http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/25873.html by Mike Ghouse Hate sermons from the Pulpit It is our duty to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen. Hate is one of the many sources of disrupting the peace in a society and it is our duty to track down the source of such hate and work on mitigating it. We have an obligation to maintain a balance in the society We lose that balance and that elusive equilibrium if we let hate mongers, hate sermons and hate lectures creep in our societies. The Muslims are making serious efforts to prevent radical preachers from making any speeches in their communities and their Mosques. I am sure some one slips by here and there, but the vigil is there and the guard is on. Islam is about bringing a balance to the society, and American Muslims are vigorously fighting to prevent the Mosque pulpit to ever go into the hands of hate generators. The business side of faith has thrived on ridiculing others faiths and manufacturing a devil out of thin air. There is a misplaced spirituality in operation; our faith is the best, because others aren’t. Wow, what logic! It is the human weakness that allows the propagation of hate, and we shamelessly abuse our holy texts to justify human killing and destruction of the world be it Armageddon, Jihad, Promised land or some such notion to satisfy one’s disruptive mindset. Whether it happens in Church, Mosque, Temple, Synagogue or any place of worship, the silent majority puts up with it and does not speak out. We go to the place of worship to rid ourselves of our sins – the elements of ill-will, malice, hate, anger and other entrapments. The pulpit has become a loading dock for malice and incitement to look down upon others who hold a different view. It is in our interest and the interest of public safety that the sermons delivered at places of worship fill our hearts with love, generosity and goodwill and build bridges for a safe and peaceful nation. What if we make our speeches in the place of worship a public record? To keep peace, law and order in our country, we need to consider hate speech as a crime. The speech that would permanently place wedges between our communities injects distrust and destroys the concept of one nation under God.
One question: How do you define "hate speech"? Some groups, when they hear the Holy Bible being quoted, would consider it a "hate speech" because of the fact that it convicts them. Because they feel that it's wrong for anyone to mention words that might lead them to change their way of living. You have to be careful with things like that. Read 1 Corinthians 6:9 and then tell me it wouldn't be considered a "hateful sermon preached from the altar" to those affected by those two verses.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarinJohn @ Jul 5 2007, 05:16 PM) [snapback]473667[/snapback]</div> Okay, but I get to define it. I think I'll start with your posting. Tom
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ozyran @ Jul 5 2007, 08:45 PM) [snapback]473772[/snapback]</div> And that's why I left my church. The Sunday after the pastor received his permanent contract I was subjected to a hate sermon against homosexuals and women who have children out of wedlock. The following day I called the church office, had my name removed from the church directory and told them never to call me again. I'm not gay. I don't have any children. But I'll be damned if I'm going to go to church and hear hate from the pulpit and watch the congregation silently nod in agreement.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ozyran @ Jul 5 2007, 06:45 PM) [snapback]473772[/snapback]</div> So, I wonder if the fine, upstanding, church-going (during election times or to make political points) Bill Clinton would consider that hate speech? :huh: According to that list, he should be heading towards hell for several categorical transgressions . . . but of course, along the way, while standing at the Pearly Gates, he can argue what the meaning of "IS" is. :lol: Nice example there Bill . . . teach all the school aged children that the President of the United States says oral sex is not sex. :blink:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Jul 5 2007, 11:02 PM) [snapback]473821[/snapback]</div> Newt Gingrich and Rudy Guiliani can keep him company.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 5 2007, 09:14 PM) [snapback]473825[/snapback]</div> Did they also teach school children that oral sex isn't sex? Hummmm, somehow I missed that. Besides, I said, "several categorical transgressions."
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Jul 6 2007, 12:53 AM) [snapback]473863[/snapback]</div> You'll just grasp at any straw won't you. Newt and Rudy commited Adultery. With real fornication. Numerous times. In fact Newt was commiting adultery while he was trying to pillory Clinton. Hypocrite with a capital H. Rudy is so much mysogynist slime. I'm sure he'll dump this current wife by text message when he finds another hottie.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 5 2007, 07:38 PM) [snapback]473789[/snapback]</div> Last week my Pastor spoke out about the “evils†of a non-vegetarian diet, smoking and alcohol. Is that considered “Hate Speech� How about speaking out against the NAMBLA organization or against Partial Birth Abortions? Is that Hate speech? Just because I speak out against something I don't agree with why is it considered "Hate Speech"? I don't understand this sudden need of the Far Left to control what people say. How about this speech, isn't advocating the killing and genocide of innocent people "Hate Speech"? Shouldn't this guy be labeled a Hate Monger and censored? One other thing just exactly what serious efforts are the Muslims making to prevent hate speech? Enquiring minds would like to know. . . Wildkow
If you want a great example of what happens when government regulates religion and spirituality, visit China. Anyone who does not attend a government-sanctioned church or house of worship is subject to jail, fines, and even the death penalty in some cases. And honestly, I'm all for a preacher who's willing to touch on the touchy issues from the pulpit. Isn't that what Jesus Christ himself did? Didn't Christ himself preach on unpopular subjects from the pulpit? Is that what mainstream worship should be? A watered down, powerless version of the truth? I tell you the truth, to obscure truths laid out in the Bible is to act deceptively on behalf of God. And that's not right. I can understand your anger when someone is made out to be unforgiven for something like this. Christ is all about forgiveness. However, I hope you don't mean that we should just bow down to rampant sin within the congregation an encourage wanton and reckless abandonment of the Word - all in the name of a "warm fuzzy".
