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08/16/2007
When will Barber just go ahead and declare himself God?
In reaction to the welcome news that the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) will "refrain from or demonstrate restraint in disciplining" gay clergy members "who are in a mutual, chaste and faithful, committed, same-gender relationship," "Concerned Woman" Matt Barber today has the following to say:
“The word apostasy is a strong one. It shouldn’t be used lightly. Unfortunately, the ELCA’s decision to endorse the sin of homosexuality, which Scripture clearly calls an ‘abomination to God,’ represents nothing short of apostasy.
“We’re witnessing a growing trend within certain liberal sects of Christendom wherein leftist church leaders are pushing new-age, Bible-ala-carte spiritualism. The mindset is, ‘If God’s Word doesn’t comport with my view on morality, then I’m right and God is wrong. He needs to get with the program. Murder pre-born children with abortion – Sure why not? Celebrate sexual deviancy? No problem.’
“This is America, and people are generally free to say and do what they want,” ...“But if a formal church collective such as the ELCA is going to call itself Christian, the least it can do is honor the Bible, not rip out and trash the pages it doesn’t like. There’s nothing Christian about that.”
Apostasy? Geez, dems be some strong words! However, by making the decision that they have, the ELCA has not abandoned their religious beliefs (the definition of apostasy); they have simply expressed their own beliefs, which may or may not jibe with other sects of Christians. This is really what religious freedom is all about. For you see, despite Matthew's constant protestations to the contrary, the Bible does not read like God's Hate Letter to Homosexuals. When looked at in its whole form, Its gay content is extremely scant. And every last bit of that gay content is very much open for interpretation. The ELCA's interpretation may not be the same Matt Barber's, but that does not him (or anyone) the right to deny them of their religious faith! How dare he?!
To be a Matt Barber-like Christian in 2007 America is to ignore LOADS ANDS LOADS of other Biblical condemnations and teachings that are either antiquated to modern convenience or counterproductive to their political endeavors. And then they have the nerve to turn around and act as if God has directly told them that he had intended to add another chapter to the Bible entitled "I HATE HOMOSEXUALITY," but he simply ran out of time. They also refuse to consider any other outlook on the subject of Leviticus or Romans I, instead just writing any reasoned viewpoints off as "liberal." However, they are TOTALLY comfortable with taking their own "liberal" viewpoints on subjects like killing (see: war and capital punishment), judging (see: non-stop gay condemnations), divorce (see: 50% of heterosexual marriages), etc. Basically, they act as if they have the Teacher's Edition of the Good Book, with the "this stuff will be on the test" portions handily highlighted for them. And wouldn't you know it? Gays -- no matter how good, decent, loving, committed, or moral -- are what they unequivocally know to be God's little f**k ups!
We would call such faith hijackings "disgusting," but we today used that same terminology to refer to a truck stop toilet that many someones had vomited and defecated in, so we're going to need a more offensive term to describe this mean-spirited, one-sided, gay-demonizing, God expropriation. Fortunately, Barber & Co. have already created such a twisted, deceptive, bastardized descriptor: "pro-family."
ELCA Lutheran Church Trashes Pages From Bible [CWA]
Your thoughts
Interestingly, apostasy has historically been defined as rejection in Christian circles of the creeds. Last I checked, none of the crreds mention homosexuality at all. People like Barber are redefining the entire concept of apostasy in order to bolster their positions. Which makes their claims about their opponents' "abandoning sound teaching" particularly ironic.
Posted by: Jarred | Aug 16, 2007 5:56:18 PM
As far as ripping out what "we" don't want goes... look at the King James version of the Bible that most people use today... I do believe it was Henry VIII that removed a few books just becuase he wanted a divorce and the church wouldn't allow it.
Just my .02
Posted by: Aaron | Aug 16, 2007 9:11:08 PM
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