Hamas Murders Gaza Wedding Party for Singing

Hamas shooting Gaza wedding party for singing

A rare video from a few years ago that shows the terror regime that Gaza Arabs live under the Muslim Brotherhood Hamas regime.

This is just an incredible demonstration of how horrible it must be for Palestinians living under the Hamas regime. The narrator of this video is genuinely outraged at the behavior of Hamas terrorists towards their own people. Yet there may be others who are to blame. Those who allow this to go on.

The Western world, the UN, the media. Yes, all of them have seen this inhuman behavior and have not condemned it, and those who encourage it. The media continues to condemn Israel, the only country in the world that has been fighting the subhuman, beastly behavior of the Hamas.

This is the true reason that the Hamas together with all radical Islamic groups continues to slaughter, degrade, and subjugate its own people and threaten Israel and the Western world with bombs, terror attacks, and beheadings. When will the world wake up?

Watch video here

Oregon Removes Freedom of Speech from Christian Business Owners

Shut up! Don’t say another word.

Aaron and Melissa Klein

Todd Starnes
Fox News and Commentary
That’s what the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) is telling the owners of Sweet Cakes By Melissa, a bakery owned by Christians who refused to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding.

On Friday the state ordered owners Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple they turned away in 2013.

The state also slapped a gag order on the evangelical Christian bakers – banning them from speaking publicly about their refusal to participate in or bake wedding cakes for same-sex unions.

“This effectively strips us of all our First Amendment rights,” Mrs. Klein wrote on Facebook. “According to the state of Oregon, we neither have freedom of religion or freedom of speech.”

The Kleins tell me they have been ordered not to speak 

to any news organizations or speak publicly – 

an order they violated when they called me.

The Kleins were ordered to “cease and desist from publishing, circulating, issuing or displaying, or causing to be published, circulated, issued or displayed, any communication, notice, advertisement or sign of any kind to the effect that any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, services or privileges of a place of public accommodation will be refused, withheld from or denied to, or that any discrimination will be made against, any person on account of sexual orientation.”

The order was signed by Brad Avakian, the commissioner of the BOLI and a vocal supporter of the LGBTQIA community.

“Within Oregon’s public accommodations law is the basic principle of human decency that every person, regardless of their sexual orientation, has the freedom to fully participate in society,” the ruling states. “The ability to enter public places, to shop and dine, to move about unfettered by bigotry.”

On a side note here – I predicted that once gay marriage was legalized, LGBTQIA supporters would attempt to silence all dissent.

Avakian has publicly stated his intentions to target Christian business owners who do not comply with his way of thinking. Here’s what he told The Oregonian about Sweet Cakes By Melissa in 2013:

“The goal is never to shut down a business. The goal is to rehabilitate.”

Brings to mind the Soviet Gulag or the Chinese reorientation camps where you were subject to such mental tortures as to leave you practically a zombie and incapable of posing a threat to the state. China is still practicing this barbarian evil.

Here we have a government employee who wants to “rehabilitate” Christian business owners like the Kleins. How exactly does Avakian plan on purging their religious beliefs? Is the state of Oregon running a reeducation camp? Or maybe they prefer to use shock therapy.

I’m truly interested to know what sort of conversion therapy treatments Avakian uses. However, he won’t return my telephone calls.

The Kleins did not seem all that concerned about Avakian’s order to remain silent. The first thing they did after reading his edict was to call me.

“I don’t really care,” Mr. Klein told me. “This man has no power over me. He seems to think he can tell me to be quiet. That doesn’t sit well with me – and I refuse to comply.”

The Kleins tell me they have been ordered not to speak to any news organizations or speak publicly – an order they violated when they called me.

“They picked the wrong guy,” Mr. Klein said. “When my constitutional freedoms have been violated by the state, I’m going to speak out. That’s the way it is.”

Mrs. Klein told me she was shocked that the state of Oregon thinks they have the power to silence her voice.

“For us to not be able to speak about it – that’s our freedom of speech,” she said. “All Americans should be free to live and work by their faith and speak their mind.”

