Here's an excerpt:

https://revolsen.com/2017/05/17/an-open-letter-to-rev-franklin-graham-from-a-small-church-pastor/



"I have to say, though, that I was a little confused by your summons. Of all the things that worry me, loss of religious freedom for Christians in America isn’t one of them. I can’t say I have ever experienced anything in this country that could reasonably be called a restriction on my religious liberty, much less persecution. When you started talking about attacks on Christianity, I thought you might have been referring to the racially motivated slaying of pastors and lay people at Mother Emmanuel church in Charleston some time back. Or I figured you were referring to the slaughter of Coptic Christians in Egypt this past Palm Sunday. That’s what I call persecution. But having to pay a judgment for refusing to bake a cake for a same sex couple in violation of the law against discrimination? This you call persecution? There’s a letter in the Bible, written by the Apostle Peter (ever heard of him?). He’s an expert on persecution, having been on the receiving end of it more than once. He says you don’t get divine kudos from suffering the consequences of breaking the law-even if you are a Christian. Moreover, there is a Christian fellow named Paul (aka Saul) who wrote a letter to a church in Rome nearly two thousand years ago. He said that if your enemy is hungry you should feed him (that’s in the Bible too). So wouldn’t it have been the Christian way to have baked a cake for the same sex couple in your example, even if you deem them enemies (another assertion I don’t quite understand)? I’m confused."

While I agree with many of the points in the letter I could find no mention of the name of the actual pastor who supposedly wrote the letter. Anyone have a name and his church? Did I misss it?

It is the reverend Peter Olsen of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran church

https://revolsen.com/pastor-olsen/

I don't know why he would be confused. That's the beauty of cherry picking from the Bible support the kind of person you really are.

There are small church pastors all over where I live with all kinds of agendas, and not surprisingly, Jesus agrees with them all!

Since Jesus never said one word about homosexuality, but did make a big point of treating others the way you would want to be treated, he makes a good point.

Yes, but you see the problem with that. Treating others with the expectation that they should have your values can be a bad thing.

Jesus should have been a bit more clear.

I think it is pretty clear. It means to treat people decently as we all want to be treated.We may differ on certain details occasionally, but most of the time we can agree on what basic basic decency is. You are overthinking it,IMO. I guess you would have preferred a long lecture on what to do in every conceivable situation. Of course, that would have put the audience right to sleep, but it would have made it impossible to make a wrong guess on how any given person would like to be treated in every possible situation. It isnt as if most people who arent busy nit picking couldnt figure it out for themselves.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2017 10:02AM by bona dea.

bona dea Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It isnt as if
> most people who arent busy nit picking couldnt
> figure it out for themselves.

Well, gee, history shows pretty clearly that "christians" *haven't* been able to "figure it out for themselves."

You know, with their history (continuing even today) of persecuting, torturing, imprisoning, killing, discriminating against, campaigning against, etc. anyone who doesn't share their exact sectarian beliefs...

And I have to wonder if the somewhat snarky comment above means you'd like to have snarky comments directed at you...? Is that how you've figured it out?

It isnt about me and what I do. It is about the meaning of Jesus' words. No, I do not always live by the Golden Rule and I never said I did. However, I am not the one who changed the subject and started with snarky comments.I merely responded.

And Jesus answered him saying, "if someone asks you to bake them
a gay wedding cake, bake for them two."

Didn't he say something about another cheek?

I will never understand the mentality of some people. I have heard churches and their followers compare gay people to pediphiles and other horrible things. Who is the persecutor? And who is the persecuted? The Christ that I remember invited all to come unto him. Matthew 11:28 says, "come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." I cannot imagine any group of people so heavy laden with all the crap that society piles on them as Gay people. If there is a God, then I can only picture him welcoming them into his presence after their long and difficult lives.

I shared it on my FB page and thus further alienated my evangelical relatives. Oh, well

Posted by: bona dete: "I guess you would have preferred a long lecture on what to do in every conceivable situation."

P: If I remember correctly, that is exactly what the Jews set out to do at one point (and it got them into trouble). Instead of just "love they neighbor" and the 10 commandments to obey, they had some 600-plus rules they devised to be followed.

One of these, at least in my area, was that they were not allowed to press the button to stop cars on the Sabbath, so they could cross the street. Instead, they would wait for someone else to pass by and press it, whereupon, they could then cross the street.

and baking a cake to help celebrate something that the bible considers a sin, then he really is confused.