Dear Wally,
You've missed the point about boycotting Home Depot. Information from the Kansas Family Policy Council shows photos of parades in which children are encouraged to support gay and lesbians. Some of the demonstrations included topless women parading in front of children. Employees are not allowed to wear religious buttons or bring Bibles to work, but any form of homosexuality is applauded. This is not merely tolerance of those choosing an alternative lifestyle.
Some Christians today seem to adopt a "live and let live" attitude, but is that what Christ taught? In the Old Testament, God did not tell Lot to accept the depravity around him and the different lifestyles in Sodom - rather, He removed Lot and destroyed the city!
I am not homophobic. My brother is gay, but he doesn't flaunt his lifestyle just as I don't flaunt my sexuality. My daily sins are no less ugly in the sight of God than his are. I don't have to accept his actions but I still love him. If he participated in actions such as Home Depot employees though, I couldn't have a relationship with him.
Boycotting a business also means calling or writing them to point out why I take this action. I boycott the Susan Komen Foundation because they contribute to Planned Parenthood and to fetal stem cell research. One of our local Christian radio stations announced the run for the foundation. I wrote to them twice and included information about the foundation's policies, but the ads continued. It was shocking to me that a Christian station would approve funding abortion, and I will never again be able to listen to them because of this memory. Would you advocate supporting a business that condones a practice you find abhorrent? What about that God finds abhorrent?
It's interesting because I do the Susan G Komen breast cancer three day walk every year with my wife because we lost her mother to breast cancer. So I do support them and I may not agree with everything they do but I do think the work they do with breast cancer is vital. The way I choose to fight abortion is to train my daughter to live a Godly lifestyle so she won't ever get one and then she will train her children. If enough of us teach people to live morally we don't need to legislate morality. It is obvious bans and hatred are not working. The church has tried that for many years so maybe we should do what Jesus does and try to love people. I find it interesting that he had no problem with sinners but the people he took to task and ridiculed publicly were the intolerant religious leaders of the day.
I realize you stopped listening to that other station because of the Susan G Komen thing and I will probably lose you now too, but I thought you at least deserved my honesty. Not everyone likes everything I do, but they should not write me off because of that. I am a sinner that has good moments. It would not be fair for people to write you or Christianity off because of times where you have not been a good representation of him and if you are honest and human there are times when even you have fallen short. I know that because the Bible says we all do.
Thanks for your thoughts and it is OK to disagree agreeably.
Later
