How do you draw the line between getting over our differences as a species, as humans, and honestly conveying the very real consequences of acting on our "little differences"?

Do you know what terrifies me? That a single person has the power to sell our entire species in exchange for their own instant gratification.

Think I'm wrong? Consider the tower of babel. Who was that first person to promote the idea that men could surpass God?

It's within our nature to believe that we can counterbalance the actions of one person. So if one man damns the world, surely a single man can save it. But that's not true. Selfishness, vanity, greed - these traits are so easy to amplify. They reproduce at and unimaginable rate. Meanwhile, compassion, trust, honesty, modesty, charity - these traits are tenacious, shining through in those darkest moments...but in the dull light of an overcast afternoon where nothing is going quite right but nothing is going too terribly wrong, then where are these shining merits of the human soul? Hidden. Submerged in the undertow of oceans upon oceans of man's less noble features.

One man cannot redeem our whole race. It took a God to redeem us all.

So in my day to day, I get lost in the slights others give me, in my pride, in my despair, in my abject terror of what the world has the potential to become. And then I get one moment, just a glimmer, where I see a greater threat to us all than who you sleep with, what you lie about, and your views on hard work and socialism. In the situation I envision for that moment in time, we are all so completely past caring because the threat to us surpasses the threat we pose to one another. In that moment, I wonder if such is not the reason for great catastrophes - to give mortal men the opportunity to prove that they can, if motivated in the most vile of ways, finally see past their own agendas and help their fellow brethren even at the expense of their own comfort.

Many would argue that this perspective should promote wide-reaching tolerance of an individual's right to do whatever they wish and it harm none. Perhaps. I must return then to the Christian tenet that you cannot judge those who have not submitted to your judgement. If you didn't confess Christ and forge your personal relationship with Him, then I can't tell you how you're screwing it up BECAUSE THERE IS NO "IT" FOR YOU. Oh I believe there is an "it" even if you don't recognize it, but I can't go whipping you on "its" account. Even when you are permitted to explain to a fellow believer the error of their ways, you should be LOATHE to do it. I absolutely hate it. Why? Well, because I learned a long time ago that if I asked God for justice I'd soon find myself in the flames as well. So I don't want to tell you that you're jeopardizing your walk with God...if I do, I would really hope I'm being as unpretentious as is possible given the inherent superiority that such a situation just smacks of.

But in my mind, whether you confess it or not, you do have a relationship with God. That is the intent of your existence. And you are jeopardizing it. So how do I reconcile my conviction to save those that I can with my realization that no one saves anyone else, we only save ourselves by the Grace of God if we choose to see it? Well, enter my favorite parable: The Sower.

I may not be able to comment on your life and your choices, but I can certainly comment on my own. In this way, I have the opportunity to tell you a story about yourself, that is actually about me...because we are remarkably like creatures, humans. We tend to screw up in a fairly consistent manner.

I want to be able to say I have resolved my cognitive dissonance here, but I have not. Because whether I actively contribute to the perpetuity of the human race, I still feel an obligation to leave our successors with a decent world in which to attempt to survive. So then my dilemma is not quite so finite as what you do behind closed doors is your business and what I do there is mine...it's also our children's.

This cycle of logic feels like a nautilus shell of a rabbit hole. I don't have an answer. So I'm leaving my quandary out here for you to chew on as well.

Back after a year, Answering a Hard Question

 So it's been a while, but a recent series of exchanges with folks around me has prompted me to post here. The topic is a little out of character with the original purpose of this blog, but I needed to get this out there somewhere.

There's a relationship between some pretty controversial elements of faith and society that I feel compelled to discuss my understanding of. I'll give you a few simple words that each have a seemingly infinite level of complexity to them: God, Love, Homosexuality, Sin

Before I begin a discussion of my perception on these concepts, I want to share a set of verses that are used by some to justify a stance on homosexuality as one of THE most heinous sins a human can commit. This isn't your standard Leviticus fare where homosexuals "will surely be put to death."

Romans 1:21-32

I bring this up because it demonstrates a key misrepresentation that many Christians make: One sin is somehow better or worse than another. Let me establish a clearer understanding of sin and the scale of severity that our mortal logic-loving minds just cannot resist applying to it:

     Romans 3:23 states "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and James 2:10 states "for whoever the whole law shall keep, and shall stumble in one [point], he hath become guilty of all" - this is a frequent well to go to. I will get back to this in a minute.
     Mortal comprehension dictates that logically, telling your friend the little white lie that they look fantastic when they really do not cannot possibly be equivalent to murdering someone in cold blood.
     In John 19:11, Jesus states "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."