Since 2013 the Kleins and their five children have become targets of LGBTQIA activists and their supporters. They eventually had to shut down their retail store after they were hit with boycotts and protests.

Their children were subjected to death threats and the family had to install security at their rural home.

Mr. Klein had to take a job picking up garbage after LGBTQIA activists and their cronies threatened other wedding vendors who did business with Sweet Cakes By Melissa.

In spite of the LGBTQIA bullying, the Kleins remain steadfast in their faith and will refuse to bow down to the government.

“God is awesome,” Mrs. Klein told me. “He is taking care of us. I’m not sad about it at all. It is what it is. God opens doors and shuts doors.”

The family has launched a donation page to help defray the expenses of their fight with the state of Oregon.

Friends, it is open season on Catholics and Evangelical Christians – and I suspect we will hear more stories from Christian business owners just like the Kleins – targeted by LGBTQIA activists and their minions.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy tried to reassure Americans that religious liberty would be protected now that the Court redefined marriage.

“The First Amendment ensures that religious organizations and persons are given proper protection as they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central to their lives and faiths, and to their own deep aspirations to continue the family structure they have long revered,” he wrote.

Perhaps Justice Kennedy should tell that to Aaron and Melissa Klein. They tried to live out the central principles of their lives and faith – and were slapped with a $135,000 fine and a cease and desist order.

Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. His latest book is "God Less America: Real Stories From the Front Lines of the Attack on Traditional Values." Follow Todd on Twitter@ToddStarnes and find him on Facebook. 

Prosperity Gospel: Deceitful and Deadly

“If I were not on the inside of Christianity, I wouldn’t want in.”

John Piper

John Piper – The Gospel Coalition

When I read about prosperity preaching churches, my response is: “If I were not on the inside of Christianity, I wouldn’t want in.” In other words, if this is the message of Jesus, no thank you.

Luring people to Christ to get rich is both deceitful and deadly. It’s deceitful because when Jesus himself called us, he said things like: “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). And it’s deadly because the desire to be rich plunges “people into ruin and destruction” (1 Tim. 6:9). So here is my plea to preachers of the gospel.


1. Don’t develop a philosophy of ministry that makes it harder for people to get into heaven.

Jesus said, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” His disciples were astonished, as many in the “prosperity” movement should be. So Jesus went on to raise their astonishment even higher by saying, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” They respond in disbelief: “Then who can be saved?” Jesus says, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:23–27).

My question for prosperity preachers is: Why would you want to develop a ministry focus that makes it harder for people to enter heaven?


2. Do not develop a philosophy of ministry that kindles suicidal desires in people.

Paul said, “There is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” But then he warned against the desire to be rich. And by implication, he warned against preachers who stir up the desire to be rich instead of helping people get rid of it. He warned, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Tim. 6:6–10).

So my question for prosperity preachers is: Why would you want to develop a ministry that encourages people to pierce themselves with many pangs and plunge themselves into ruin and destruction?


3. Do not develop a philosophy of ministry that encourages vulnerability to moth and rust.

Jesus warns against the effort to lay up treasures on earth. That is, he tells us to be givers, not keepers. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt. 6:19).

Yes, we all keep something. But given the built-in tendency toward greed in all of us, why would we take the focus off Jesus and turn it upside down?


4. Don’t develop a philosophy of ministry that makes hard work a means of amassing wealth.

Paul said we should not steal. The alternative was hard work with our own hands. But the main purpose was not merely to hoard or even to have. The purpose was “to have to give.” “Let him labor, working with his hands, that he may have to give to him who is in need” (Eph. 4:28). This is not a justification for being rich in order to give more. It is a call to make more and keep less so you can give more. There is no reason why a person who makes $200,000 should live any differently from the way a person who makes $80,000 lives. Find a wartime lifestyle; cap your expenditures; then give the rest away.

Why would you want to encourage people to think that they should possess wealth in order to be a lavish giver? Why not encourage them to keep their lives more simple and be an even more lavish giver? Would that not add to their generosity a strong testimony that Christ, and not possessions, is their treasure?


