My Complicated Progressive Christianity

DISCLAIMER: Orthodox Christians, read at your own risk, my perspectives might strike you as blasphemous and piss you off.

I recently watched the movie "God's Not Dead", in which a college freshman is forced to philosophically battle his Atheist professor about whether God exists or not with his grade on the line; it's a very good, I'd recommend it. I was proud to see that it was based on actual debates at US schools including Georgia Tech, my alma mater. It got me thinking about my faith. I'm a proud Christian and I try to thank God ever morning that I'm lucky enough to wake up. However, as I get older, I'm very aware of how complicated some of my stances are; maybe more complicated than orthodox Christians would tolerate. I'm acutely aware that, as the movie character learned, proving what you believe is not easy. It doesn't waiver my belief at all, I would try to explain rather than denying my Lord and Savior; I believe that stance would hold up even in dire circumstances. But it makes some things harder to explain to non-believers. After all, many atheists study the Bible intensely seeking to disprove it; unfortunately I don't know it as well as I should. My progressive and tolerant attitude towards the world puts me at odds with many things that orthodox Christian use the religion to condemn or alienate. The Bible is full of testimonies, events, and lessons that help followers follow a path towards living life "right". My core system of values stems from my faith. But at the same time, I can't ignore that this was also written thousands of years ago my men trying to document the words/actions of the divine; by flawed men. I have a hard time taking everything in its text word for word. For instance, my perspective on gay marriage/civil unions infuriates people. If someone was raised in a traditional and Christian home, tried to lead a heterosexual life, and realized that they just weren't attracted to the other sex on a hormonal level, I'm not gonna knock them. If they want to live a committed monogamous lifestyle, they should get the same benefits (insurance, etc.) as a traditional marriage in my opinion. Thousands of years ago, science did not understand hormones; homosexuality would get you thrown out of your family or even killed if found out. So ppl hid it and faked a regular life; some still do. I went to school in Atlanta, where there's been a large "down low" population, who are faking normal lifestyles and cheating with the same sex on the side; I don't how forcing that situation in the name of religion is better. Furthermore, I have a hard time taking relationship advice directly from the Bible. From reading history, teenagers were forced into strategical arranged marriages to unite compatible families just hundreds of years ago or less. What were marriages like in Bible times? I have a hard time believing that someone enduring that relationship dynamic would provide any useful information for my current dating situations. I don't believe that science and faith are enemies as many would argue. I can see how the two can mesh to provide a more full view of the truth; after all neither one answers every question. Just because the Big Bang Theory is popular doesn't mean it sounds entirely believable to me. Or the thought that in a relatively short amount of time geologically, all being evolved into so many species from the same single-cell organism but then slowed down enough that humans aren't splintering into different strains nowadays. And these theories are supposed "scientifically" viable. I don't have an issue with other religions, I don't see it as an adversarial relationship that many do. To me, the act of believing in a divine power is more important than the particulars that you believe. I'm a proud Christian, but I can get along with other faiths. After all, I lived in a Muslim country for years, but found a Christian church there. Now, I have work to do with my faith. I'm ashamed to say I've been very inconsistent in making it out of bed and into the Church for terrible reasons; sometimes I've blown too much money and I don't have that 10% and I don't want to enter the Lord's house empty handed. Don't judge me, I told you I'm ashamed, but it's happened. I'm a work in progress, but I want the progress. As Black Thought from The Roots once rhymed "the devil wants me as is, but God, he wants more." I'm now with somebody who is on the same page as me about the need for faith in the life we hope to share. There is some sinning that I do that to be honest, I don't see much chance of stopping cold turkey; something else that wouldn't sit well with many in my religion. But I'm being honest, 2014 life and the Christian life as laid out by the Bible interact in a very curious way. But life has the task of navigating that. Just don't LOSE God altogether when you're trying to make it through the rough parts of figuring out life. I've lived a liberal lifestyle and probably got too far away at times. I've got work to do to get where I want to me. And I admit my logical overthinking ways and liberal spirit may have overcomplicated by Christianity. But I've never stopped wanting God in my life and never stopped wanting to make God proud. Judge me by that, not the details. It's complicated...

