Mr. Garner:
The politics is about power. The easiest way to gain that power is to suppress Christian belief.
Me:
So “Christian belief“ has so much power? That it needs to be suppressed? How paranoid are you?
Extremely. I'm also afraid. And hateful. And angry. Oh, I'm very, very angry. I'm also all the other stupid things you call people who commit the high crime of disagreeing with your political views. But at least I'm not predictable. So I have that going for me, which is nice.
I'm fascinated to see you think Christian belief is impotent though. It squares precisely with your behavior toward those who think it's important (one little "r" makes a lot of difference here). You lampoon those of us who think Christian doctrine is important. But you fail to realize you are no different in approach. You think political doctrine is far more important, and you treat heretics accordingly.
Christian belief is centered on the facts that we all are sinners. We all are forgiven sinners by God by grace through Jesus Christ, God's Son, our Lord who was crucified for us and raised from the dead. Where in our creeds does it say that Christian belief is about opposing same-sex marriages?
We gospel-centered Christians are continually fighting the mistaken belief that Christianity is about rules and regulations that we must follow - those who make that their Christian belief are modern Judaizers.
Who said anything about same-sex marriages, or even rules and regulations? Here's what I said, with Father Matthew's comment providing context for my response to it:
Hey guys-
Do you remember when that notorious kataholophobe, Jim Kenney, mayor of Philadelphia, declared war on Catholic Charities in stopped their adoption and foster care program because "hatred?"
And remember the way all the LGBTQ+ folks stepped in to pick up the slack, and the way all the liberal protestant groups took the baton so that kids in foster care didn't stack up like cordwood?
Yeah, me neither.
As with most things on this topic, it was never about the kids. It's about the adults. That isn't to say there aren't a lot of loving gay and lesbian families who adopt kids (or in the case of the latter, have them naturally) and care and nurture and provide a good loving home. It is to say, that isn't even close to being what the politics of the matter is about. The politics is about power. The easiest way to gain that power is to suppress Christian belief.
Note, nothing has been said indicating Catholic Charities mistreats children, or that adopted or foster kids in their care are underserved or abused in any way. More, there is no indication at all that Catholic Charities prevents gay and lesbian couples from adopting or fostering children, and in fact the opposite is true -- they explicitly refer gay and lesbian parents to adoption and foster agencies that will help them. The only measure for Catholic Charities being denied the opportunity to serve the community in this way is whether their beliefs are right or wrong, as defined by their government masters. The government has decided their sincere religious beliefs are wrong. That is, this is 100% viewpoint based discrimination designed not to better serve children, but to gain power over people who hold "wrong" opinions and force them to conform their views to the preferred views of the government.
After that, Pastor Austin said I was paranoid because I thought Christian belief had power. But my point all along was the desire was to stifle Christian belief, and the point (had Pastor Austin bothered to try to ask questions instead of flinging stupid accusations of paranoia) was that deeply held Christian belief stands in the way of the political power to impose a government-preferred view of homosexuality. And so the point of laws barring Catholic Charities from participating in adoption or foster care services is not to protect children, or even to ensure access, because no one has ever said Catholic Charities harmed children or impeded access. In fact, as I noted, Catholic Charities actively refers gay and lesbian couples to other agencies which will help them foster or adopt. Therefore, stopping Catholic Charities is not about the children, it is about punishing wrong think so the government's preferred viewpoint can stand unopposed.
After Pastor Austin leveled his stupid accusation of paranoia, I responded with this:
I'm fascinated to see you think Christian belief is impotent though. It squares precisely with your behavior toward those who think it's important (one little "r" makes a lot of difference here). You lampoon those of us who think Christian doctrine is important. But you fail to realize you are no different in approach. You think political doctrine is far more important, and you treat heretics accordingly.
So thank you, at least, for proving my point by bringing up same sex marriage. No one was discussing it, but the only heresy you see is not bowing before the altar of woke leftism. Your reductionist view of the Gospel keeps you from seeing any other. You eschew rules, and yet you impose one -- you can't speak against same sex marriage or you have perverted "the Gospel" (as you see it). You don't find that ironic.
Most of the rest of us do.
