you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that’s wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons?”
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June 4, 2014 at 9:40 pm
If there was a god it would be self evident without any book to tell you what and how and when etc. If prayer was ever answered why all the war, and hunger and mass death? For all the prayers that went out in 2004 by Christians, Jews and Muslims alike, they had absolutely no effect on the 250,000 or so victims who perished in the Tsunami. And to what did the few who survived give credit to? God and Prayer.
Prayer does nothing for astronauts who get fried on re-entry, prayer does nothing for the poverty and hunger and third world people, many of whom are Muslim. Prayer did nothing to prevent the Gaza horror of recent and past violence. For all the hen pecking at the wailing wall, for all the kneeling and confession and all the bowing to Mecca, nothing changes. Why?
Because the gods are myths now as they were always myths. Look at the worldly possessions that Egyptian Royalty were buried with to help them in the next world. When the mummies of the dead are dug up, the mummies have practically disintegrated into dust and the gold and artifacts that were placed with them are extracted and taken to museums or sold, all unused in the afterlife; albeit used in another life; life that is, that exists thousands of years after, in our time.
The only afterlife there is and a testimony to the fallacies and belief of lost civilizations who all, in one form or another, created the gods to explain what they couldn’t understand and who sacrificed animals and humans to the gods to appease them or to bring rain, or ensure bumper crops to guard against famine. And they expected to be buried with artifacts to help them in the next life; oh dreary imagination.
Muslims practice honour killings but their is no honour in death; honour is for the living, heroes and martyrs are in the graves, wasted lives for a belief that is only germinated in the brain through something called ego embedded there by what we again created, called religion.
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June 6, 2014 at 9:45 am
Naz:
When I read your comments about: “It’s gone too far and it’s working on the unsuspecting masses….
The enemy will use emotion to deceive people into thinking that we should not discriminate against anything or anybody because that would be intolerant and hateful.
This sort of thinking does not work in the real world and will lead to all sorts of nonsense.”
and
“I can’t think of something so obviously demonic as the kind of brain washing and manipulation of the public mind that is going on here.”
I couldn’t help but think that you were quoting right out of the Atheist’s handbook regarding religion. lol
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June 6, 2014 at 9:47 am
Paul:
As I have grown older, I’ve learned that, while pleasing everyone is impossible, upsetting people with religious beliefs is a piece of cake.
: )
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