The Hypocrisy of Tolerance

Speak now or forever hold your peace...

(WARNING: This blog is not Politically correct - anyone caught reading, sharing, tweeting or posting to facebook might be thrown into a PC Police Jail cell)

There's been barely a place one could go to without seeing a blog, article, news clip or blurb somewhere about the Duck Dynasty fiasco in the last week.  If you're sitting there thinking "What is Duck Dynasty, and what fiasco are you talking about?" Then I'm guessing you've been living under a rock for the last week, so let me fill you in.

For anyone who is a regular reader of my blog you know a few core things about me if you know anything.  Number one, I am a Christian, therefore I believe that the bible is the living word of God and I believe what it says to be true.  You also know that I have for a long time felt that pop culture is totally out of control and we are living in a world where things are essentially upside down.

What do I mean?… well lets see why do we see trash everywhere, on TV, on the radio, in magazines… When and why did it became cool to sing in underpants for guys or girls? Why are there so few people in the Mainstream Pop Culture who actually have decent morals and values? Actor goes to rehab, great lets give them another movie or TV role. Singer beats his girfriend - awesome lets give him another Grammy. Better yet lets buy more of his girlfriend whose also a singers records after she goes back to him… Someone Please Stop the Insanity.

These days you can masturbate on TV, and you're celebrated for expressing yourself. Answer a question honestly about your Christian Faith and... you're fired, got it.

Yet the people who are promoting all of this negative "entertainment" (which is essentially minutia if you ask me) these people are the ones pushing the victim mentality. If you disagree with someone about politics you must be a racist, if you do not believe in gay marriage then you must be a caveman and a "homophobe". No I'm not a homophobe, I just do not think it makes any sense whatsoever for gay people to want to take a "biblical" term and slap it onto what they choose to do with their sex lives. The bible (which I and millions if not billions of other Christians believe to be the living word of God) clearly states that Marriage is between One Man and One Woman, period. 

Now do I think that gay people should be bullied, discriminated against, shunned, or treated any differently than straight people? NO! I just do not believe it should be called "marriage".  Do I think their should be some sort of legal status for them to have rights to protect the ones they love, yes. It is not for me to judge them, I do my best to love all people and show the same love that Jesus showed me by dying on the cross for my sins. I don't believe fire and brimstone gets to peoples hearts, the best way to break through to people is with love.  So although I do not believe in "gay marriage" I do think they should have a legal option say "civil union", but this does not mean I condone someone being gay. We're all Gods kids and I do my best to live an example of how Jesus wants us to live according to the instructions he gave us in the bible. Hopefully my life and actions can help to change some hearts along the way.

However "Tolerance" is a two way street. Often times these same people who are gay make being "gay" their entire being. They immediately go into victim mode, where anything and everything anyone says or thinks or believes must be a personal affront of their "sexual orientation", which it is not. It's perfectly OK for these same people to give their opinions about all sorts of things including what us "Wacko Christians" believe - yet when someone is asked their opinion about a topic and they tell the truth vs. giving a PC answer all hell breaks loose. Sad days we are living in people. 

So let me get this straight... we have to be "tolerant" of everything except Christians because that is offensive. Got it. See…. Upside Down World!

What bothers me the most about the Duck Dynasty situation is the fact that Phil did not go off on a rant. He was asked a question about his beliefs and he answered honestly. Most people don't tell the truth these days, they say what they think other people want to hear.

I am willing to bet that if Phil were Muslim and he stated beliefs that most Americans find deplorable like jihad, child marriage, etc. that no one would be firing him because God Forbid we offend anyone… (except Christians) that is. Which BTW if he were Muslim he would not just be saying he believed being gay is a sin, he would be saying he believes gay people should be killed (in a barbaric manner btw). So isn't it ironic that most gay people are so supportive of Islam, think Muslims are so peaceful and that Christians are the hateful ones, makes zero sense whatsoever.

The fact is Christians in this country are just about the Only group who are "Not tolerated", yet we are expected to "Tolerate" everyone and everything including participate in things forced on us by the Government (which it has no right to do according to the Constitution) but who really cares about that document anymore anyway, right? After-all Barack Obama says it's not a "fair" document anyhow.

If you expect people to "Tolerate" you whether you're gay, straight, green, blue, purple, democrat, republican, or whatever - you have to be willing to also "Tolerate" people who do not share your particular beliefs. That is what "Tolerance" is. Which btw is what this country was founded on, Individual Freedom.

Someone ought to give the memo to A&E it's probably not the brightest move to start messing with the most successful show on your network in the history of ever… just sayin. Not to mention the fact that an employer is not supposed to discriminate against age, race, religion or sexual orientation, yet A&E just put someone on "Hiatus" because they did not like his beliefs. Hello can anyone say "hypocrisy" ?

So this should be a lesson to all Christians out there. If you want to see a change and see a difference in what is going on in our society then we need to collectively stand on our faith and principals, stop turning the other cheek and instead flip the tables on the money changers like Jesus did.  (Matthew 21:12) 

Which in essance what the cast of "Duck Dynasty" just did.  The folks at A&E who sought to poke fun at a bunch of backward hillbillie closed minded Christians soon found out that America was not laughing "at them" like they had hoped, we were laughing "with them" because we are fed up with the trash entertainment we have been having shoved down our throats for so many years.  

Should it be surprising to anyone that America embraced a show that promoted God, family, and that dirty little four letter word "work"? The bible clearly says in 2 Chronicles 7:14 "That if my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."  

