Fundamentalist often quote the Bible, out of context, to prove what they are saying is correct. One thing that seems to be spoken throughout the Bible, and fundamentalist ignore, is that it is God's right and only God's right to judge others. Yet, Fundamentalist feel that they can judge individuals as sinners. I suspect they feel that they are god-like.
Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbour?
And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.
A Facebook friend is a fundamentalist Catholic from Egypt. He is constantly judging me as a sinner, a sodomite, and an adulterer. He constantly picks quotes from the Bible, mainly from the Old Testament, that seem to support his judgement of me. I wrote this to him in response to judgement of me and my actions:
I wish you would stop judging people. You cannot judge me or anyone, only God can. Please do not judge me or others. Even though you have talked to me for years, you do not listen to me, so you do not know me at all. I am afraid that my love for God and acceptance of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration is too complex for you to understand. Your contrition is imperfect, as defined by the Catholic Church. You "dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell." I am trying to use the grace of the Holy Spirit to achieve perfect contrition, "because I offend thee, my God, Who is Good and deserving of all my love".
I do not judge you or your choice to achieve salvation through imperfect contrition. We will meet in heaven, even though you judge me as a sodomite and adulterous man. God is not like you. He is loving and merciful. When a man engages in an intimate relationship with another man out of love, it is not a sin. The Catholic Church defines sin as doing something we think is evil and doing it anyway. Loving another human being to share warmth and intimacy is what I and many human beings consider a sharing good.
Let me give you another example. Right now, November 2024, Israeli soldiers are killing Palestinians in Gaza and Lebanese residents in Lebanon. They are killing innocent children, women, and men. To me, what they are doing is an abomination; however, I do not know what is in their hearts, BUT God does. If these Israeli soldiers feel they are protecting their family, friends, and country from harm, they believe that this slaughter is good and necessary. The Church says that such actions are not sinful.
However, only God knows what is in everyone’s heart, and only God can walk in their shoes. You do not know what is in my heart, and you have never walked in my shoes; you do not know what is in the hearts of others, and you have never walked in their shoes. You have no right to judge anyone. I know that God loves you. I also know that in your imperfect way as defined by the Catholic Church, you love God too. I hope that God will welcome you into His arms because He will feel your love. I pray that one day you will receive the grace of the Holy Spirit and understand that there are infinite paths to God’s love. You have chosen only one of these paths, and I have chosen another. There is no better or worse path to God. I just hope that you will stop thinking that you have the right to judge because only God does.
Comments
Post a Comment