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The Master Mind
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and scribes regarding the traditions of men:
"neglecting the commandment of God, you hold
to the tradition of men." (Mark 7:8) "and
why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of
your tradition?" (Matthew 15:3)
- The Holy
Bible (Our English word "tradition" comes from the Latin
traditio, meaning "a handing down.")
"Love Loud:
Actions Speak Louder Than Words"
was the theme for the
Southern Baptist Convention which just this past week voted to sever
125-year-old ties with a Texas church that allowed homosexual members (
2 couples) to have their photos in the church directory. A Baptist
blogger wrote that the Convention may also be asked to disassociate a
church which recently called a woman to be its lead pastor. The SBC's
Faith and Message, revised in 2000, clearly states that "the office
of pastor is limited to men." And so I thought perhaps this
theme of "loving loud" wasn't loud enough for the Southern
Baptists, so I decided to use it for my "Gay Pride 2009"
message.
Homophobia, like racism, anti-Semitism, and misogyny,
are learned. They are "handed down" from generation to
generation. And for some of us, these "sins of the
fathers" are never questioned or put to the test of reason, and
therefore never eliminated from our subconscious. They have become
our "traditions of belief" and have become interwoven in our
consciousness.
The "Gay Pride Movement" got its
start in 1969 in New York at The Stonewall Inn. This was a bitter
time for those of "tradition" as the Supreme Court had
legalized interracial marriage in 1967. In 1968, the year after
the Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage in its decision on Loving
vs. Virginia, a Gallup poll found that the vast majority of
Americans still opposed the idea that blacks and whites could marry —
72 percent to 20 percent. And so the anger from what was referred
to as an "activist Court decision" was still brewing in
1969. The collective consciousness has evolved at a snail's pace
in regards to understanding the Spirit of Love as It sweeps through the
hearts of people ... and many in the religious communities have
contributed to this non-acceptance.
The Mormon Church along with other
fundamentalist Christian churches, preached against interracial marriage
as strongly as they now preach against same-sex marriage. Religions have
preached against gay and lesbian people
and justified this punishment by claiming that being gay or lesbian is a
"choice." And, perhaps on some level of mind it is a
choice, but it would be on this same level of mind that we choose the
color of our eyes, our hair and the color of our skin. We don't
function consciously at this level of mind, and just as we don't
consciously choose the color of our hair, eyes, and skin, we do not
consciously choose our sexual orientation. And it is an
abomination that religion would see it as something less than the
expression of G-d through a complex weaving of the heart, the mind and
the soul. The Infinite Life is infinitely individualized ... no
one is the same ... the Divine does not create Xerox copies of Its Life
in expression. And just as religions have failed to stop
interracial marriage (Love is Colorblind), they have failed to stop
same-sex marriage; it is legal now in six states in the U.S. and 18,000
same-sex marriages are still legal in California.
Throughout history, man has cleverly created
words and traditions that have labeled some as inferior and others as
superior. And many religions have supported these "man-made
creations" to the point of including them in their religious dogma. And this has created misery and justified slavery, racism,
anti-Semitism, misogyny, and homophobia. Most of the civilized
world has evolved away from the acceptance of slavery, racism,
anti-Semitism, and misogyny ... but homophobia, not so much. As
long as we believe, and I am meaning the collective consciousness here,
that anyone is separate and apart from G-d, we have separated ourselves
from G-d. When we eliminate and obliterate our separation from
G-d, in our minds, no form of discrimination or prejudice will exist in
our consciousness, including homophobia. This is the truth.
There is never a justification to withhold love from anyone, for if we
do, we are withholding our love from G-d!
In the Science of Mind we know and understand
that there is only One Life, that Life Is G-d and that Life is our life
now. This Life which is G-d is inclusive of All-life as we know
it. From the Science of Mind:
"One God and Father of all, who is above all,
and through all, and in you all." It would be impossible to
make a clearer statement of Truth: One Life behind all that lives!
One, One, One ... never two. The unity of all life. To learn
this is to know the secret of the ages." To live this
we must Love Loud: Actions Speak Louder Than Words ... we must
take action within our minds to eliminate, to erase, to obliterate any
thought or idea that finds racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny ... and
homophobia ... as acceptable in any way, shape or form to us. And
this is how we LOVE LOUD ... for actions speak louder than words.
"For G-d so loved the world, that It imparted a part of Its Spirit
within every living soul."
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev.
Dr. Henry Lee Bates
Visit Rev. Bates BLOG: Living
the Science of Mind
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