Little Black Lives Matter Too

Let's play a very disturbing game of fill in the blank.

Blacks make up only 13% of the population in America but account for 37% of _____.

If you guessed people shot by the police, you're wrong.

Late last year, Bill O'Reilly said that in 2012 (which was the most recent years for which statistics were available), 123 blacks were shot and killed by police, compared to 326 whites that same year.  As I mentioned, blacks make up 13% of the population.  Whites account for about 63% of the population.  So, if 123 blacks were shot and killed and the same percentage of whites were shot and killed, we would expect 596 whites to be killed.  But that wasn't the case.  Simple math will tell you that 326 is about 55% of 596, meaning that black people are roughly twice as likely to be killed by police than white people.  There are plenty of points to debate here, but let's at least agree that this sounds like a problem, and that's a large part of why the #blacklivesmatter movement is happening.

But what if Michael Brown's mother decided to kill him while he was still in the womb?  Would he matter then?  It matters to God, and it should matter to us.  The answer to the fill-in-the-blank I started with is ABORTIONS.  The black lives taken by police all matter, and it's sad that some still need to be reminded of that, but when we talk about abortion, we are talking about HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of black lives.  When, exactly, does a life start to matter, notably when a particular race is being killed at a higher rate than other races?

Unborn black babies are five times more likely to be aborted than unborn white babies.

Eighty percent of Planned Parenthood's abortion clinics are located in minority neighborhoods.

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE ABOUT THAT?

(The statistics and the graphic are from http://www.operationrescue.org/about-abortion/abortions-in-america by the way.)

I am all for women's rights, and I am all for birth control, but I am all against abortion, which I do not classify as either.  To put it nicely, abortion is the extinguishing of innocent lives.  There's a reason so many people don't want to watch those videos that recently came out that show Planned Parenthood selling the organs of aborted babies.  Yes, of course they were edited, although the unedited versions were also posted.  I haven't watched the unedited versions, because they are hours long, but I have watched several of the shorter videos that were released.  To borrow a phrase from Krusty the Clown to describe those videos, they would make Santa Claus himself vomit with rage.

If you don't think aborting a fetus is killing a life, please watch those videos.  Or watch a video of an abortion itself.  Or look at some pictures of aborted babies.  Are you disgusted yet?  If not, there is something wrong with you.

How is it that it's illegal in this country to destroy eggs of certain animal species, but it is legal to kill unborn babies?  How is it that there is such a racial disparity in abortions, yet there are no protests over that?  How is it that our government is still funding Planned Parenthood?

I agree with sex education.  Kids need to be taught about safe sex before they start having sex.  Abstinence-only education doesn't work.  Sorry, Sarah Palin.  Your daughter is a grown-up now, so I can say this very bluntly.  She is proof that you are wrong.  She's proved it twice now.  Hey, abstinence is the best way to not have an unplanned pregnancy or get an STD, but let's face it, the vast majority of people in this country, regardless of religion or race or anything else, are going to have sex outside of marriage.  Thus, they must be taught about other forms of birth control before they get to the point where Planned Parenthood is brainwashing them by putting abortion under the label of birth control.  Condoms and other methods of birth control are great.  The morning after pill is not great, but should probably be available as the last-ditch effort of birth control.  Once that zygote becomes an embryo, and even more so, once that embryo becomes a fetus, that is undoubtedly a life.

Sure, some may argue about when the exact point is when life begins.  Is it at the moment of conception?  Is it when the zygote becomes an embryo?  Whatever the right answer to that is, I can tell you that when organs can be harvested, it is a life.  When it can feel pain, it is a life.  When it is ACTUALLY BORN ALIVE AND LEFT TO DIE, it is a life.  How in the world is it defensible to kill a baby that has its organs formed and can feel pain?  WAKE UP, AMERICA!  It's not "tissue."  It's a baby.  It's a life.  This is pure evil.