These three excerpts serve to represent three key elements of understanding sin:
1) According to Christian scripture, all sin leads to the same result - separation from God
2) Logic, and in fact cultural punishments for sin, indicate that man perceives sin to exist in a spectrum of severity
3) The Bible indicates that even Jesus himself recognized that there is a difference in the severity of sin

I have posted before about the caveats of reading this blog, and so I will not spend this post discussing whether there is such a thing as sin, damnation, salvation, or redemption. I have also posted before about the inequality of sin but the equal consequence of sin.

So my question to most Christians is this: Why is homosexuality such a horrible transgression that it deserves such vitriolic condemnation? I don't see churches turning away alcoholics, and gluttony is a sin. I don't see churches turning away divorcees, however, divorcees who separate for any reason other than adultery or marriage to an unbeliever and then remarry are considered to have committed the sin of adultery. Whole ministries are established in most churches for both drug abuse and marital issues - but not homosexuality.

The truth is that homosexuality results in no greater a consequence than any other sin, and most Christians know this. What is sparking such rabid responses is the feeling of losing their culture, their faith. Churches are no longer a safe haven where the world is black and white and that is a loss many Christians just cannot accept. So instead of saving their churches, they try to force their morality on the public at large.

So where do I fall on the spectrum of accepting/decrying homosexuality? I am not God and I thankfully do not have to make that judgement at all. The Bible clearly portrays homosexuality as an aspect of sinful lifestyles and condemns it in no uncertain terms...but the Bible also clearly states that a women should not instruct a man on the ways of God and I can assure you that I have done that very thing and do not consider having done it to be an affront to the Lord. So, is homosexuality a sin? I don't know that I can in good conscience determine it to be condemned or condoned by God; however, I do believe that homosexuality is unnatural because it fails to perpetuate mankind. Albinos are also unnatural because they fail to perpetuate the successful existence of prey species...but I'm not going to suggest they are all damned to hell. That analogy assumes there's a biological trigger for homosexuality, of which I remain unconvinced - however, even if there is, alcoholism is also inherited but we don't go around encouraging that lifestyle (we'll discuss whether homosexuality represents a clear danger to the individual and their loved ones in the same manner that alcoholism does some other time) I don't believe those with homosexual tendencies are abominations and deserve to be forever ridiculed. I love them, as I love any of God's creations. Unfortunately for everyone involved, many individuals with homosexual tendencies identify themselves based majoritively on their sexual orientation. I choose to identify them as any other person - someone who makes their choices and must right themselves with God over such choices. If they want my two cents on the appropriateness of their actions, I'll oblige, but I haven't met an individual with homosexual tendencies who, upon learning I am Christian, then delightedly asks me to critique their lifestyle choice - and I'm pretty thankful for that.

Super Heroes

Super heroes,  every culture has some. The bible has some too. Sure, you know about Samson, and David, and Solomon (who I always sort of think of as Dr. Xavier from X-men), but there are others, men, just men like you or I, who did extraordinary things.

Check out 2 Samuel, Chapter 23 - David's Mighty Warriors

⁸ These are the names of David’s mighty warriors:    Josheb-Basshebeth,^[a] a Tahkemonite,^[b] was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed^[c] in one encounter.
 ⁹ Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty warriors, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim^[d] for battle. Then the Israelites retreated, ¹⁰ but Eleazar stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead.
 ¹¹ Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. ¹² But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the LORD brought about a great victory. ¹³ During harvest time, three of the thirty chief warriors came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. ¹⁵ David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁶ So the three mighty warriors broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD. ¹⁷ “Far be it from me, LORD, to do this!” he said. “Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?” And David would not drink it. ¹⁸ Abishai the brother of Joab son of Zeruiah was chief of the Three.^[e] He raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed, and so he became as famous as the Three. ¹⁹ Was he not held in greater honor than the Three? He became their commander, even though he was not included among them.  ²⁰ Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. ²¹ And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. ²² Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty warriors. ²³ He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

     Okay, so that was a longer excerpt than normal, so sue me. But read it. I mean, these are men who, in their day, performed acts of such heroism that their names are still spoken millenniums after they perished. Did they really even think that thousands of years later their feats would still be recorded and read aloud as part of God's holy Word? So what did it take to be a hero then, in those times? It took courage, and dedication, and faith.  
     We have our own armies to fight against, our own battles to wage in a war that is never ceasing. Whether it is the fight to keep your mouth shut, to not belittle someone in your mind, to continue to persevere and have faith that things will get better, or to surrender to an uncertain Will - it all takes the same qualities that were admired so long ago:

• The courage to do what must be done, even if it is difficult, you don't necessarily want to do it, or it's down right terrifying
• The dedication to pursue and perfect the character and heart and mind that God desires for us to have so that when we are engaged in battle, we are well-prepared and adequately equipped to meet the adversity before us
• The faith to believe, to know, that the task we have set ourselves to completing is achievable and is the best use of our knowledge, strength, and passion

      I must confess that most days, I fall woefully short of being anything close to a hero...the three traits listed above are often far beyond me, and much of that is on account of my own failure to make the time to immerse myself in God. You hear it all the time, you give it lip service, but I dare any of you to read, really read, the Word, for just 10 minutes a night and to have a discussion with God about what you've read - even if it consists of you questioning God about the nature of what you just read; you will find, I absolutely guarantee it, that you think a little more before you react, that you breathe a little deeper and you let go a little easier. Miracles aren't always headline news, sometimes just taking a breath without cussing in traffic or smiling at work while your efforts are being "improved upon" takes every last drop of miraculous you can allow God to siphon through you.

Here's to a miraculous tomorrow, because today was pretty well eat up with mortal frailty and pettiness.

God Noticed You

¹³ Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.
 ¹⁴ Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

 Matthew, Chapter 19

As humans, we all seek that spark of connection, that moment when we feel like someone, or some entity in the case of God, stops addressing the masses and addresses just us, individually. For me, that moment came when, as a child, I understood Jesus to admonish adults for pushing children aside as a nuisance and raised them up as loved and cherished. I didn't realize that the believing nature of a child was also what was being praised, not at that age, but I did connect to a God - for the first time my God - saying I was important and He wanted to see me and love me and know me.

I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to explain to nonbelievers (and sometimes believers also) that God does not want you to just be a good person and do nice things. That's not actually why God created you. That would be like mortal parents saying "I want to have a child so that I can make sure it does all the things I ask it to do and so I can lord over it." That's not why humans have children and that isn't why God created you. Humans have children because they want to meet the new, completely unique creature that they can create from themselves and, hopefully, from the love they share with another. Guess what? God pretty much did the same thing. God wants to have a RELATIONSHIP with you. He wants to get to know you and all the little weird quirks that make you so special and unique.

But, you say: "God is omniscient so He knows everything; that means He already knows all about me." Okay, this is the down and dirty version of my reconciliation of God's being omniscient with humans having free will - God is like the author of a huge, pretty much infinite, choose your path book. For each human life, He knows all the possible outcomes of every choice you could possibly make (that's giving Him a LOT of credit because that's a degree of possibilities I can't even fathom); what He DOESN'T KNOW is which choice you will choose because you have the free will to select whatever option you want. He may know what will happen either way, but He doesn't know which way you will decide to go. So yeah, God really wants to know you and experience the wonder of watching your story unfold. 

That, ladies and gentleman, is why I love talking to God. Every day, about any thing, all the time; He is my FRIEND, and my comforter, and my father, and my salvation. When not another soul of the face of the earth knows you, want's to know you, or can know you, God does, wants to, and can. Some folks will tell you that you shouldn't "waste God's time" praying about little things, I say that prayer is how you communicate with God and you should communicate with Him as much as you can and rejoice that you have been granted the grace to do so.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Ephesians, Chapter 6

But Murder is Totally Worse than Lying

"All sin is equal in the eyes of the Lord." - Sound familiar? Sure it does. But it isn't actually in the Bible anywhere. The philosophy is likely derived from Romans 3: 10-12

⁹ What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. ¹⁰ As it is written:    “There is no one righteous, not even one;
 ¹¹ there is no one who understands;
   there is no one who seeks God.
¹² All have turned away,
   they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
   not even one.”^{[See also: Psalms 14:1-3, 53:1-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20]}

 So, is all sin equal in the eyes of the Lord? Well, maybe but maybe not. There are various places in the Bible where one type of sin is compared to another and one is eventually determined to be "worse" than the other. As humans, we tend to inherit or develop our own scale of egregiousness. Some believe that while sinful action is deplorable, the sin can be mitigated or exacerbated by the intentions behind it. Hebrews 4:12 states "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews doesn't say, "it judges the actions." This allows for repentance to lead one to redemption, because while you cannot take back the act, you can take back the intention behind it.