5. Don’t develop a philosophy of ministry that promotes less faith in the promises of God to be for us what money can’t be.

The reason the writer to the Hebrews tells us to be content with what we have is that the opposite implies less faith in the promises of God. He says, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Heb. 13:5–6).

If the Bible tells us that being content with what we have honors the promise of God never to forsake us, why would we want to teach people to want to be rich?


6. Don’t develop a philosophy of ministry that contributes to your people being choked to death.

Jesus warns that the word of God, which is meant to give us life, can be choked off from any effectiveness by riches. He says it is like a seed that grows up among thorns that choke it to death: “They are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the . . . riches . . . of life, and their fruit does not mature” (Luke 8:14).

Why would we want to encourage people to pursue the very thing that Jesus warns will choke us to death?


7. Don’t develop a philosophy of ministry that takes the seasoning out of the salt and puts the light under a basket.

What is it about Christians that makes them the salt of the earth and the light of the world? It is not wealth. The desire for wealth and the pursuit of wealth tastes and looks just like the world. It does not offer the world anything different from what it already believes in. The great tragedy of prosperity preaching is that a person does not have to be spiritually awakened in order to embrace it; one needs only to be greedy. Getting rich in the name of Jesus is not the salt of the earth or the light of the world. In this, the world simply sees a reflection of itself. And if it works, they will buy it.

The context of Jesus’s saying shows us what the salt and light are. They are the joyful willingness to suffering for Christ. Here is what Jesus said, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth. . . . You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:11–14).

What will make the world taste (the salt) and see (the light) of Christ in us is not that we love wealth the same way they do. Rather, it will be the willingness and the ability of Christians to love others through suffering, all the while rejoicing because their reward is in heaven with Jesus. This is inexplicable on human terms. This is supernatural. But to attract people with promises of prosperity is simply natural. It is not the message of Jesus. It is not what he died to achieve.

The Gospel Coalition

The Gospel Coalition International Outreach (IO) is partnering with African authors and publishers to create a resource that biblically examines the prosperity gospel and that will be distributed free across Africa and beyond. In Prosperity? Finding the True Gospel, African pastors Michael Otieno Maura, Ken Mbugua, and Conrad Mbewe are joined by John Piper and Wayne Grudem in pointing pastors and other Christians beyond the deceptions of prosperity theology to the true gospel of Jesus Christ. TGC-IO aims to raise $50,000 by July 1, at which time they will receive an all-or-nothing matching grant to complete the project. For more details or to give to this worthy project, see the relief project page.

Obviously, it is too late for us to meet the deadline of July 1st. I include this section for your information, in case you want to follow the progress of this group.

This article is part of a series on the prosperity gospel. I encourage you to read the previous articles as well:

“Prosperity Gospel Born in the USA” (Russell Woodbridge)
“5 Errors of the Prosperity Gospel” (David W. Jones)
“I Visited a Prosperity Gospel Megachurch” (Steven Morales)
“Africa Infested by Health and Wealth Teaching” (Jeff Robinson)
“Jabez and the Soft Prosperity Gospel” (David Schrock)
“Encountering Prosperity Theology in Latin America” (Jairo Namnun)
“Prosperity Teaching Has Replaced True Gospel in Africa” (Conrad Mbewe)

Is Polygamy Legal in the UK? If you're Muslim, Apparently

UK’s First Female Sharia Judge: 

‘We Can’t Ask Muslims Not to Have More than One Wife’

Britain has witnessed a rapid rise in sharia marriages, many of them polygamous

From Pamela Geller:

The UK is not alone in this. In the US, nearly 70 percent of American Muslims said they believe that the U.S. should legalize polygamy…42 percent of those surveyed said they were either in, or knew others in polygamous marriages within the local Muslim community. Thirty-nine percent said they would engage in a polygamous marriage if it were legal in the United States.

This is the pattern with Muslim immigration. Dr. Peter Hammond described it this way.