My point is for too long Christians have engaged in and supported entertainment that goes against our values. As well as supported organizations and companies that promote an agenda that is contridicatory to our beliefs. By supporting Duck Dynasty to the point of the show becoming a runaway success, and subsequently now standing with Phil, it might just be the spark to help turn the tide.

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava xox
www.avaaston.com 

Tolerance

Nothing like a little side of "Tolerance" with those waffle fries....

What was that?  That loud clanking sound?... oh that was nothing, it was just my filter it fell off and hit the floor.  Seriously, does the above photo look like "Tolerance" to you?

No one really wants to talk about it, but enough is enough.  The gloves are off and the Greek Girl has had it.  Has anyone else noticed that there is an all out assault on Christianity in the United States?  It's OK for everyone else to be whatever he or she desires to be: Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, Wiccan, gay, bi-sexual, LGBT, or anything else I forgot to mention - and we must not ever offend or make any of those people uncomfortable ever.  Because that would be just plain wrong, wound't it?  But those Christians, now they really have a lot of nerve don't they to expect the "exact same" freedom and respect to express their beliefs and to worship and among other things run their lives and businesses as they chose.

We have a word for this in the Greek language people it is called, Hypocrisy.

We have this amazing thing in the United States, it is called "The Constitution".  You know, it's a document that is over two hundred years old.  It was laid out for us as a guide by our Founding Father's.  Let's examine the First Amendment shall we?

AMENDMENT I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In case anyone needs a refresher course about the Pilgrims and why they risked life and limb to travel to the "New World", it was not to escape Religion.  It was Freedom OF Religion, not Freedom "From" Religion.  Many people have this misunderstanding that it was Freedom "From" Religion.  It was in fact, for the Freedom to practice their Religion the way they chose to.  The Freedom to be Protestant, Methodist, etc.  The Freedom to practice something other than the "State Run" Religion that was the law of the land in England.  The idea was to not have a "Government Run Religion".  That was the whole point of separation of Church and State...  Not to have a country without God, as many would like to have it nowadays.

Yet here we are hundreds of years later after good men and women fought and died for our Liberty and Freedom and now we have a Government telling us we can not offend anyone by being Christian.  They took God out of the Pledge of Allegiance, and want to strip God from every public building.  That everyone needs to be free to be whatever they want, as long as that is not "Christian".  Because we Christians are offending people.  I find it ironic that we have Muslims coming here using our own laws against us, they are free to worship, establish mosques, get onto our social programs, and yet we "Christians" can not even live according to our faith because it might offend them or someone else.

Last time I checked, if any person enters a Muslim country with so much as a cross or a bible in their possession they will be tossed into jail, beaten, stoned, and or much worse things I don't care to list here but you get where I'm going.  But gee willikers if we Christians "offend" any Muslims here in our own country.  That would be so wrong...

I'm pretty sure the Founding Father's goal of Freedom of Religion was not meant to give people the right to practice a religion that tortures women, children, and animals among other things.  Peaceful Religion my behind.  A religion that offers a reward of being able to have 72 Virgins in heaven (which by the way having relations with a virgin can be a harsh act in and of its self, yet it's not just one, but 72 virgins no less), a religion that stones people, cuts off limbs for stealing, allows and encourages arranged marriages of children as young as 1 year old and those marriages to be consummated by the age of 9, and gasp... even condemns homosexuality to the point of even killing them.

So where is the outrage from the LGBT community towards Muslims?  Why aren't they up in arms demanding that Muslim owned businesses be boycotted?  Why aren't they accusing them of hate, and hate speech?  Just because there are no interview's dominating the news with a quote from a Muslim owned business owner does not change their position on homosexuality.

Tolerance - it's a simple enough idea.  I mean really who could argue with the whole "say la vie" mentality?  Live and let live in peace, and respect the beliefs of others.  Yet somewhere along the way in our society the whole idea has become really kajumpled.

Who could miss all the controversy that's been swirling around the word lately?  Unless of course you're one of the millions of people who keep track of just the "important stuff", you know like everything about The Kardashian's, and yet have no idea who their local Senator is...  (inside voice: the thought that these people are voting is frightening, really... but thats a rant for another day).  There's been lots of talk about Freedom of Speech, and tolerance.  Well in order to get some perspective about this whole fiasco lets take it back to the classroom shall we?  Tolerance according to the Merriam Webster dictionary means:

Tol·er·ance [tol-er-uhns] noun

1. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.

2. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own.

3. interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc.,foreign to one's own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint.

So I just have one question, where's the tolerance?  A man stated his personal beliefs in an interview.  He stated his own personal views about the whole Gay Marriage issue.  No where in his statement did he say that he hated gays, that he didn't want gay people to eat there, or anything else that could be considered hateful.  What he stated was his personal belief and according to his faith that "Marriage" is between one man and one woman.  He went onto further express that when we as a society start to think we know better than God it is a slippery slope.  Marriage by the way is a "biblical" term.  Why gay people demand that a religion that clearly states what they are doing and how they are living is against it's practices, why they demand that religions "term" be used to describe their lifestyle makes no sense in my noggin.

How is it tolerant to start a great big fat muckery sandwich in the media over a company that is free to run it's business however it choses, and to express their faith?  Because according to The Constitution Chick-fil-a is free to do just that.

If we all have to be tolerant of everyone else's beliefs, then you know what, everyone else better get used to Christian's being able to express their own beliefs as well.  Because it goes both ways people, it goes both ways.  All right, Greek Girl is coming down off of my soapbox, and going to attempt to re-insert my filter....  Signing off until next time.

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :) xox
www.avaaston.com