Oh yes, I am going there. Praise God and Happy Gay Pride!

Every last weekend of June in our state,  many of us Minnesotan's flock to Loring Park and celebrate community and pride (for a lack of a better word). The GLBT folk and their friends flood the streets with smiling painted faces, noise makers, flamboyant attention getting attire, and a hunger for a warm welcome.

This year I am contemplating the inevitable vote on our ballet to ban or not to ban gay marriage in the Minnesota constitution. Let me just say first and foremost.

I realllllly want to marry my girlfriend. Really, really bad. Okay moving on.

Whenever I am thinking about prejudice and homosexuality I am immediately brought to my religious roots. I was raised in a very powerful, very uplifting church. I have a great relationship with Christ. I don't have a good way to explain it to naysayers. I just do. And lucky for me, God gives me that option. Paves the way in fact with poetry, promises, and scripture. All in this little black book that somehow is commonly used to condemn me. Weird that I can take such comfort in text that is used to lock so many doors to the pearly gates.

On my little mental journey to understanding true faith I am always brought back to the stories of the Pharisees. Why is it that when the biblical texts that are the weapons of categorizing homosexuality as wrong, this story never comes up? Maybe there are not enough gay bible believers with the knowledge and know how to circumvent a hypocrite when they see one.

Well... I can.

I wont even "explain the translation as I see it." I am going to let you read it and decide for yourself where you really stand in the eyes of God.

Bring on the scoldings of Jesus Christ.

Just to avoid the argument that I am picking any text I want to provide insight, lets be clear that Matthew was a storyteller and this is the 15th chapter of his telling of Jesus' visit. Right before this he was mourning the  death of his devoted friend John the Baptist and came upon a multitude of people starving and needing healing. He put his selfish sadness aside, and out came the legend of the loaves and fishes. When they returned to shore after Jesus taught the disciples a fun lesson in faith and drowning this is what happened. There now you have the full story so enjoy. It's a beautiful explanation of truth.

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” (Ghastly shock for mothers everywhere!)
³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^{[b] 5} But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: (Was that just Jesus and Isaiah gossiping???)

⁸ “‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
⁹ They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules. ’^[c] ” "( Wait you mean we humans don't have to capacity to understand every little detail about God's word??? Prove it. Oh wait... you just did.)

¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” (Resist, all you pervs!! I had to!!)

¹² Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them; they are blind guides.^[d] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
¹⁶ “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. ¹⁷ “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

And please get specific on the mention of "sexual immorality". Let's dive in. Cause I am walking on water with Jesus. I aint scurrred.

Let's start with Webster since we obviously trust him for definitions. (For the sake of controversy let's remember that Webster was a human too.)

Noun

1.

immorality - the quality of not being in accord with standards of right or good conduct.

Noun 1. conduct - the manner in which a person behaves; behavior

Sounds like immorality is not from an honest heart.

And now were are back to square one with what is right and good, black and white, pure versus evil. And the standards on which human's hold other humans.

By now you should have a good idea of what I am trying to enlighten with. If not.... 

In the words of Jesus," Are you still so dull?"

I realize the hypocrisy of my trying to educate someone else, on the fallible beliefs I think they have.

I never said I was perfect. I am a sinner. I just really want to marry my girlfriend.

 This one is located somewhere else so I didn't include it. But isn't it a goodie!?

Matthew 23 (The whole chapter is like this)
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.