Here’s a short message for those of you who feel you have the God-given responsibility to pass laws against what other people are doing, even when they aren’t doing anything to harm anyone else. Like purchasing sex, or smoking a joint, or believing in evolution.
Repent now and quit trying to force people to behave according to your beliefs. (Proverbs 3:30-31) Otherwise you may one day find your own life controlled by someone else’s beliefs. (Matthew 7:1-2) A person must come to God of his own free will. (John 3:16) It does neither him nor you any good to attempt to force God on him.
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Mark J
Mar 01, 2006
They (not that I’m not Christian, but you know what I mean) hate it when you quote the Bible back at them. I think it’s hilarious.
Paul
Mar 01, 2006
That is a nice irony. Especially Christians are very good at forcing their beliefs on others. They have centuries of experience in this matter
N. Mallory
Mar 01, 2006
What I got out of Sunday School is that we’re supposed to be role models, not slave masters.
But then, I was always arguing with the preachers and the preachers’ wives. Maybe I just didn’t hear the message right.
Charles W. Stricklin
Mar 01, 2006
I could be wrong, but I think you’re mischaracterizing the sign’s intent. That’s not hard to do, considering the vaugeness of the wording.
Could it be that the church members feel some choice has been taken from them?
Also, being quick to judge others for failing to live up to higher standards is hardly appropriate, although tempting. Calling someone else a hypocrite somehow seems to make us feel superior, even though by not setting the bar higher for our own conduct makes it easier to not act hypocritical.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Matthew 7:1-5 (Although directed at believers, I submit we’d all be better off if we followed this maxi,.
Michael Hampton
Mar 01, 2006
Just for my own edification I had looked up this verse in Latin, and the word used for “judge” in each case refers to actual judges of the law, crimes, criminal trials, etc., rather than merely a moral judgment. Keep that context in mind as you study this verse.
Paul Forgey
Mar 01, 2006
The sign is from http://www.churchsigngenerator.com/
I do know of at least one neighborhood church with a real church sign which regularly takes pointed shots against fundamentalists.
Please don’t degenerate to arguing using the Bible as an authoritative source. While it is the authoritative source of the Christian religion, it is self relative and can be used to argue any point you want, and is therefor a bad way to argue. It’s like trying to measure something with a rubber band.
However there isn’t any way you can argue with any religious believer about their faith since religion is impervious to self introspection or criticism. The only thing you can do when they overstep is to say “leave me the f*ck alone” and walk away.
Michael Hampton
Mar 01, 2006
Sometimes you just have to speak people’s native language.
As for me, I’m using the chicken to measure it.
Charles W. Stricklin
Mar 01, 2006
Ha ha ha, you got me.
One of my favorite books on religion is When Bad Christians Happen To Good People by Dave Burchett, and in it details many appalingly bad examples of church signs being heavy-handed and turning off interested people by using slogans that include religious slang and rhetoric best left to those already converted. One of my favorites of these I still see from time to time: “Going to church helps prevent Son burn.”
Jeff
Mar 01, 2006
First I should say that I am a Christian and I love liberty. I do not think the two are contradictory.
If someone feels like “purchasing sex, or smoking a joint, or believing in evolution” what gives me the right to seek the passage of laws forcing people not to do those things? What business does government have legislating on any of those matters anyway?!
It all comes down to individual rights and not treading on the rights of others. I may not agree with some choices some people make, but likewise, others may not agree with some of my choices. I think a proper education on Liberty (like the one begun here in the Liberty 101 post), would turn many Christians into allies of the Liberty movement instead of the hated and scorned enemy.
And I would like to add that the Neocon misrepresentation of Christianity does great harm to both liberty and organized religion. Best wishes to all~
Lenny Zimmermann
Mar 01, 2006
That reminds me of the “Colbert Report” on Comedy Central the other night. Steven Colbert was very sarcasticly (as always) taking the typical neo-con stand and downright advocating that church and state should “marry” (literally, even.
) He did, however, have on a gentleman who referred to himself, in a way, as a “left evengelical”, who clearly took the stance that many evangelicals have gone way too far trying to push their religion through political means. What that says to me is that we are finally beginning to see the backlash to this insane religious right movement that is trying to legislate morality by folks I believe are far more Christian in their beliefs by following so many of the satements atributed to Jesus listed in this thread.
Michael Hampton
Mar 01, 2006
Hm, I didn’t even consider this post for Liberty 101, but you’re right; it does fit in quite well. I’ve added it to the series. Look for the post I was actually planning shortly.
Mario
Apr 26, 2006
Every time I see someone quote Matthew 7:1-2 and stop right at those 2 passages, I just frown because you missed the point entirely. Hint: Read all the way to 7:5. Also, Christians should take 7:6 to heart when dealing with those who curse them.
Most of the problem lies in bad preaching. Christ didn’t expect us to ever live a perfect, moral life because He knew it was unattainable by mortal men. All He desired was for us to recognize our carnal nature and to make the effort to renew ourselves everday and stop doing the things that we will one day grow to regret. Now a lot of people may say, “Jeez, all I am doing is smoking a little pot or buying a little sex, who am I harming?” Really think about these scenarios and ask yourself if they are victimless crimes–and not just in the present but think about the future. Would you really want your children smoking pot or hooking up with whores? And just like most of us would warn a person in a burning building to get out, I am here to warn you about the consequences of your actions and living a delusional life based on moral relativism.
Michael Hampton
Apr 26, 2006
Thanks for the warning, I guess. Just keep it far away from the legislature and you’ll be fine.
happuch
Mar 20, 2007
I am a believer myself en not ashamed to say so. What business does one have callin himself a christian if he doest even know who christ is? If you knew him, you would have thot better than that!