When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some of the other components tend to creep in as well. Here’s how it works. As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs.

The UK's Muslim population was 2.7 million after the 2011 census, that's about 4.5%. No doubt it has exceeded 3 million and 5% by 2015.

From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves — along with threats for failure to comply.

At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia law over the entire world.

When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris , we are already seeing car-burnings. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam , with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam. Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections, in: France, Sweden, etc.

After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues.

At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare, such as in:

From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of non-believers of all other religions (including non-conforming Muslims), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels.

After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim.

100% will usher in the peace of ‘Dar-es-Salaam’ — the Islamic House of Peace. Here there’s supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim, the Madrasses are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word.

And so it goes. Muslims now openly defying the law in the UK.

Maybe Muslims think they can have several wives
because they are mostly invisible anyway

Breitbart, July 3, 2015

UK’s First Female Sharia Judge: ‘We Can’t Ask Muslims Not to Have More than One Wife’ 

Britain’s first female sharia law judge has issued a brazen warning that flies in the face of UK law, stating that the “government cannot ask Muslims not to have more than one wife”.

The news comes on the back of a report by the Times newspaper which claims that Britain is experiencing a “surge” in Sharia marriages, as young British Muslims adopt a more hardline religious stance than their parents.

The Times reports:

“As many as 100,000 couples are living in such marriages, which are not valid under UK law, experts said. Ministers have raised fears that women can be left without the right to a fair share of assets if the relationship ends, while others are forced to return to abusive “husbands”.”

A leading Islamic family lawyer warned that the increase in Sharia ceremonies among the 2.7 million-strong Muslim population in Britain was also behind a growth in “secret polygamy”.

“Probably a quarter of all couples I see involve polygamy issues,” Aina Khan told The Times. “There has been a huge rise in recent years because people can have a secret nikah [Islamic marriage] and no one will know about it.”

The growth in a parallel marriage system that bypassed the register office was being driven by Muslims aged below 30, who were becoming more religious, she said. Other factors include finding a way around the expectation of no sex before marriage and a fear of British family courts, which presume that assets should be split equally.

Muslim Arbitration Tribunals, colloquially known as Sharia courts, have existed in the United Kingdom since 1996, when the Arbitration Act began to allow for different religious laws to be applied in cases such as divorce.

While the tribunals are supposed to work within UK law, recent reports suggest that young Muslims are not registering their marriages with the government under UK civil law, instead simply using nikha ceremonies, which can lead to men having a number of wives, and none of the legal responsibility towards them usually afforded to spouses under the 1949 Marriage Act.

Now, Amra Bone, who is the UK’s first female Sharia council judge, has said that “the government cannot — ask Muslims not to have more than one wife. People have a right to decide for themselves,” implying that British Muslims are free to operate outside UK law, as a rule unto themselves and the Sharia courts they feel are legitimate.

Muslim women who enter into marriage in Islamic ceremonies are often duped into thinking that the marriage under Islamic law is enough to protect them under UK law. As such, they receive none of the usual protections under UK law, such as assets being divided in cases of divorce.

Do Patriotism and Worship Services Mix Well?

Is it appropriate to use a worship service to promote patriotism? 

I’ve been in churches where the congregation was asked to stand and say the pledge of allegiance during a worship service. I have a strong pride in America. I lived in the Philippines during a very tumultuous time in which our own US servicemen were killed by terrorist attacks. I was there when there were base demonstrations and our daily lives had to be altered because of real threats to us. We had curfews and base restrictions.

I remember when singer Lee Greenwood came to Clark Air Base (Philippines) at a time when we were all emotionally reeling from the recent attacks on our servicemen.  When, at the conclusion of his concert, he started singing the words, “I’m Proud to be an American,”  there was not a dry eye in the audience.

When I came back to the States, my husband was sent to the Persian Gulf for Operation Desert Shield. My husband was defending our country and I was taking care of our 3-yr old and infant. Every single time I saw an American flag, I got tears in my eyes, knowing that my husband was “over there” and seeing first-hand the sacrifices made by our servicemen and their families.

