This Is Just the Beginning

        It’s been so much longer than I had hoped for posting this blog. Initially, I was planning on taking a shot (pun intended) at Duck Dynasty. My original draft was missing its edge. My second draft turned into a manifesto style rant that had no real ending. During my attempts to find a conclusion to my rant against the hypocrisy that Duck Dynasty stands behind, my heart grew heavy. The latest Supreme Court decision on the “Hobby Lobby Case” reverberated with me. The more I thought about it, the more upset I became.

        Before I get into the meat and potatoes of what I’m aiming at accomplishing here today, I’m going to say this and it’s aimed directly at everything and everyone involved in the Duck Dynasty debacle that seems to have gained so much popularity. YOU ALL DISGUST ME!!! You use Christianity as a means to make profit while conning actual believers into thinking that you stand for the Lord. If you were a tenth as Christian as you claim, you wouldn’t swim in the blasphemy that you wade in. Cleaver marketing and advertising to get your brand out is bad and rather annoying (I’m tired of seeing your pretend hillbilly faces and names on every piece of crap item sold at every gas station across the country) but not blasphemous. But stamping your name on Bibles is. If you have a shred of faith in Christ, cease and desist in your money making endeavors that involve our Lord and Savior. And with that, I digress.

        I’m not going to delve into specifics or start calling out who said what. I am however, going to point out that with each day that passes our government shows its interests lie with big business and not the people. All of which would honestly make sense if 75% of all tax dollars were paid by corporations but sadly they aren't. I saw a stat the other day (please bear in mind, that I didn't fact check this stat but it certainly seems legit based on sheer observation alone) that stated in the 1950’s, corporations paid nearly a third of the federal governments bills. It goes on to say that, last year corporate income taxes accounted for less than a tenth of Uncle Sam’s total revenue.

        I think the thing that bothers me the most is that the people that are making these decisions are the same people that have cut funding to the needy, taken food out of the mouths of the hungry, have left the homeless on the streets despite the millions of empty homes, left our veterans jobless and without benefits, made corporations “people”, watched idly as oil prices have nearly bankrupt the common man, and on and on and on. I could literally write for hours about all the things that have been done to spite (not help) the people and all of these decisions were made by people who claim to be children of Christ. These “Christians” have done everything that Jesus wouldn't do and they've done it in His name.

        These same people are the ones saying that gay marriage is ruining the country and that God is judging us for it. I don’t speak for God and would never claim to but it seems more like God is judging us based on how the people we've elected are prospering on greed and hate not tolerance of others. I don’t personally agree with gay marriage but I also wouldn't even consider protesting it. I've decided to let God handle their judgment. They will pay for their sins (as we all will) when we go forth and meet the Father and stand judgment for our wrong doings. Who are we as PEOPLE to cast damnation on a group of people because we don’t agree with them? In my opinion, true Christians will allow God to do as He said He will do. We as mortals have no place making these decisions. One last thought on the gay marriage issue before I move on and that is I don’t even understand why we see the marriage the way we do. In philosophy, it makes sense but we haven’t practiced it in longer than I can think back to. We say we hold marriage in such high regard but our divorce rate as a nation suggests more than we’re just hypocrites.  

        I feel myself getting dangerously off track and topic. My fingers are dying to type more than my brain wants them to. So, I think I’ll wrap up this installment with a one last thought. If you claim to be Christian and deter from the words of Christ, THEN YOU ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN! You can’t call yourself a Christian and believe that we are not all equal. You can’t call yourself a Christian and cast judgment on groups of people you fear or don’t understand. You can’t call yourself a Christian and support programs that leave people desperately in need of food, clothing and shelter. You can’t call yourself a Christian and support needless war. You can’t call yourself a Christian and be pro-life but doesn't care about the child after it emerges from the womb. You can’t call yourself a Christian and make it a point to support programs and companies that promote hatred. You can’t call yourself a Christian and cherry pick which of Christ’s words you believe. You can’t call yourself a Christian and act as if you know more than God. And lastly, you can’t call yourself a Christian and put yourself above Christ.

        I most certainly could keep going but I’m going to step down off my soapbox for now. So until next time I’ll leave you Christ’s words, “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)