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ozyran @ Jul 5 2007, 09:45 PM) [snapback]473772[/snapback]</div> I am not a Biblical expert, but I do know that the passages in the Bible that are used by conservative Christians to vilify homosexuality are highly suspect and subject to much debate by Biblical scholars. For instance, the referenced verse from Corinthians, in its NIV translation, condemns "homosexual offenders." This is based on a translation from Paul's text of the Greek word "malakoi", which many scholars say would never have been used to mean "homosexual".
I can't believe my eyes here. I'm watching a willing justification to completely and totally dismantle the Bible for the sake of justifying a "peaceful sermon". So then, wherein lies the purpose of the sermon to begin with? To feed the people or inspire them to repent of their sins?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ozyran @ Jul 6 2007, 09:59 AM) [snapback]473949[/snapback]</div> Purpose of a sermon: to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
There is a reason the Founding Fathers put Freedom of Religion and Separation of Church and State front and center in the basic texts.
I think the article in the OP tippy toes around what they're saying so that it's hard to understand exactly what they are saying, and that's why we're bogged down in our discussion of hate speech. I think the discussion should really be about inflammatory calls to action. If you've seen any of the hidden camera footage of the hate-speech-filled sermons from a couple of London mosques (which are given by a black American convert to Islam), I don't think it would be hard to call that hate speech. I think you can find this somewhere in the BBC archives, although it was released in the last several months. I understand from a local Muslim convert that the Iman in the largest local mosque prayed to Allah for Allah to kill the Americans and give our possessions to the Muslims. I have a problem with this. At the very least, somebody should be watching this group of people. I tried to get the local media interested in this story, but they wouldn't touch it. Not because the story wasn't credible, but because they said the Iman would lie and say he didn't say it. Not sure if they said this because of experience, fear or expectation of human behavior. Is such a prayer hate speech to you? Truly, I don't think that policing what they say will help. It will just drive them underground. The fact that this is what they are thinking is far more dangerous than what they are saying. Better to let them talk, identify the speakers and listeners, and be on guard.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ozyran @ Jul 5 2007, 09:45 PM) [snapback]473772[/snapback]</div> It is interesting that some people view political discussion as a line connecting left and right with the two extremes at opposing ends. It appears that political discussion is more like a circle, where the extremes meet on the fringes. Picture this. The liberal wacko who keeps going further left all of the sudden bumps into something. The liberal wacko, who wants to limit speech on any view he doesn't agree with, turns to see he has bumped into the wacko skin head Nazi, who wants to limit speech on any view he doesn't agree with. They meet opposite sides of the political circle. One says to the other I knew you would see the light eventually. They want the same end but by different means. The point is. Be careful who you bump into.
I often am on a pulpit, giving sermons, and I for one, don't advocate hate. The hate that people put in the Bible, I don't preach on. The Bible is filled with inaccuracies, and is man made. Man makes mistakes. It's far easier, and more accurate, to just concentrate on the helpful bits from the Bible. Love one another. Be good to one another. Those who live by the Bible often miss this simple point: If you believe in the Bible, then you must believe that only GOD can judge. Not us. So leave the judging to Him, and stop trying to condemn when you don't know His mind. Even Christ Himself did not know the mind of His Father.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Jul 5 2007, 10:24 PM) [snapback]473786[/snapback]</div> :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
The purpose of "religion" (for lack of a better word. Oh, wait, there is one--Spirituality) is to enable us to connect with the Divine, and to play nice with one another.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Jul 6 2007, 02:37 AM) [snapback]473899[/snapback]</div> Jesus f**king Christ!!!!! I post an article taken from "THE CONSERVATIVE VOICE" which I find interesting, make no inflammatory comment, and the 'religious' right-wing neocons immediately, instead of perhaps giving credit to the original author for suggesting something as innocuous as printing sermons, give absurd examples, one-of-a-kind arguments and generally disregard the musings of one of their own. So this is the world you guys want, huh?? BTW wildkow, this is an ARTICLE FROM ONE OF YOUR OWN, NOT YOUR MUCH FEARED LEFT WING. The general tone of most of the posts in this thread is one SUPPORTING HATE SPEECH by giving excuses as to why it should not be a crime as posited by the original writer. You people are as much faux christians as the faux news station you so revere. I can guarantee one thing. The god I believe in, if he were to compare you to Bill Clinton, would leave you in the dust at the pearly gates while inviting Clinton in for a schmooze, and an angelic blow-job. You are so far gone down the road of hate, disparaging thinking, and general moral malaise that you can't even recognize the writings of one of your own, or the tone so many 'normal' people find in their bible. This thread and the majority of the responses points directly to why the day of the neocon has come and gone. You are not worthy.