So, obviously, you cannot say that I am unpatriotic. I am proud to be an American. I understand what freedom means.

But the several times I have been in a church service and asked to stand to say the pledge of allegiance, something has stirred within me – some sort of conflict and I never really spent the time to think about what it was.

I ran across this article recently: This is my confession: I struggle with patriotic worship services.

Sunday gatherings of believers are a microcosm of the Kingdom of God. For me, at their best, patriotic services celebrate baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet at the expense of Jesus Christ crucified and risen. At their worst they rehearse selective history, celebrate decisions of a man-made government, and blur the line between the kingdoms of man and the kingdom of God.

Sundays find followers of Jesus gathered celebrating His victory over sin, death, hell and the grave, not American victories at Iwo Jima, Normandy and Bastogne. We gather with the promise of a Prince of Peace whose return will not only render Valley Forge, Gettysburg, New Orleans, Normandy, Guadalcanal, Da Nang and Baghdad impossible; He will make them unneeded.

I posted this article on the SSB Facebook page and here are some of the comments:

I suffered in church every Memorial Day, July 4th and Christmas…

As a music pastor, I ALWAYS dreaded planning the Sunday nearest the 4th of July. HATED it!!

What do you think? Is it okay to mix church and patriotism? Am I being overly sensitive? Is America God’s special nation? Do pastors overstep their bounds when they encourage patriotism?

Happy 4th, everyone. Stay safe!  - Julie-Anne - Spiritual Sounding Board


From my perspective, anything that takes your eyes off Jesus and puts them onto yourself (your country), not only does a disservice to Jesus Christ but weakens your relationship with Him. Many a classical theologian would call it sin. 

The roots of excessive patriotism are pride and segregation, neither of which are Christian attributes. The last thing Jesus prayed for before being arrested was for unity - unity with Him, unity with each other. Excessive patriotism (expressing patriotism in church is excessive, in my view), builds walls between people, even Christians. For instance:

It may excessive patriotism that causes Americans to want to close their borders to Mexicans and Central Americans desperate to escape violence and poverty. Many of those opposed to opening the borders are Christians; many of those attempting to get into the US are Christians. Does not the unity of the church universal 'trump' the selfishness of super-patriotism?

In a world of instant global communication, everyone is our neighbor. Is it Christian to ignore the pain and suffering of our neighbors?  

I must confess, I am torn about the issue of massive immigration. I do not want to see the entire culture of the US overrun with Latin Americans. I do not want to see Europe overrun with Muslims, as is clearly happening. But Latin Americans are much easier to take than Muslims in France or Sweden where ancient cultures will disappear within a few decades to be replaced by Sharia law.

I have only 2 suggestions for countries suffering from mass immigration: 

1) Allow those people to immigrate who best fit into the countries culture - a predominantly Christian country should accept predominantly Christian refugees/immigrants; Muslim refugees should go to Muslim countries.

2) Industrialized countries should be doing more to develop the economies of 3rd world countries. Reducing poverty will keep more people in their home countries and will reduce the allure of radical extremist groups and street/drug gangs.

But, back on topic - I hope you will go to church tomorrow and glorify God, not your country.

France Deports 40 Imams for Preaching Hatred (ie Fundamental Islam)

“France says 40 imams deported for hate speech,” 

The Local

France has deported 40 foreign imams for “preaching hatred” in the past three years, a quarter of them since the January terror attacks in Paris, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday.

The minister vowed to clamp down on mosques and preachers inciting hatred after a suspected Islamist beheaded his boss during an attack on a gas factory last week.

The attack, which had the hallmarks of a jihadist act but is also believed to have personal motivations, was the second in six months in France which is battling to curb radicalisation that has seen hundreds of citizens leave to wage jihad in Iraq and Syria.

Any “foreign preacher of hate will be deported,” said Cazeneuve, adding that several mosques were being investigated for inciting terrorism and if found to be doing so, “will be shut down”.