Real Talk: Two Substance-less Arguments

I argue quite a lot, about a lot of different things. It's not because I'm just randomly argumentative or get off on being right. Many times it's to get a reaction from others or sometimes just to add humor to a boring situation. But even moreso,  I like seeing how people defend their arguments. I can admire a worthy opponent for providing valuable insight or perspective even if we disagree vehemently. You're not going to agree with everyone; you might as well gain something from the argument. But in the last few years, there have been two major arguments that continue to arise which have virtually no substance beyond the superficial. One of them is sports-related (by in large inconsequential) and the other is a much large human civil issue. The first is the "I hate LeBron, I'll never respect him after "The Decision", he's everything that is wrong with modern sports. The other is "I'm so disgusted by the idea of gay marriage, they're such sinners. I could never support that." Yep, I'm going there. But let's start with LeBron. Get over "The Decision" and the pep rally already. It was a "look at me" move - a "look at me" move that raised over $2 million for the Boys & Girls Club), but a "look at me" move nonetheless - and I understand how anyone from Ohio is heartbroken that he left and furious that he announced it on National TV. Everyone else, shut up. But why is noone mad at Dan Gilbert, the Cavaliers owner, who didn't put talent around him (Mo Williams, the 2nd best player on that team, became the 3rd string point guard for the Clippers the year after LeBron left)? Why isn't anyone mad at the other players in that locker room who hid from him the fact that one of his teammates was sleeping with his mom? I wouldn't trust teammates hiding shit like that from me.Why wasn't anyone mad like that when other all-time great players left small market teams to win in larger markets (Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem, Shaq, etc.)? You mad about what he said at a pep rally? Any high school football team makes outlandish promises at pep rallies. The point of pep rallies is to hype up the crowd, period. Professional athletes (all eras, all sports, men and women) are a bit vain. After all, ever since Bird & Magic brought the NBA back into the national spotlight, players (especially superstars) are praised by those who live through their successes vicariously. Many of the greatest players ever have personality traits much worse than LeBron's - Jordan's bullying competitiveness and gambling issues, Oscar Robertson's condescending obsessiveness, Wilt's selfishness, widespread infidelity across sports, etc. None of that matters to fans then, why does it now? There are professional athletes getting in trouble for drugs, guns, murder, rape, steroids, etc, where's all the anger then? If you don't like him, say you don't like him. He's the best player in the world and has dis-proven everything people said he couldn't do (win, hit jump shots, hit game winners, make clutch plays, etc). If you're a hater, say that, stop acting like there's any substance to your argument. Next, the homosexuality issue. Crazy enough, I'm going to keep this one shorter than the sports issue. Christianity is being used as a reason to oppose gay marriage beyond judgment. But look back, Christianity was formerly used to oppose interracial marriage, marriage across religions,etc. It was used to support slavery, segregation, the ugly process of colonization, and more. The KKK modeled their hoods after those once worn by European priests. The Bible was written in an age when marriages were widely arranged (between teenagers largely), hormones and mental makeup was not understood, there was no thought of equality or fairness towards women or many ethnicities. With caring for your fellow child of God being a key principle of the religion, the Bible was written in a time period which differed from that mightily. Although it recorded the actions and words of God, the Bible was written by men, each with their own flaws, prejudices, and biases. Religion is not flawed because of any flaws with God; religion is flawed because man is flawed, period. Homosexuality is sin...so is pre-marital sex, telling lies, etc. Why is homosexual monogamy seen as so much more sinful than a heterosexual casual sex and the lying that's often involved? I don't believe people are gay by choice, I believe they're gay by hormonal makeup. We now live in an age where marriages aren't arranged, you can marry who you're attracted to and compatible with. So naturally, if those who are gay don't have to deal with the burden of their families telling them who they're going to marry at age 13 during puberty, they have the choice to choose for themselves. If you're attracted to the same sex, you will probably figure that out soon after puberty and pursue that sex. Would you rather they fake it, leaving them unfulfilled and possibly cheating to satisfy their desires outside of the relationship? Deciding to be unhappily married to someone you're not attracted to may make for more comfortable family pictures to send your parents, but leads to much bigger problems. Heterosexual marriages have about a 50% success rate, do you honestly believe heterosexual marriage will do worse? And here's the big one, the question to end all questions before I end this entry. Let's say you're a preacher standing on the doorstep of your church as people walk up to your door, what is less Christian: A) the fact that that two God-fearing women approaching are in love and married? or B) you shunning away a couple trying to get closer to the Lord because you don't like the fact that they're happily married? Real talk.

Do Better: Trannys, Finish the Job

I live in Atlanta, notorious for a large population of Black Gay Men and transvestites. The lesson from this picture would be: If ur a guy who wants to be a woman, finish the job...
I hope everybody caught it. LOL. Shameless Humor, I know.