Discrimination, conviction and hypocrisy?

Discrimination:

Let's be honest, accurate and civil please. The part of the quote that has been eliminated is as follows: "Thus, the story added that the owners said they "would serve anybody who came into the restaurant regardless of sexual orientation, but drew the line at weddings" because of their religious convictions." This states in effect that they would serve a gay dinner, a gay birthday party etc. Is it even possible to believe that they honestly don't have any animus towards gay people whatsoever but simply are uncomfortable with supporting a specific function that blatantly flies in the face of their religious doctrine? Is it not even possible to imagine  that the could be speaking without hostility? That does not sound like hate or bigotry to me. That sounds like a legitimate boundary they've set for themselves as a business. It also sounds like the same boundary that many businesses have set for themselves because of their religious convictions.

Conviction:

As a professional musician, I've made decisions as to the content of what songs I would personally sing or perform with the band that I lead. This is NOT a condemnation of anyone. This is not hostility against anyone. This is not my attempt to change anyone else's playlist. This is me saying.  This is me following my convictions.

I'm a huge Prince fan. He's a musical genius. I owe a large portion of my musical existence to his influence. But I can't sing large portion of his catalog. I can't when I have a choice participate, I can't celebrate certain songs because of my religious convictions. (For that matter, there are many of his own songs he doesn't perform anymore for the same reason.) Likewise, I love Sting but there are Sting songs I cannot sing. These matters are difficult for me but that's my conviction. In fact, aside from anything directly work related I have a personal rule on listening to secular vocal music on Sunday. That's my personal way of "Remembering the Sabbath and keeping it holy." That means I discriminate against the third person in my musical trinity on Sundays by not listening to the few secular songs by my favorite gospel artist, Fred Hammond.                                                                      So, please, please don't assume hatred or bigotry is at the                                                                                          heart of every discriminating action.                                                                                           Religious conviction is real and legitimate.

Hypocrisy:

 By forcing people to conduct themselves in a manner inconsistent with their beliefs are we not forcing them into being something we Christians are constantly being accused of? Hypocrisy.

Memories Pizza was sought out and ambushed with a hypothetical question. Then their answer was truncated. They said they would serve anyone regardless of their sexual orientation. Only when it came to an event that they felt would force them into a position of condoning and celebrating an event they do not support did they state that they could not participate. If the scenario was posed "Will you bake my adultery party cake?" they would have given the same answer. (And of course, adultery is generally lived out in secret or at least is not typically a celebrated event. But IF asked they would have given the same answer.) Separate issue that it is,
 there is no adultery lobby to contend with. No one , outside of Hollywood, is trying normalize adultery, so to speak. And there isn't a big push to make it adultery equally accepted, legally protected and universally celebrated by everyone regardless of their values. This is not about hate. It's about being able to maintain ones values as the practice their business. It's about the right to not be a hypocrite. 

Problem no problem?

From NBCNews.com...




Kenya Attack: Al Shabab Targets Christians at Garissa University College

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/kenyas-garissa-university-attacked-masked-gunman-breakingnews-com-n334386




Is it time to admit there may be some issues in Islam yet? Islam is the only religion with even a small percentage of their population committing wholesale slaughter around the globe and targeting everyone that has a different worldview. This stretch of time it's Christians in their crosshairs. It's ALWAYS the Jews. Many proclaim death to America and Israel. You don't even want to know what happens to gays for being gay and women for running afoul of Sharia law. This is current AND expanding. Of course, it's not all Muslims by any means. But there are considerable fewer if any Christians, Jews etc currently dedicated to commiting genocide. (Please let me know if I missed some other group religious or otherwise that is slaughtering people. In the name of their God or for any reason.) And they don't seem to be of a mind to stop or even pause to talk about it. I seriously think there might be something wrong going on in at least some small portion of the Islamic community. And that small portion is growing while whittling other populations down to size.

Seven Answers For Seven Questions

In the way of preamble, I say only this. Go to this link or none of this will make any sense.
The Seven Questions of Manuel
Thanks to Manuel Luz for the  questions. Go and read Manuel at manuelluz.wordpress often and carefully.

Ok, so you're back.

1. I am comfortable with my voice but I'm not knocked out by it. I think and hope I'm an interesting, capable and creative singer.

2. If I was a visual artist, as a practical matter, I'd want to in a prestigious gallery because I would at least theoretically be a position to support my family with my art.

3. I greatly appreciate any positive feedback I get for the audience but I am very mindful of my peers because they travel the same or a similar road as I do. That does give peer respect a bit more weight.