“We have deported 40 preachers of hatred since 2012. Since the beginning of the year we have examined 22 cases, and around 10 imams and preachers of hatred have been expelled,” said Cazeneuve.

This is a good first step by the French, but sooo much more needs to be done to keep France French, and keep Sharia out.

Yassin Salhi, 35, on Sunday confessed during interrogation to killing his boss and pinning his head to a fence of the Air Products factory near the eastern city of Lyon.

The severed head was discovered flanked by two Islamic flags and it later emerged he had sent a selfie of himself with the head to a number believed to belong to a French jihadist currently in Syria.

While Salhi was known to security services for links to radical Islamists in France, and his crime bore the hallmarks of a jihadist act, sources close to the investigation have suggested a personal dimension after a dispute with his employer two days earlier.

“There is no doubt of the personal motivations but there is a symbolism taken from the most atrocious, abject images of terrorism,” said Cazeneuve.

The Irony in the Quest for Equality

Provocative perspective on gay marriage and Christians

If you have been reading my blogs for some time you may have picked up that I love irony. But sometimes irony is very uncomfortable and disappointing, especially when the irony is revealed by the exposure of truth.

This may be hard for some to read, but it is truth; and if you comment on it before reading the entire article, there's a good chance you are part of the problem.

It's extremely well written, thoughtful, a good read, and not very long.

by Constantine Campbell  Topic: Homosexuality
Desiring God

Facebook friends will immediately flee and label me a bigot just for the title of this piece. Most of them will not read what we have to say because they can reach their conclusion simply on suspicion that we might be on the wrong side of marriage equality. A great irony is embedded in that fact. And it’s an irony we must understand.

Prejudice

The heart of the irony involves prejudice. According to the Oxford Dictionary, prejudice is a “preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.” Prejudice is the enemy of equality, since it is an a priori judgment about someone just because of, say, the color of their skin, their religion, their gender, or their sexual orientation. If you see an African American walking down the street and automatically think he must be a violent gangbanger, that’s prejudice. If you see a Muslim and think she’s a terrorist, that’s prejudice. If you oppose gay marriage and are immediately named a bigot, that’s prejudice.

Prejudice is wrong and very often ignorant, and Christians are often guilty of it. Have Christians been prejudiced against gays and lesbians? Absolutely. Do we need to repent of that prejudice? Absolutely. Every man and woman has been created in the image of God, and is deeply loved by him, regardless of his or her sense of sexual orientation. Christians have no right to mistreat gays and lesbians because we know that, apart from the grace of God, we are all guilty rebels before him — as guilty as anyone else anywhere else.

But now the tables have turned. Christians are the new targets of prejudice. If we oppose gay marriage, we are automatically bigots.

How did that happen?

Marriage Equality

The movement for marriage equality did two extremely clever things. First, it used the word, “equality.” Who could be against equality? Only bigots. There it is — if you’re on the wrong side of “equality,” you must be a bigot.

A bigot is “a person who has very strong, unreasonable beliefs or opinions about race, religion, or politics and who will not listen to or accept the opinions of anyone who disagrees.” In other words, a bigot is someone who is strongly prejudiced. As soon as “equality” was introduced into the discussion, the quest for marriage equality was viewed alongside the Civil Rights Movement, women’s suffrage, and so on. Anyone against such positions is simply wrong. End of story.

The second clever thing the movement did was to assume the conclusion in the premise (also known as “begging the question”). That is, by calling gay marriage “marriage,” the conclusion has already been reached. We are then only talking about whether gay marriage should be equal to heterosexual marriage. Once the conversation begins there, there’s no way for us to oppose the idea of gay marriage and win.

The real question is “Should we redefine what marriage is?” That is the fundamental question, since marriage has traditionally been understood to be an exclusive union between a man and a woman, who are not directly related.

The movement for marriage equality was clever not to frame the discussion in terms of “changing the definition of marriage,” because that would surely meet greater resistance than pushing for “equality.” Instead, pushing for marriage equality already assumed the conclusion in the premise: a homosexual union is a marriage.

