Elton John: 'I would ban religion completely'
While I'm glad that John isn't a lawmaker and, thus, his opinion is just that, we should not dismiss that opinion without looking for the truth in it. Actually, I think there is truth there. "Religion" does often fuel hatred towards gays and others who fall within the list of those who don't do the things we think they should or do the things religion says they shouldn't.LONDON, England (AP) -- Organized religion fuels anti-gay discrimination and other forms of bias, pop star Elton John said in an interview published Saturday.
"I think religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people," John said in the Observer newspaper's Music Monthly Magazine. "Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays."
"But there are so many people I know who are gay and love their religion," he said. "From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate."
Don't miss the point here. I'm not saying that homosexuality isn't wrong according to Scripture, but so is the way many Christians address it. How many times has hatred, in the name of religion, not been practiced against any number of "sinners." The quotes are not because they are not, but because we all are.
It is important for those of us who are Christians to make sure that we are not expressing biblical instructions in terms that can easily be misinterpreted as hatred. We are called to speak the truth in love...real, objective biblical truth in a loving manner, just like Jesus did. Not to speak it is not love, but neither is speaking it in judgmental terms.
Now, granted, there are some (perhaps Elton John is one of them) who will interpret any expression that speaks against a particular lifestyle as bias, biggoted, narrow-minded and the like. We can't do anything about that. It is not our responsibility if others respond to us as a result of the chip on their shoulders. It is our responsibility, however, to make sure that we are not speaking out as a result of the chip on our own.
[CNN story here.]
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Labels: David C. Price
posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 11/13/2006 04:50:00 PM
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http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/page/FaithAndWorksInJustification
This online debate is worth a look!
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