The truer philosophy, in my humble opinion, behind Romans 3:10-12 isn't that all sins are equal, it is that the result is still the same regardless of the sin: it separates you from God. What is sin? Well, we could all rail off a pretty long list of actions that constitute sin in our estimation. But the definition of sin is NOT a list of rules that, if broken, create this thing called sin out of thin air. Sin is actually pretty simple to define and pretty complex to apply: Sin is anything, thought, emotion, intention, or act, that separates you from the Will of God. Note I said WILL, not LOVE. Romans 8:38-39 states "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[nor heavenly rulers] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (By the way, you ever wanna discuss whether I believe in the existence of powers beyond the mortal but not of God, read this passage first, it pretty well sums it up for me)

So, while lying to spare someone's feelings is probably less egregious than running them down with your car, in the end, you still put distance between you and God...and when it comes down to being a fulfilled entity, ANY distance between you and the eternal Creator of everything, is too much distance and, if you subscribe to judgement, which I do, one step or one mile, you still can't reach to the other side if you aren't standing in the grace of God.

Hey! No Fair!

Who invented the "line"? Who decided there should be an ordered manner of approach applied to a mob of people all seeking the same thing? Whoever it was, they are both a boon and a burden to us all. So, what do you do when someone "cuts" in line in front of you? How do you feel about the person who gets in line and then "holds the place" so that their friend, or friends, can then come get in line alongside them? Feel a little cheated? Slighted? Of course you do.

Humans have an innate sense of what is "fair." What mechanism of our creation prompts us to know what is fair and what isn't is beyond me. I'm certain that there are psychological reasons and theories positing why we know what is fair and what isn't...I just don't know them, and what's more, with or without social norms and a cultural bias, I still think a human being would know what was fair and what wasn't. We often measure what is fair by what we ourselves have endured to attain the same thing another person is seeking. If we've waited for hours to get in to purchase a new computer, then other people who got there before us, and have therefore waited longer, deserve to have access before us while those who arrived later than us and have therefore waited less time deserve to have access after us.

Here's the hard part: as Christians, we are asked to enforce not what is "fair" but what is merciful and charitable and generous of spirit. Ouch, that hurts, huh? But God is a just God you say, surely He understands the tenet of fairness and would not hold it against us for wanting only what is fair and what is due us on account of our efforts. Well, you should really hope you're wrong and that, in addition to being a just God, He is also, and more often, a merciful and generous God.

You know that guy that you're pissed off at for getting to merge ahead of you in traffic because he rode up the right turn lane and then cut over? You're usually hoping that he gets a ticket or gets stuck behind a slow-driving semi or something, right? Well, think back to when you ran a stop sign or a red light because you were distracted and thinking about something else. What about the time you didn't see that other driver and you changed lanes cutting them off? How about the time you inched up close to the car in front of you so that you wouldn't have to let in the guy trying to "cut in line" in front of you...but then when the guy behind you lets them in, you realize they weren't trying to cut in line at all and really only wanted to get into the turn lane; sort of feel like a jerk now, huh?

Here's the thing: if you were  held accountable for all the jerk moves you've made, intentionally or unintentionally, you'd be just as screwed as the guy you think deserves to be "punished." When you realize that you are just as much in need of mercy as the other guy, it becomes easier for you to let things go, show forgiveness and generosity, and feel like you're actually making a positive impact on your world...which is really what you should be striving to achieve as a Christian, not making a "fair" world.

The Mind of God (Warning: REALLY long one)

25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way[or: and so] all Israel will be saved. As it is written:

“The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this is[or: will be] my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”[Isaiah 59:20,21; 27:9 (see Septuagint); Jeremiah 31:33,34]

28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now[some manuscripts do not have now] receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

 Romans - Chapter 11:Verses 25-32

First let me say that Romans is one of my favorite books of the Bible. Second, let me emphasize my love of this book by qualifying it with the statement that I struggle very much with Paul's contributions to the new testament and still I love this book...but that is a blog for another day.

So, on my own advice from the previous blog, I decided to select a passage about acceptance and then try to understand God's intent as set forth by that passage.

In my younger years, I struggled greatly with the idea that a person's blood could make God "love them more" as the "chosen" people. While you could convert to the religion, you couldn't become one of the chosen blood...but, if you were lucky, your children might be able to. Let's also state, for the record, that such a perspective was NOT set forth by God, but rather by the patriarchs of the Israelites; for God, all mortal blood is equal, but the intentions of the heart through which such blood flows, those could set you apart in the eyes of God (another topic for another blog).

