A religious discrimination against true love

The Love Song of Welsh Revial 1904

 

10 Dec 2008. United Nations - France, on behalf of the member countries of the European Union, has tabled a resolution at the United Nations as the UN marks the 60th anniversary of its Declaration on Human Rights calling for governments worldwide to de-criminalize homosexuality. If adopted, it will be non-binding on member states. However, strong opponents are coming from the Vatican and the Arab Nations where Gays if caught are subject to the death penalty. The reasoning by the Vatican that the motion “would discriminate those who discriminate” was considered 'Grotesque' by the editorial in Italy's mainstream 'La Stampa' newspaper. We are reminded by the statement made by the Rev Derek Hong of COOS that “Homosexuals have very much the same rights as everyone”, even though criminally liable. When we put Gays to be nailed the Cross and persecute and torture them in many countries in the name of religion, and we who claimed to be Christians support it, I am not sure how better off are we than those who sent Jesus to the Cross of Calvary. Christ died because of His true and selfless love for us, whilst Gays are dying because of the selfless love they had for their partners.

It is not the Evangelicals such as the National Council of Churches in Singapore that make up the official Christian faith, rather the Catholic Church makes up more than 1.131 billion adherents, as compared to less than 400 million for the Evangelicals. Yet, there is little outcry from the Evangelicals and NCCS when the Catholics depart from biblical faith. No marching to parliaments, no multi prong strategy of writing to their MPs and public feedback/forums to stop the slide to the slippery slope of idol worship of Mary and the Saints and buying penance to heaven, and no condemnation from the pulpit.

Why the different treatment? Christians may be fearful that they are seeing the “Woman” in the book of revelation (Rev 17:3, 4, 5) for more than 1500 years, arrayed in purple and scarlet, and committing harlotry or adultery with other gods, much like the Clergy in the Catholic Church in their purple and scarlet cassock and cape, committing abominations of worshiping the Saints, Mary, and the Popes. The great abomination and adultery in the bible is not about Gays, or the sexual orientation, but about the religious establishment forsaking their worship of Jesus, and creating man made gods. True biblical Christianity talks about spiritual adultery and immorality. The Catholic Church, perhaps the Woman of Revelation is eager to paint Gays as the abomination lest the truth be known and the focus turn on them.

The “Woman” has been persecuting “true” Christians (Rev 17:6), with 300,000 alone burned at the stake in the Spanish Inquisition. “Take not thy Holy Spirit away” cried King David when he committed murder against one innocent man. He knew the sensitivity and gentleness of the Holy Spirit, and the ease to quench the Holy Spirit. Mother Theresa spoke of the darkness, silence, and emptiness of her relationship with Jesus, even though she sought God. Blessings, power, and the move of the Spirit comes as a community. When the Holy Spirit came in Acts, it fell unto the community of believers in the upper room. We live under the Spiritual Covering of our religious faith. It is the corporate anointing and presence of God that will flow into our lives. Conversely, when there is only darkness in the House of God, only darkness will flow into our spiritual lives. It is much harder to go against the tide.

There is darkness when the Spirit of God leaves the Church and the people within it. It is a broken communion between Man and God. We seek God but He could not be found anywhere. We conveniently replaced it by religious forms of liturgy and icons, religious traditions and majesty, covering for the deep sense of separation. We rationalize it by our intellect, philosophy, and literature. When the nation of Israel was sent into exile because of similar abominations of worshiping foreign gods, there was an eerie silence even when the Jews came back for 400 years until Jesus came into the scene. The temple was rebuilt more than 400 years before Jesus came back. But the Ark of the Covenant, the continual presence of God was lost. The Christian Right are keen on using the name of God calling upon judgment on earth through storms, earthquake and famines, and blaming gays for it, but God’s ways, especially for those that are His, but has forsaken Him to play harlot to worship other gods, is for silence, absolute silence even when we call upon His name.

A Harlot is one who is unfaithful to the husband. We have here a church that has been unfaithful to her husband, Jesus Christ, their Lord and Saviour, and seeking other gods and other ways to gods. The Catholic Church has reserved their strongest condemnation for gays, and Gay Marriage. They know that acceptance of anti- discrimination rules against gays will ultimately lead to Gay marriages, and the Vatican is perturbed for even Gay marriages will be more holier than the marriage between the church and Jesus Christ. It is based on pure love that transgressed the dire situation and discrimination as compared to the marriage between the church and the Lamb.

The Church is so much against Gays and Gay marriages because it represents true love, a love that overcomes religious, social, and community discrimination. A love that is costly and involves great sacrifices. The Homosexual sex mentioned in the bible was by straight people for self serving purposes in the name of religion and not for love. They were playing harlots with other gods. They did even that which was unnatural (for straight people) to serve their god, so today many are worshiping idols and doing what is unnatural to serve their own god. Gays and Gay marriages have reminded the church that they have lost their true love for God.

The love between Gay men and women reflects the Love of Christ for Us, a love that is sacrificial to once own hurt. Jesus died for us that we may live. In many countries, the declaration same sex love may mean death. The measure of our love for Christ is measured by how we are willing to give up – our religious views, our wealth, power, traditions, and even cultures that the Gospel Message of Salvation be exalted above all. The measure of a Christian is to give up even our lives, not to insist our rights, but modern Christianity seem determine to insist on the special rights to discriminate against the Gay community. The love between straight men and women (95% of the time) is filled with divorces, promiscuity, abortions. We take relationships so casually without commitment nor counting the cost, and at the same time, we deemed Gays who wanted to marry despite all the barriers to their commitment of love as sinners and compromising our own broken straight marriages.

Our Christianity is based on the attempt to love each other, yet we have forgotten to love God. Our love is artificial and defined as following man made tradition, liturgy, and a theology which takes away the centrality of Christ. Our Christian Love and faith is a casual relationship, easily forsaken for fear, money, power, fame, and control. We have concentrated on our love for people and for God, when we should have concentrated on God’s love for us, signified by His death for us at the Cross.

The greatest and ultimate true love, is Christ death for us at the Cross whilst we were yet sinners. He gave up all, His abode in heaven, His relationship with His Father, to be a common man, without wealth nor majesty. At the end He gave up His life, and suffered greatly pain and torture. Gays have given up so much to love, through discrimination, against the social, legal, community, and family opposition. And here we are condemning and discriminating against this love, which is a reflection perhaps of God’s own love for us.

At the Welsh Revival of 1904, the hymn “Here is Love” filled the churches where Christians renewed their faith and love for God, in response to the realization of God’s grace and mercy in Christ Jesus. We need revival in this world, a revival of faith, a return to God’s love for us. We have put the bible, liturgy, tradition, intellect, philosophy, power, wealth, to be like little gods, and our discrimination against Gays perhaps epitomizes our self centered faith. The large titanium buildings of the Mega Churches looks strangely alike the Catholic Cathedral Churches of old. They offered penance in heaven for a large contribution to the cathedral building fund, so do we offer prosperity on earth and a 100 fold returns for building fund contributions. Our discrimination against gays shows that we need a revival like never before.

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

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