One Sunday I was sitting in a NG Kerk, an Afrikaans white only conservative  beyond words church, it was a hot day and everyone was neatly dressed in their suits and hats.  It is a day I will never forget and one that helped shape my religious views, one of the reasons that I will never belong to a “religion”.

The church was full, there must have been close to 500 people, you name it, if it had a white skin, it was there.  The pastor stood up after the introduction hymns were sung and started his sermon.  He started talking about the unbelievers, the sinners, he was talking about the Blacks and the Coloureds (mixed race) people.  How they are dirty and will go to hell, how they are sub race.  See, rules were being passed that meant that the church wasn’t going to be an all white congregation anymore. “HOW CAN THEY LET SINNERS SIT AMONGST US” was the cry. 

Hearing those words I felt an anger rise within me, I couldn’t understand how he could stand up there on his little pulpit and pass judgement on fellow souls just because they had a different colour skin. What gave him the right, I could not understand. Why can’t I be friends with “them”? Why are they sinners just for having that colour skin? What’s the big deal? They’re human right?

A man of God

Anything non white is a sinner, it doesn’t matter what they do, they are sinners.

I lost respect for religion.  It is just a man made manufaction to manipulate the masses detracting from the truth of God and his true love for everyone and everything.  A mouthful but that is my belief.

Apartheid ended and schools opened their doors to all races.  I remember hearing the whispers and the gossip about how they are letting the unbelievers into the school.  I remember people saying “Think it is time to move our children, this school will go down hill FAST now”.  I was relieved because it felt as if the chains on society had been released, I was allowed to speak to them now, to me they were just people, they were just like me. I made many new friends, all races were included in my group of “specials”. I was surprised though when I was outcasted immediately for even spending time with them, I didn’t understand it.  I didn’t care.

Slowly peoples attitudes started changing, they soon saw that the school didn’t crumble and fall down, they didn’t see what they expected (or were told) to see.  Slowly the races started to mingle more freely.

Who are the sinners today?  Who are the ones that are spurned and spat on?

Be honest and think about it

Who?

Once upon a time the colour of your skin determined whether you were born a sinner, whether you could get married in certain churches, whether you were legal at all. 

Now?

Now, it is your sexuality.  No longer is it the colour of your skin, no, now you are a sinner if you love the same sex. 

So this is my statement to you. 

If you were against the racial divide, if you were against the Apartheid and what it stood for, if you are against any kind of racial discrimination how can you be against same-sex relationships and marriage.

How can you, in the same breath, call it a sin?

Each time you do I lose more and more respect for your religion and what you “stand” for.  To me you are only standing up and shouting “Look at me, look at how false my religion is”

This is my stand point on the matter. I don’t care what colour you are or whether you are with a male or female and most of all I don’t care what religion you are. 

I don’t care about all the statements about choices, believe what you will.  I believe that people are created as they are intended, that they are meant to love who they love.

What I look for in a fellow human? Morals, whether they are kind to children and animals, whether they want to make the world a better place, can they bake cookies, do they have good hearts, compassion.  It isn’t a tall order nor is it a judgement, I just like to be surrounded by people with good souls. 

Think about it, what do you look for in a person and what stops you from being friends with everyone.

Time to drop a few masks and see through the mist of society, time to see what God intended, time to stop doing Gods work and stop judging. 

He is more than capable don’t you think?

Who are you to judge?

This post was inspired by AngryAfrican’s The Gay Agenda and And one more thing