August 22, 2009

• Another Debate of Fear vs Empathy

  

  Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.  (Mark Twain)

  Another Debate of Fear vs Empathy

  I just read that the Lutherans (ELCA) have adopted a measure to accept monogomous same-gender relationships.  And of course, there is a bitter strife as many people in the denomination feel this is anathema.  I find the whole discussion crazy because this is really about fear vs empathy.

  Those who are against it will quote a few Bible verses.  I was raised Fundamentalist/Evangelical and went to Moody Bible Institute to prepare for the ministry.  I know these passages as well as they do.  The passages in the Old Testament are along with passages of stoning disobedient children, stoning women adulterers, not eating dairy with meat, and other things that even the most conservative Christians don’t hold to.  Why drag these verses out to justify their fear and hate?  And the passages in the New Testament are just as obscure and irrelevant.  These were from the letters of Paul who definitely had some problems – especially with sex.  He also said that a woman’s head should be covered and that they should remain silent in the church.  He also said that instead of marrying for love, the only reason to marry was to quench your lust.  Is this the person you want to hold up as a pillar of how to define love?  Jesus never mentioned anything about homosexuals.  Yet they were plentiful.  This was during the Roman times which was right after the Greek times.  Homsexuality was rampant then.  Yet he never said anything against it.  Jesus is a much better example of how to live a life of love than Paul who felt that you needed to belief the right stuff – not live the right way.

  So the argument by those against homosexuals is based on fear – not the Scriptures.  And of course the argument for accepting them is based on empathy – really understanding what and why a person thinks and feels the way(s) that they do.  And if I have a choice, and I’ll thank the Greek/Roman/Hindu/Norse/Christian gods that I do, I would rather be known as being motivated by empathy rather than by fear.  I still don’t understand why people fear homosexuals.  It is much more a personal thing with them than it is a religious, but they feel it isn’t proper to say it’s personal so they insist it’s religious.  That absolves them from the responsibilities of their feelings and actions by assigning it to something outside of themselves. 

  It is ironic that the pious religious who preach about love do not know what love is really all about.  And they wonder why people turn away from these churches and hypocrites?  These people need to learn the difference between love and empathy.  I can love a non-entity.  I can give my money to Africans in need.  I can talk about loving my neighbor, my spouse, my society, and my global community without doing anything.  But I cannot empathize with words.  To understand others, I need to do something – usually listen.  It takes an effort on my part to understand another.  It takes no effort on my part to “give” them something.  Instead of preching love, they should be preaching empathy – and start by practicing it.  Like by accepting homosexuals.

  • 9:29 am
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