Choosing hate
We should speak frankly on the totality of our philosophy, especially if we are to make laws upon them. In a perfect world, we would be to the point on our aims, and honest about what we believe. We would not hide or suppress part of our philosophy, while promoting another.
But from what I have seen in the United States, many people’s beliefs are predicated on an ancient text (the Bible, which I begrudgingly capitalize). The problem with these ancient precepts (which actually predate the Koran) is that Americans today are not swallowing them whole, or taking them in their totality.
It would seem that today, as has been the case for so many generations before, the Christians of America do not seek, at least in large numbers, to seek out the Bible in any totality whatsoever. They do, however, by and large, use the portions which promote acceptable hate. So much have the social mores changed in the last century and a half, that they surely must realize that some of the nonsense in their infallible text is simply non-acceptable.
It is obvious that the Christian faith in the United States has shed some of the harsher shucks of its faith. The South, in particular, has abandoned its pro-slavery rhetoric that so many died believing in the Civil War.
Consider this:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. Ephesians 6:5
However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way. Leviticus 25:44-46
It is worth noting that the second passage, given its racial definition, not only gives divine right to slavery itself, but also defines racism as a perfectly acceptable ideology.
The new hate is a buckshot of the past. It espouses the exclusion of homosexuals while ignoring equally as ridiculous tenants from other parts within its own text. Let us be real –
The LORD then gave these further instructions to Moses: 'Tell the people of Israel to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you forever. It helps you to remember that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. Yes, keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy. Anyone who desecrates it must die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.' (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT)