Closet Christian

I can never understand "Christian-based" hate groups. It's very oxymoronic. Isn't it? How can you be Christian and hate your brother, when Christ has called you to to love all your brothers, especially those marginalized, and even your enemies? I'll give them one thing though, they are right about the country changing as far as being taken over. But, I argue that it has NOTHING to do with sexual preferences, race, religious views, or ethnicity. It has to do with ignorance, misinformation, misconceptions, and backwards ideology perpetrated by media. We are not one another's enemies. We are all people trying to make it in the world, people, just people.

My thoughts and ideas make me a very isolated and unpopular person in this backward town. Unfortunately in this primarily Christian town, my Christianity is frowned upon and unacceptable.

"I do not believe in the death penalty, because Christ tells me I should forgive my brethren." I live in a prison town, and I have lost my guard friends because of that statement. I also believe that God has told us not to take a life. He, and only He, is to avenge. I also believe the death penalty allows some victim's families to live with guilt because they fought for the death penalty. Often it creeps in slowly as they realized that these are people. They become at odds with Christ. I also believe the death penalty allows the criminal to get off easy. They never have to live with the guilt of their crimes. The taking of a loved one is a life sentence for the victim's family and a travesty for all involved. It should be  life sentence for the perpetrator, as well.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

~ Romans 12:17-21

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

~ Matthew 6:14-15

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

~ Mark 11:25

"Although I support the use of guns and bows for hunting for food, I believe that assault rifles should be outlawed, and hunting should only be done for food not for sport." Again, I have lost many "Christian" friends from this statement. New Oxford American Dictionary defines assault as, "make a physical attack on," and assault rifle as, "a rapid-fire, magazine-fed automatic rifle designed for infantry use." There is no reason for an individual to have an assault rifle other than to kill mass numbers of people. It is not logical to use an assault rifle as a hunting rifle. Once we start saying it is okay for the general public to have public access to military weapons, our problems grow and even more mass numbers of people begin to die. We would not want our neighbor to have a bomb designed to kill mass numbers of people, we would not allow our neighbors to have a rocket launcher, would not allow our neighbors to carry hand grenades, so why do we allow assault rifles? I agree that each person has the right to own a handgun, rifle, shot gun, bow, and crossbow, but assault rifles I will never get behind. For a matter of fact, my home has weapons, but they are not weapons of mass destruction. A gun used wisely does not kill a man, and just because we have been given dominion over the animals of Earth, we have been warned to care for it and its lifeforms.

"Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'"

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 

~ NIV Genesis 1:26-30

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 

~ NIV Genesis 2:15

Remember, love one another. I do. ♥

For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

~ 1 John 3:11-16

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

~ John 13:34-35

Pollution

Mother Earth is ill, and we, mankind, are the cancer that are killing her. Do Something has posted 11 facts that Americans should know about the pollutants Americans are responsible for releasing into our environment every day.

1. 40% of America’s rivers and 46% of America’s lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life.


2. The Mississippi River – which drains the lands of nearly 40% of the continental United Sates – carries an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of nitrogen pollution into the Gulf of Mexico each year. The resulting dead zone in the Gulf each summer is about the size of New Jersey.


3. 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, storm water, and industrial waste are discharged into US waters annually.


4. Polluted drinking waters are a problem for about half of the world’s population. Each year there are about 250 million cases of water-based diseases, resulting in roughly 5 to 10 million deaths.


5. Vehicle exhaust contributes roughly 60% of all carbon monoxide emissions nationwide, and up to 95% in cities.


6. Large hog farms emit hydrogen sulfide, a gas that most often causes flu-like symptoms in humans, but at high concentrations can lead to brain damage.


7. Each year, U.S. factories spew 3 million tons of toxic chemicals into the air, land, and water.


8. In the U.S. 41% of all insecticides are used on corn. Of these, 80% are used to treat a pest that could be controlled simply by rotating a different crop for just one year.


9. Every year, one American produces over 3,285 pounds of hazardous waste.


10. Over 80% of items in landfills can be recycled, but they’re not.


11. Americans generate 30 billion foam cups, 220 million tires, and 1.8 billion disposable diapers every year.

Source:  Do Something

Releasing pollutants into the environment is not ethical, as it does not benefit society as a whole. However, it could improve one's station in life and improve their pleasure, for some of your biggest companies contribute greatly to the pollution levels worldwide. Atop each company is the people whose wealth is dependent up on cutting corners such as moving factories to countries with no environmental protection standards and laws. This never-ending need to gain wealth falls under the greed category. Some readers will argue that beneficence makes pollution ethical, but it would be selfish for us to assume that one's pleasure should be put above the whole. 

"That which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it. Every one thinks chiefly of his own, hardly at all of the common interest; and only when he is himself concerned as an individual. For besides other considerations, everybody is more inclined to neglect the duty which he expects another to fulfill." ~ Aristotle

Regardless of pollution being on the forefront in modern media, many Americans forget to care for their environment. We are blind to the impact that this cancer has on us until we witness the overall effects through our weather, wildfires, floods, etc. When catastrophic events happen, we open our eyes to the impact our carelessness has on the environment, that is until the news gets old, and we start flipping through our regularly broadcasting stations and our  favorite television shows.

Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Isaac, Hurricane Ike, Hurricane Rita, Hurricane Katrina, Texas Wildfires, California Wildfires, Colorado Wildfires, New Mexico Wildfires, Shifting Seasons, Drought Across the South, Prolonged Intense Summers, Massive Tornados, etc. 

As Christians, we have a responsibility to care for our planet.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (NIV Genesis 1:27-28)

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (NIV Genesis 2:15)

God may have given mankind dominion over the earth, but he also gave us the responsibility of caring for the earth. Sure, life would be more difficult if we abruptly ended our ever-growing dependence on fossil fuels. Many of us have chosen to pass the responsibility off to future generations, and that is also due to the fact that our forefathers have passed the responsibility off to us throughout the years. In the past, it was due to ignorance, as mankind did not fully understand his/her environmental impact.

Now that we are fully aware of the impact, we need to take up the responsibility and do what we can to heal the cancer that we have placed upon the back of the third rock that we call home. After all, we did not come upon this responsibility on our own. It is a responsibility that God has bestowed upon us, and I do not think that this is what God meant.

For information on what you can do to reduce your impact on the environment: EPA