Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin

"Love the sinner & hate the sin" - I saw this discussion on a Facebook Friend's news feed this morning. I didn't get involved as the discussion assumed a Christian, or at least biblical, premise and orientation and I didn't want to disrupt the flow.

The saying can apply to many things, but it often refers to homosexuality, although it can also refer to many other things, including practicing a religion other than Christianity (or no religion at all). The one making the statement usually means that while hating the "sin" (behavior prohibited or proscribed in one's holy book) they hold out hope that the person will cease and desist from practicing their "sin" and come around to "The God Side". So how long do we give the "sinners"  to change their ways? Do they continue to be loved for the rest of their lives regardless of their behavior? What if they refuse to even consider changing their behavior and reject the premise that their behavior is sinful? My contention is that this alleged "love" is 100% contingent on the perceived possibility of change.

To be fair, if someone holds an opinion, rightly or wrongly, that a behavior is harmful, it is perfectly consistent that they attempt to discourage those who engage in that behavior from continuing in it. In fact in is reasonable, rational and logical to try to influence a person to change in these circumstances.

But just because an action is logical or consistent does not make the action right. An action or an opinion is logical when it flows naturally from a premise. The premise in this case is that the bible states that homosexuality is a sin; that premise is further based on an earlier premise that "God" wrote or inspired the bible and that said "God" is infallible, perfect, omniscient and all-powerful. The opinion that there is an infallible, perfect, omniscient and all-powerful being is far from universal or and certainly not objectively demonstrable; even assuming such a being exists, it is far from universally accepted that this being wrote or commissioned the bible or that the bible accurately describes this being's attributes - and even among people who believe the first of these two premises, there is much honest disagreement over what this book means.

So, now to the practical application:

For those of us who do not share the opinions held by those who base their ethics and morality upon a certain interpretation of the bible, the whole "love the sinner, hate the sin" thing is judgmental, short-sighted and yes - hateful. While what you may mean is that you love us so much that you want us to enjoy the great bliss that comes from following the rules set down by those claiming to speak for your god, what we hear is that you think that our choices in life, our opinions, our selves are inferior to yours in any meaningful way, that the only way that we can truly live is to completely change who we are and that while you look down your noses at us, we should give you credit for good intentions.

"Love the Christian, hate Christianity" - doesn't sound so good, does it?

Freakin' Politics

In some ways, politics is important. Once in a while there is a specific issue that divides the two sides and makes choices very clear. More often than not, however, it makes little difference to how we all live our everyday lives. Hell, zoning decisions by a local planning board whose names we can seldom can remember have more effect on our day-to-day existence than decisions made by Congress and the President. naturally there are exceptions. We went to war under our last President under a dubious rationale, but considering that most of Congress was on board with the decision, it's difficult to claim that a President from the other party wouldn't have led us into these senseless conflicts too.

Our current contest for the office of President is full of urgent calls to defeat the other guy, portraying one as an America-hating Communist and the other as a heartless bottom-liner who hates Americans. Both are painted as being out of touch with regular Americans. I hear and read horror stories every day about how President Obama is going to take away our guns, kill the railroads by outlawing coal, and institute Shariah law. Just as often I hear about how Romney is going to ship all our jobs overseas and make us all wear Mormon underpants. In three and a half years, Obama hasn't even tried to do many of the "socialist" things that he supposedly wants to do, let alone succeed due to Republican obstructionism. Why should I believe that following a second Obama inauguration he will suddenly reveal  his true colors and turn us into a Communist-Muslim state? Conversely, why would I think that Romney would be able to implement all the horrible things that he is accused of?

That all being said, I plan on voting for Obama in November. I think that overall, the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act is good for the country and good for me and my family specifically. I like how he has gradually extricated us from Iraq and how he is getting us out of Afghanistan. I support his recent action to help young undocumented immigrants. I don't think that he was aggressive enough battling the effects of the recession (even while acknowledging that he inherited a mess) and that he severely underestimated how tough the job of President is and the extent of right-wing Republican opposition. His opponents mobilized much of the country against him with appeals to emotion, in particular fear.

Romney on the other hand seems to say whatever he needs to say to get elected. In the early days of the primaries I thought he was relatively sane; a middle-of-the-road, moderate Republican who would be somewhat harmless as President. And probably if elected he will be. I doubt all of the evil attributed to him would in reality come to pass. But honestly, I just can't bring myself to vote for a Republican after four years of hatred, four years of misinformation, four years of obstructionism. Even if Romney isn't as right-wing as his campaign rhetoric suggests, he is willing to pander to that segment of the population. And that's just not the kind of man that I can vote for.