According to this passage, God allowed, even "bound [us] over to," become disobedient, "so that He may have mercy on [us] all." So wait, let me get this straight: God allowed, even caused, mankind to become disobedient to His will in order that it should be made apparent to all mankind that we need God's mercy. Well, yeah, actually, that's about it - at least according to Paul. Did I mention that God's nature can become complex the more you try to examine and explain it?

Paul's passage here assumes a few things that, as readers, if you do not also assume, or do not qualify under, then this passage won't apply to you or won't seem logical.
1) The reader understands that there is one true God and that to refuse/disobey His will is to sin
2) We as humans, creations of God, require His mercy and forgiveness of our disobedience in order to be able to draw near to Him
3) Drawing near to God is the purpose of our existence

If you can accept the above premises, then Paul's explanation seems logical. In order to realize how much God loves us, He had to allow us to arrive at a place where we could not fulfill our purpose for existing without the aid of His love. It's sort of like the dating catch 22: you wouldn't know a good guy when you meet him unless you've known a few really awful guys first.

More than explaining those premises and Paul's logic though, if we are to believe Paul's explanation to come even remotely close to the truth, what I would like to focus on is the possibility that the rebellion of mortals is actually a part of the master plan. For whatever reason, humans learn best through misery, tragedy, and suffering. (You think I'm wrong? Look at history or any other socio-religious philosophy. There's a reason initiation into schools of knowledge was/is often accompanied by physical rigors - again, another topic for another blog)

So, did God risk the souls of the rebellious to save the souls of the more timidly doubtful? I don't know. I have no idea why God set up our world and our faith the way He did, or why they have both arrived at their somewhat lamentable states. As a Christian, the single most difficult tenant of my faith is the idea that those who refuse the mercy offered by God through Jesus Christ will perish eternally and never fulfill their purpose for existing: to draw near to God. In the same book that holds this agonizing tenant, I find some semblance of relief:

1) I am not seated at the right hand of God in pure, irreproachable victory...I am therefore (thank God above) never going to be called to judge the soul of another creature. For some who call themselves Christians, the idea that they have been given permission, or have even been tasked, to proclaim the judgment of God against the actions of others, is as natural as breathing; completely obvious. I don't know, maybe I am supposed to warn people against acting on sinful motivations or turning away from God...maybe I'm failing as a Christian because I don't share that most important warning with others...but, I just, I can't believe that I truly know the will of God for another person (geez, isn't it difficult enough to figure out what the will of God is for just me?)

2) God obviously loves all humans, Israelite or not. Our faith posits the stories and trials and triumphs that depict all the ways God has tried to show His love for us. And the above passage does state "so that he may have mercy on them all." But you know, love, in order to be true love, must be returned, and returned freely and happily.

3) Those who find themselves rebelling against God, whether by their own choice or because God "prompted" them to rebel and they failed to recognize their rebellion and seek a way out of it, don't actually care whether they draw closer to God as we know Him as Christians (we will discuss those who never have the opportunity to know about God and Christ in yet another blog post - this is a VERY misunderstood aspect of Christianity). Most non-Christians I have discussed the idea of redemption and damnation with simply don't care whether they are "damned" or if they ever draw closer to the Christian God. They are aware of the Christian faith, they are aware of the God who is at the heart of that faith, they have, in most cases, been asked at some point to embrace our faith and our God...but they made a conscious decision to reject both. While the consequences of that decision may be known or unknown, they were weighed in that person's consideration before choosing to ignore them. And I have to respect that choice. Whether it causes me anguish as a Christian or not, it simply is not my place to dissuade them through cajoling or fear-mongering or empty promises. I can, however, express my contentment with my life, my faith, and my God and offer the opportunity to find out more about any of those to someone who may, one day, wake up in their rebellion and turn to seek God.

One final note about judgment and understanding what is sin: accepting and loving the PERSON, doesn't mean I ignore or accept their ACTIONS; I can love another and still not approve of their choices - in so far as that person doesn't define themselves by their actions, this is a working theory for both parties. But I wasn't told to judge the actions of an unbeliever, I was told to love all men and to chastise my brothers and sisters in the faith when necessary...if they aren't within the faith, I may make them aware of how my faith views their actions, but I cannot, in good conscience, chastise someone who didn't consent to the Christian family values.