Loving Father or Spiteful Punisher

Hello, is there anybody out there? Now I've got Pink Floyd's The Wall album running through my head.

WARNING! This post is going to be a little on the preachy side, and 90% religious.  So if you're not interested in my opinion about God I'd suggest you go back to trolling YouTube channels for videos of cats.

Recently I was having a conversation with a wise old man, that many of you know as Grant.  Of course his favorite book, Love Wins, came up in our discussion. I mentioned that upon perusing said book it all sounded like the exact same things I learned in church all growing up, be kind, love everyone, God loves you, yadda yadda yadda. As often does while at work, our conversation was interrupted by our obligations to our employer.  But as Grant was walking away he made a final response to my statement saying that this book portrays God as an all loving Father rather than the spiteful, all powerful, punisher that is taught in religions world wide. This statement has obviously been on my mind since that encounter a week ago, so I've decided to write this post to spew forth my thoughts and opinions.

As you may or may not know/care, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or just Mormons if you're lazy. I am by no means a Peter Priesthood ( a not-so-loving nick name given to Mormons that have a "holier than thou" attitude). And nobody, except my children, would ever call me perfect. Hell, most strangers I meet don't even believe I'm Mormon.

So this is how I've interpreted the things I've read in scriptures and have been taught in Sunday school. God is an all loving Father, above everything else. He loves you, He loves me, He loves the people you and I love, and He even loves the people you and I hate. He loves all his children regardless of their race, religion, or which football team they favor. It doesn't matter what good works you've done in your life or what horrible mistakes you've made, He loves you.  I've never read in the Bible "God so loved only the Christians......".

However, I do understand my friends comment that religions preach of a vengeful God.  I'm not a stranger to other religions, and have heard many opinions of man, mingled with scripture.  I've heard the tales of a fiery pit where souls are tortured for an eternity because they told a lie.  I've been told that I'm born of sin and am inherently evil. I've even heard that I'm an insignificant accident of gelatinous primordial ooze that spontaneously evolved, for no apparent reason or purpose, into a semi intelligent creature. To all these people I say "ROTFLMAO!"

I am not saying there is no consequences to our actions.  Newton understood "To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction".  Just like kicking a coffee table barefoot, sins come with their own painful consequences.  Does that make God spiteful?  When you tell your child not to touch the stove because they will get burned are you being a tyrant?  And when they touch the stove and get burned, is it logical that your child should blame you for the burn? Just because God lovingly warns us what not to do, and sometimes even goes the extra mile to explain to us what may happen if we don't listen, doesn't mean he is the reason we get punished.  Just as you understand and comprehend much more than your young children, God knows infinitely more than us.  When you tell your kid not to eat a piece of cake before dinner what does your child think? I know my kids think I'm the meanest father in the world. They've not yet discovered the importance of eating healthy foods and the consequences of eating too much crap. Am I denying them cake because I'm mean, or is it because I love them and care for their well being and health?

Hell.  What is hell?  Personally I do not believe in a hole in the ground, surrounded by pits of lava and brimstone, where the devil rams pineapples into Hitler's bung whole for all eternity. I believe hell is an emotional state of being, like depression or anger. A constant feeling of regret and guilt for poor choices we made and never tried to rectify.  Try to recall how you felt when you were a child (before learning to self medicate and ignore such feelings) when you lied to your parents or stole from a friend. Now just magnify that feeling by all the bigger mistakes you've made and times it by forever. That, to me, is hell.

The other side of the coin, heaven.  A place to dwell in God's presence. So you're asking "if God loves us so much why doesn't he just let us all come to heaven, regardless of our actions?".  Would you really want to live in God's presences if you didn't do what he asked? When you were young and your mother found out you shaved your sisters head I'm sure you heard the dreaded phrase "Just you wait until your father gets home!".  Did you want your father to come home?  Hell no! You wanted to be anywhere but home.  Your father still loved you, even though you did something stupid.  But until you were ready to apologize and take your lumps you didn't want to be within reach of him.  God, loving us infinitely more than our earthly fathers, and even more than we love our children, understands the anguish and torment we would feel to be in his presence having made stupid mistakes and not repenting (trying to rectify the mistake and feeling a genuine sense of sorrow for the mistake).  For those of his children that choose not to repent, no matter how much more it hurts him to not have us with him, he allows for them to not be in his presence because their pain would be too great.

There you have the gospel according to KG.  Just like me, it's imperfect and flawed, as it is just the opinions of this ignorant man.  But this is my best attempt to explain what I feel about God and his endless love.  I love Him and know that He loves me.

I'd like an LGBT on sourdough, please.

Hey, you remember me?

Even though I have a knack for the offensive, and take great pride in my skill to agitate and irritate people, this post is not intended to be a platform for gay bashing or judging. So please keep your comments civil and as on topic as possible.  If you would like to make a disparaging remark about homosexuals, please log into your account at www.IgnorantBiggot/ImADumbass.gov.

The question I submit to my LGBT friends and friends of LGBT persons is this.  What are your feelings about a female that avidly lives the lesbian lifestyle, and publicly expresses disgust for male genitally for years, then out of the blue "decides" to be straight and gets married to a man?

A little background; As I've walked this earth for several decades I have had the pleasure of meeting many interesting people. I have known a few (more than 3) females that fit the scenario previously presented. These women all seem to fit into a similar class.  They would not be considered attractive by the grossly skewed and highly overrated standards of the world.  They all appear to have low self esteem and body image issues.  And they all crave to be loved, as we all do. So I've often asked myself, "self, are these gals pretending to be lesbian to find companionship from women who are naturally less judgmental?".

Lets call our example female Olga.  My question is, is Olga pretending to be a lesbian to find companionship with other females, or when a man shows interest is Olga pretending to be straight to fit in with perceived social norms?  And what intrigues me more is how is this changing-of-teams viewed by others that live the LGBT lifestyle?  Is Olga shunned for being a liar? Or is Olga shunned for being straight? Personally, I think Olga should be accepted for Olga, no matter which way her flag is flying.  I'm sure most people, either hetero or homosexual, feel the same way.  But just as there are straight people with very obscene and warped views, I can only assume there are those minorities in the LGBT community with the same mental deficiency.

A point of clarification, in case my choice of words are misconstrued; I don't believe being straight or homosexual is a choice.  You're either born with tendencies to be attracted to people of the same sex, or the opposite sex.  But people choose how they respond to those feelings.  So when I say "choose to live the lifestyle", I'm not saying that there is a choice between being gay or not.

Back to Olga, I'd like to know your opinions.  It doesn't matter one way or the other, Olga is free to choose as she wishes and we should all be respectful of her choices.  But my morbid sense of curiosity would like to hear your points of view.  The more points of view a person has on a subject allows one with an open mind to expand their understanding. (That sounds pretty zen. I think I discovered a new mantra).