I don't blame the mothers as much as I blame Planned Parenthood and those who allowed abortion to become and remain legal.  That's not to say that the mothers are blameless, but we need to show them love and respect in a time when they are obviously making a very difficult and emotional decision.  We can't have people, many who call themselves Christians, yelling at them as they go into abortion clinics that they are whores or murderers or whatever else.  We need to show them love.  We need to show them that there are better ways than abortion.  And we need to change the culture in America to stop hundreds of thousands of unborn babies from being killed every year.  God loves these mothers.  God loves the babies living inside of them.  Aborted babies may never have names here on earth, but God has a name and a place for them in His kingdom.

Jesus Loves Gays

If it were entirely up to me, I would have made a compromise years ago, wherein abortion became illegal and gay marriage became legal in America.  Obviously, that is an unrealistic scenario, but if that hypotehtical opportunity did present itself, it would be irresponsible to not stop millions of murders in exchange for... well...  nothing really.  Something that probably should be legal anyway.  Think about it. 

Why is it that so many people are so upset that gay marriage is now legal on a Federal level?  If you ask a Liberal, it's because Republicans are homophobic, and probably Christians too.  If you ask a Conservative, it's because marriage has now been redefined and homosexuality is a sin.  If you ask me, it's because too many people have misguided knee-jerk reactions to things.  Whether or not you agree that with the SCOTUS ruling, our country was headed in that direction one way or another.  The SCOTUS problems are another issue altogether, especially when we all knew exactly how eight of the nine Justices would vote "along party lines."  But as far as the ruling itself, I don't disagree with it.  Is getting a homosexual marriage a sin according to the Bible?  Yes.  So should it be legal?  Also yes.  Wait, what?

We have a wonderful thing in this country called separation of church and state.  Just because Christians or various sects of Christians believe that something is wrong definitely does not mean that it should be illegal.  For example, getting drunk is a sin according to the Bible (although merely drinking alcohol clearly is not), but should it therefore be illegal to get drunk?  Sex outside of marriage and all "fornication" is also a sin according to the Bible.  So where's the outrage that we're not prosecuting that sin?  We really don't know exactly how many people in the U.S. are gay, but many estimates put it around 4%, so let's say it's probably somewhere close to that, but it's almost certainly more than 3%.  And how many people wait until marriage to have sex?  That number is around 3%.  That's right.  That means around 97% of people here in the United States don't wait until marriage to have sex.  So, presumably, 97% of the people who are standing up against gay marriage on Biblical grounds have themselves sinned by having sex with someone to whom they were not married.  Oh, don't forget the part in the Bible where Jesus says that if you lust after someone, you're also guilty of a sexual sin.  So yeah, that number is more like 100% of people committing sexual sins according to the Bible.

So now do you see why people think that the Westboro Hate Group speaks for all Christians when they say that God hates "fags"?  Now do you see why people have a distorted view of the Jesus in the Bible?  Do you see why Christians are often called hypocrites?  Can anyone who has truly read the Bible honestly picture Jesus walking on earth telling people that they're going to hell because they're faggots?  People don't go to hell because of their sexual orientation.  They go to hell if they reject Christ.  Jesus broke bread with prostitutes, tax collectors, and others who were looked down upon by society.  Surely he would have no problem dining with homosexuals.  Jesus loves gays, just like he loves everyone else.

I think it's the word "marriage" that makes people uncomfortable when it's used to describe the union of two gay people.  I've thought for years that, as far as the government was concerned, anyone gay or straight could be in a civil union, and that marriages should only be performed in churches.  But it doesn't really matter what you call it.  There is no sanctity in marriage for our country overall, and it's not because gay marriage is legal now.  It's because half of marriages end in divorce, and that number is pretty much the same for non-Christians as it is for Christians.  Not allowing gays to get married isn't going to stop them from being gay, so what exactly would we be trying to stop?  Do we think it's right to deny them the same benefits as a man and woman who are married to each other?  Like, should we stop them from visiting each other in the hospital and stuff?  How terrible would that be?  I think most people would agree that we should not do that, and that they should enjoy equal rights, but many stop short at the word marriage.  Well, believe it or not, you can be against something and still think it should be legal.  I'm not going to celebrate that people are getting gay marriages, but I'm certainly not going to rally against it either.  In the SCOTUS ruling, it is specifically noted that church officials do not have to perform gay marriages (in many churches, including my own, the Pastor doesn't have to perform any marriage that he doesn't want to, and that's how it should be).  If the time ever comes when that is challenged, then we are in BIG trouble as a nation.  And it's for the same reason that I don't have a problem with gay marriage being legal in the first place.  Separation of church and state.  It goes both ways.  (No pun intended.)