4. King David, so many reasons why? He's a role model personally and professionally. Flawed as he was he was a man after God's own heart and a excellent musician and songwriter. I'm a huge fan on so many levels.

Sting, because what a palette. What a musical journey? And it has been a long term goal to lead Sting and Bonnie Raitt to Christ.

5. Generally artistic integrity for me has been just as important as commercial success. I am constantly trying to figure out how to attain the both. That's the very short answer...

6. What in the world do I do RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!?????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!
I have few regrets so it's hard to answer part II, but here goes. Get a team together that will allow you to do the parts that God created YOU specifically ASAP!!!!

7. I like the term Artist of Faith. It seems much more accurate and broad based than the other two. I'm not one for pigeon holing...

Bonus: This needs to be a year of reclamation and renovation on all three levels as last year was unbelievably... challenging and tumultuous. I very much believe I need a harvest this year and I am willing to receive from the Lord what that is supposed to look like and work like crazy to do my part. I would love it if the Lord would allow part of that to mean working with my family (extended as well) and creating opportunities for the artists I know, love and believe in.

Welcoming An Unbelievable 2015

This past year has been unbelievable. And as a dear and wise friend once told me, unbelievable is a word that cuts both ways...

2014 was truly unbelievable. We had more twists, turns and jolts in our life that a barrel of electric eels. We have more questions than answers in my professional life and in our future than I would care to right now. I had truly hoped that we would have a tremendous story of victory and promise by this time of this year. But that has not been yet occurred. I am striving to do and to be only what God wants me to be this year and I will fall, fail and rise up one more time than I fall...

There was a (hopefully wise) man who once wrote: "Don't know what God has in store for me, but I know His way is right. He didn't pick me up just to leave me in the night." I know this to be true. And though I don't always know, agree with or understand how events and situations in life can be worked out for my good, I have gained (thanks to a definitely wise and insightful man) an amazingly powerful understanding of what this passage really means and I am just about to start incorporating it into my biblical worldview.

Romans 8:28,29
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son...

I don't know what God has in store for us this year. I would be lying if I said I don't hope and pray that 2015 if vastly different from 2014 (read different as "better"). I would be incredibly ungrateful if I didn't say thank you God for 2014 for the amazing amount of love and recognizable blessing that I have had poured out on me and my family. 2014 has been filled with the blessings of marriages, and graduations, ups and downs, surprises great and terrible. It has truly been an unbelievable year and I pray that 2015 is (to be honest ) a more easily appreciated brand of unbelievable.

John 14:1
Jesus said, "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me."

God bless you all (in ways that you can comprehend as blessings). I love you all but not nearly as much as He does.

Character Wanted

This, like most of my posts that wasn't birthed on the grill, was born on Facebook. And so it begins...

Stephen McPherson, you are, as usual, a breath of fresh air for my soul! I love your challenges, your insights, your high standards! In regard to the events in question: In my lifetime, I have had a few incidences where I have dealt with police officers. (Most recently this past Halloween night.) I have always conducted myself respectfully and I have always been treated with respect. I have never felt endangered by the police. I am well aware that this is not always the case. But here is a word to the wise. Particularly if you believe that white police officers are out to get you. Do. Not. Do. Anything. To. Antagonize. THEM. I think most officers of every ethnicity want to protect the communities they work in and they want to go home to their families at the end of their shift.

I also think there are much more grave dangers in the black community than bigoted police or a prejudiced legal system. We each need to police ourselves. We can't go around telling each other than getting an education is "trying to be white". We can't continue to have well over half of our children born out of wedlock and fatherless. We can't let Uncle Sam be our Baby Daddy. We can't continue to embrace thug life as an acceptable goal. We need to reach for something higher. Of course, there are still problems in race relations in our country. But I can't think of a worse way to deal with it that looting and murdering. Let's not rush to call every incident racially motivated. Let's take responsibility for our own actions individually and hold ourselves to a higher standard than we tend to. My admittedly uninformed opinion in regards to the purported incredulity of some of Officer Wilson's account is this: The situation got out of hand at some point and he panicked. Not necessarily in his actions, but in his testimony. Again this is uniformed, and I apologize. I believe he saw (accurately) his future after having shot a young black man. Knowing that he was absolutely going to be crucified in the press. He, it seems to me at worst, thought he needed to shore up his story and did so very poorly. I honestly don't know but IF his story doesn't hold water but if it doesn't I believe that's why.