The New Prejudice

These moves have been so successful that now the crowd cannot see the irony. If you oppose gay marriage, you must be a bigot. There is no way to think otherwise, since the discussion has been framed in terms of equality, instead of in terms of the redefinition of an established social institution. The prejudice is now on the other foot. Without even considering arguments to the contrary, people will form negative conclusions about others because of an alternate opinion. That is prejudice.

Ironically, those who say that Christians are bigots are in fact engaging in bigoted behavior. And not just against Christians, but against anyone who holds reservations about “marriage equality.” You do not need to be a Christian to recognize the problems with it. Remember that a bigot is “a person who has very strong, unreasonable beliefs or opinions . . . who will not listen to or accept the opinions of anyone who disagrees.” Society will now not even listen to alternate points of view on the issue. And therein lies the irony.

The Old Prejudice

Christians facing prejudice is nothing new. The first Christians faced it head-on in the Roman Empire. The apostle Peter encouraged his readers to conduct themselves honorably among the pagans so that “when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glory God on the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12). Notice Peter’s phrase, “when they speak against you as evildoers.” How could genuine Christians be thought of as evildoers?

The Romans thought that Christians hated the human race (so recorded the historian Tacitus), that they engaged in incest because they were married to their “brothers and sisters,” and were cannibals because they ate the body and blood of Christ. All of these were obviously grave misunderstandings. But Peter’s exhortation is, in effect, let them get to know you. The only real solution to prejudice is knowledge. As a friend of mine once said, “It’s hard to demonize someone when you get to know them.”

We are now the targets of an irrational prejudice. But we should not pout, despair, or withdraw. Unjust opposition is nothing new for followers of the crucified Christ. We are called to suffer it well, following his example (1 Peter 2:21–25). So far as we are able, let’s allow those who vilify us to get to know us. If we are truly following Christ, knowing who we really are will go a long way to dispel prejudice.

That, unfortunately, is a very big 'if'. Who knows how many so-called Christians are actually Christians? My take is that genuine and mature Christians make up a small minority of those who claim that Name. As such, many immature or pseudo-Christians make so much noise that the rest are drowned out. If you truly get to know some of these people, you will find bigotry, prejudice, legalism, and intolerance.

Of course, these traits are not restricted to Christians, they exist everywhere that fallen man exists. They are particularly evident in some religious circles like militant Islam and some fundamental Christian sects. The irony here is that they all seek to create an ideal society through means that are far from the values of the society they hope to create.

They are trying to build their ideal societies for God, but are not utilizing God, nor are they even following His ways, to build it. They are anything but Christ-like in their attitudes and behaviour.

So how do you know if you are a real Christian, or an immature Christian? 

All too often, immature Christians, and pseudo-Christians do a lot more yelling than they do listening? They should be the last to put themselves on a pedestal and preach to people, but because of their lack of humility and their pride, they often put themselves first. Humility is almost anathema to western civilization these days, so the truly humble are rarely ever heard from.

The Bible teaches us that real Christians are obvious by their fruit - good fruit, not rotten fruit. Good fruit comes from the presence of the Holy Spirit as we practice the gifts and the fruit that He gives us: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Love, peace, kindness, gentleness - does that describe you, or any Christian you know?

Furthermore, the Bible tells us that real Christians feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit shut-ins, welcome strangers. It tells us that we are concerned for 'the least of these'. That means that our charity does not stop at the National borders. 

One last thing; I believe that contentious issues like abortion, gay marriage, etc., ought to bring us to our knees not cause us to raise up in arms. Lot was considered righteous because his soul was tortured at the evil around him. He did not slay the wicked - that was God's decision. 

Neither Jesus, nor any of the disciples, raised a hand or spoke against the many institutionalized evils that existed in the first century except where it concerned a Christians reaction to such evils, and then the warnings were simply to keep oneself holy. 

Do you react to evil with evil? Do you display the character of Jesus Christ when confronted with those whose beliefs are opposed to yours? It is God's decision when and where to bring judgment upon evil, not ours. It is our responsibility to shut-up and pray.