...Turning the White House into a gigantic rainbow flag though?  That's irreponsible for the same reason that having a Confederate Flag at a state Capitol building is wrong.  To many people, the Conferederate Flag represents slavery and racism, although to many others, it has an entirely different meaning.  To many people, the rainbow flag represents equal rights for gays, but to others, the gay pride flag represents sin or whatever they believe constitutes the "homosexual agenda."  If a person wants to display either flag, that's a right protected by the constitution.  But the government should not display either of these flags.  It's all a big misunderstanding anyway.  The Confederate Flag didn't start out as something that represented slavery or white supremacy, but it became a symbol for that.  And the rainbow on the gay pride flag?  God originally created the rainbow as a sign of his promise that he would never again destroy all life by flooding the entire earth.  Go figure.

My Blog REBOOT!

Our world is in peril.  Gaia, the spirit of Earth, can no longer stand the terrible destruction plaguing our planet.  She gives five magic rings to--Oh, sorry, that's the wrong subject entirely.  That's the Captain Planet intro.  Who remembers the 90s?  Someone needs to reboot that.  Anyone with me?  No?  Is it the because of the cheesy humor or the terrible plots toward the end of the show's run?  Hopefully it's not the cheesy humor, because you'll find a lot of that here too.  Heck, I can write the screenplay to this thing.  How about it?  Should it be cartoon or live action?  Oh, and Wheeler finally gets to hook up with Linka.  Totally.

Alright, on to more real things.  Gaia is, of course, a fictional character.  God, however, is not, no matter how many people think so, or at least say they do.  I've found that there are many more agnostics than atheists though.  But enough about you.  Let's talk about me.  I'm a Christian.  I believe in God, and I am saved by Jesus Christ.  Please don't confuse me with the folks from Westboro Baptist Church.  I'm not sure what Jesus they serve, but it's not the one I know and love.  You know, the Jesus of the Bible.  The one who's all about love.  Yeah.  I'm not perfect by any means, but it's pretty clear that God does not hate "fags" as they so love to say.  In fact, quite the opposite is true.  The Bible is crystal clear on that.  God loves homosexuals, heterosexuals, bisexuals--everyone, in fact.  He loves us so much that he sent Jesus into the world to die for our sins.  And if you believe in Jesus and ask him into your heart--and you truly mean it--you will be saved and spend eternity with God.

Now that the most important thing has been said, I would like to make a disclaimer here.  I am a Christian, and I am a thinking person.  I'm not one of those mindless Christians who accepts everything because a Pastor says it's true.  You shouldn't be either.  Because what if it's wrong?  Things that people say need to be evaluated in light of the scriptures and reality.  I'm writing this blog to share my opinions, and I welcome dialogue.  I'm sure that everyone reading this will disagree with me on something, or be offended by something I say.  And you know what, some of my opinions are probably wrong.  That's what dialogue is for.  Maybe my opinions will change, and maybe they won't, but they certainly won't change if the dialogue simply consists of someone commenting that I am an idiot who is going to hell.  That is not constructive, and it just shows your own stupidity.  So feel free to comment.  Feel free to agree or disagree with anything I say.

I have some pretty unique ideas to offer.  I agree with Ben Carson on some things, and Bernie Sanders on others (Yes, I'm aware that one is a Conservative and the other is a Socialist), but mostly I just wish the 2000 version of John McCain had become President.  Joe Lieberman should have been the VP on his ticket in 2008.  I'm more liberal than most people at my church, and more conservative than most people at my alma mater (Wesleyan University).  So yes, I have some unique perspectives, and with all the crazy stuff going on right now, it's a good time for me to start blogging again.