But WE have an obligation to ourselves and the rest of society to not behave like criminals. Protest and honest dialogue are one thing. Giving whatever racists are still out there their "proof" by acting like animals is an entirely different matter. We need to get ourselves to the point where a police officer sees one of us or a group of us and he has no reason to think we're up to no good. And we're the only ones that can create that perception. Much of our entertainment to this day glorifies drugs, violence, disrespect of authority (and really everything and everyone else) and immorality as "The Black Experience". Not just showing that part of the Black Experience as real, but lauding it as the only legitimate Black Experience. We project that on the screen and on the airwaves and then we're shocked and angered that "That's how THEY see US." We need to embrace the great, significant and valuable aspects of our culture and reject the things that hold us back and keep us down. (In reality and in our own perception and the perceptions of others.) Other minorities have been through the ringer in America as well. And while we are the most obvious ethnic minority we need to drop that as an excuse for our own bad behavior. For the most part, other minority groups don't give themselves excuses to not measure up and no one makes excuses for them. I can never ever repeat it enough that I KNOW there is still racism. We need to be less bigoted ourselves. We need to less bigoted against others. Just like "they" need to not expect the worst from "us" we need to not expect the worst of them. And WE. NEED. TO. AIM. HIGHER. It will take time and herculean effort. But that will be a major, if not the most significant contributor to the dream of not being judged by the color or our skin but the content of our character.

The "Take A Sad Song And Make It Better" Challenge: Crime/Punishment and "What do we do now?"

Quick intro:

It's been a big Facebook morning:

Now, I invite you all to join in on a tremendously important topic:

Crime and punishment.

Let's figure all figure out some ideas to make our society better. Let's start with us and then move on to "The System". THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN! So let's figure out how to best keep people OUT OF THE SYSTEM.

I would particularly love to hear from my friends in the law enforcement and legal communities because of your unique vantage points.

This is my Facebook Post:

Here are several ideas to help fight crime (and general societal decay as well): Men be honorable (Women and others: act similarly as it applies to you.) Don't impregnate and move on! Marry THEN impregnate. THEN stay around and be a good parent forever. Not perfect but good. Teach values like hard work and respect for everyone. Everyone means everyone. Male, female, other. Black, white, other. Gay, straight, other. Atheist, agnostic, other. Muslim, Christian, other. Democrat, Republican, other. Respect does NOT have to mean agreement or endorsement nor could it possibly do so. Think of respect as a willingness to accept another's value and treat a person accordingly regardless of agreement with views, opinions, beliefs, lifestyle etc. Judge actions sympathetically but honestly. Be honest but again RESPECTFULLY... Be accountable. Hold yourself to a high standard NOT the lowest common denominator regardless of what anyone else does. Don't look down on others when they do not do so. Lead by example. Be forgiving, knowing that at times you will fail to live up to your own standard.


I know many of you do not consider the Bible as a credible source. But I hope we could all agree to these principles and the Bible is where I happened to glean them from.

I have things to learn from others:
Proverbs 27:17 NIV
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

I must consider my actions:
Luke 6:31 NIV
Do to others as you would have them do to you.

It's not all about me:
Philippians 2:3 NIV
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

I am not the authority on everything:
Proverbs 26:12 NIV
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

All that said, please forgive me when I fail to live up to this and PLEASE feel free to hold me accountable, respectfully.

The Muse...

(My response to a post I read)


I don't mean to be "harsh" but rape, arson and murder in the aftermath of a botched burglary? Some people need justice. Occasionally, justice happens. I really can't stand the "bad environment" defense. I've always thought it's such a slap in the face to everyone who grew up under horrible circumstances and didn't turn into a psychopath or sociopath. I am not entirely unsympathetic but could we please start celebrating the ones that rise above and DON'T become thugs. This IS the right call. Ok, I'm stopping now...
Thug Who Raped Iraq War Vet's Wife, Executed Them Both Learns His Brutal Fate
This is the right call.
CONSERVATIVETRIBUNE.COM


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Julie Hinojosa, Joseph R Ellison, Steve Andrusko and 23 others like this.

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  Scott Oliver Here's the thing. Pure evil has no remorse, no guilt, no care. There is no justice good enough for someone like this. The damage is done and no justice will undo it. All I can say is....Jesus come quickly.
  5 hrs · Unlike · 2
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  Patrick Weill I agree Scott. But that's what hell is for. I believe in eternal life in both realms. Even if we were to slow torture a bad person for the rest of his or her life it would not be as bad as hell eternal.
  4 hrs · Unlike · 2
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  Aaron Gayden As important as the eternal question is there is still the question of what do we as a society do about it. There is no justice good enough but there is such a thing as not enough justice so to speak. Again I don't want to be harsh but these criminals ...See More
  
  
  DPIC | Death Penalty Information Center
  The U.S. military has its own laws and court system separate from those of the states and the federal...
  DEATHPENALTYINFO.ORG
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  Scott Oliver As a side note and a left turn.....I'm now listening to Toto "Hydra" as a result of your last post.
  1 hr · Edited · Like
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  Janelle Caywood As a criminal defense attorney for 20 years I can tell you the criminal justice system is inherently biased against people of color. Yes, there are dangerous people that should be incarcerated. However, sentences and penalties are much more stiff for those who kill or hurt white people than those who harm black people. You should follow the Innocence Project's pages of FB and discover how many people are wrongly convicted and condemned to die, most of whom are poor black peopple. Those who are truly interested in how egregiously unfair the criminal justice system toward people of color, should listen to this talk about race in the criminal justice system by Bryan Stevenson, a Christian and the most Christlike person on the planet. He talks about how the issue is not whether these people deserve to die but whether we, as a society deserve to kill. http://www.ted.com/.../bryan_stevenson_we_need_to_talk...Cheers, Janelle
  
  We need to talk about an injustice

  In an engaging and personal talk -- with cameo appearances from his grandmother and Rosa Parks --...

  TED.COM|BY BRYAN STEVENSON

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  Aaron Gayden Good word, Janelle! And as a person of color I have made it incumbent on myself to not put myself in that position. It should not be a black white issue (though I know that is impossible to get around.) Particularly, if you know you will pay a higher price for criminality you should may more of a point to not be a criminal. I truly believe a large part of the underlying problem is people trying to get away with murder literally and figuratively. Again, let's laud black people and anyone else who is underprivileged and decides to be a law abiding citizen. I by no means intend to discount your years of experience in the legal system. Criminal behavior should absolutely be punished equally. But I do want to address the underlying problem. The black community, in a broad sense, desperately needs to embrace and uphold better values. Embracing thug life, raising children especially boys with no fathers, not assuming responsibility for one's actions, blaming anyone else (even when there is truth to it) will not get the job done. Saying that being educated is "trying to be white" will not get the job done. I'm listening to the Ted talk as we speak. I knew gang bangers growing up. One of my best friends as a child was killed because he was involved in gangs. Because he didn't follow a better path, make better choices he is no longer here. I had a neighbor who was shot and killed in the street between our houses. Because he had gotten into a gang and then left. I had neighbors who were in and out of jail. Because of their behavior. The issue does not have simple answers. There is more to the fact that 1/3 of black men have been incarcerated than racism. Much of that is because they have embraced poor decisions, wrong, criminal decisions. I agree that we are more than just our wrong decisions and actions. I have lived what I will call often a lower middle class life on the edge. But at no point have I believed that crime was a lifestyle option (except behind the wheel, but that is on me). There are multiple problems. There are issues in the system and there are issues in the community. We must deal with both. But I fear that if we exonerate and excuse behavior that we know is criminal we are doing equal harm to the individual and to society itself. I agree with virtually all of this Ted Talk. But dignity without accountability is very shallow and in fact dangerous. Both justice and mercy are needed. These are extremely tough issues. I would love to hear ideas on how to address the issue of goodness or good behavior in addition to, not by any means, in lieu of ideas on how to fix the system. Just fixing the system is just as impersonal as just people in the system for the crimes.
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  It will take us all to take this sad song and make it better so let's start!

Right this very minute...

For the record, I do know that Christmas is so not something you can buy in a store. But, I just happened to walk into a store and see all the Christmasy things and I got my first Christmas feeling. I know the fact the Christmas commercialism encroaches on many of you and annoys and even outright enrages many of you. I on the other hand play Christmas music year round. If I'm in a bad mood Christmas music will put me in a good mood. If I'm already in a good mood Christmas music makes it even better. I am a Christmas junkie so when the rest of the world starts to acknowledge Christmas it just makes my day... This has been a tough year so I'm not going to hesitate to start celebrating the fact that Christmas is in the air. (I am also very, very thankful so Thanksgiving is where up on my list too.) It's not about the presents or decorations or music or even family (though that's getting close). Christmas is NOT about the stuff but for me the seeing the "stuff" reminds me even more about the real stuff of Christmas. That we are desperately loved by the Creator of the universe. So much so that He began to give the ultimate gift on Christmas. I know December 25 is at very best arbitrary and at worst adopted from pagan celebrations but what better to warm hearts at the beginning of Winter? This morning something within me was saying I need a little Christmas right this very minute...and there it was :-)


Christmas in a Chestnut Shell
Luke 2:10-14 KJV

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. [...and women and children and plants and animals ]