Religion vs Logic

So, recently there has been a challenging debate between the LGBT community and most Christians regarding what is preached in church and if it forms part of hate speech. This debate started when one of South Africa’s top socialites and entertainer, Somizi Mhlongo, walked out of Grace Bible Church because of the message one of the pastors was preaching that Sunday. From there on religious speakers and churchgoers defended the pastor’s message claiming that he was merely preaching what was in the Christian holy book, while the LGBT community were screaming hate speech and claiming that such a the message tends to incite violence in most communities.

Every time I turned on the radio I would hear interviews with various religious leaders who stating their case why such a message needs to be preached in church and I must say to a certain degree they got a point. If I believe in something and it forms part of my religious culture then no one has the right to tell me I shouldn’t practise my religion simply because they feel offended. On the other hand, you had the gay community stating that many members of the LGBTI community are attacked and harmed in townships across South Africa based on comments made by influential people. And after listening to their side of the storey I must say they also had a point. We live in a time where what we say on social media, on the radio or even in the church carries so much volume to an extent that people tend to be gullible enough to follow.

With that being said, here you had two groups who felt so strongly about their views and both felt so right about what they were advocating for and as of right as they both sounded something had to give eventually. I mean, we cannot continue arguing over the same issue until Jesus comes back. The whole argument was also exposing a huge fundamental problem facing the world today, which is that as people are continuously failing to listen to one another. And when we do listen, hearing what the other person seems to be so difficult to an extent that we keep missing each other and the only way to catch the other’s attention is either to protest of creates some sort of unnecessary unwarranted chaos. It is similar to how a toddler behaves. If they don’t get what they want then they throw a huge tantrum until they get what they want. It’s like we are slowly but surely becoming a nation of overgrown toddlers.

Back to the topic of contention. Many were asking if religious people should compromise their beliefs for the sake of LGBTI people or should LGBTI people just go and start their own churches where they can preach whatever message they feel comfortable with. Honestly speaking I think it comes down to what is important and beneficial to the community/ society. Community leaders (including religious leaders) have a responsibility to build an inclusive society. I grew up in a Christian home, was a church youth league leader and even tried my hand at preaching. It was fascinating to see how senior pastor chose specific scripture to drive a certain message and even though at times some of us as the youth didn’t agree with that message it still didn’t stop us from coming to church. Instead, we stood firm and stated our case in the same walls of the church. There comes a time where a style of preach is no longer relevant to the age and times that we live in as the next generation it is our responsibility to participate in such debates, not from the side-lines or the streets.

I personally think that it is times as a global nation to decide which direction are we taking because by the looks of things everyone is confused and at the same time everyone thinks they are right. All what religious groups have are scriptures which seem to have been written during a a time which is not relevant to the time which we are living in and doesn’t help us to deal with the problems of now. May instead of debating what should be preached in religious houses maybe each and everyone one of us needs to step back and ask ourselves and very simple question; “What is the true purpose of each religious book?” Back in the day the same bible which is being thrown in the gay communities’ faces were used to enslave black people and people wonder why racism is a problem in this world. Many of us, including the same pastors who preach every Sunday, are quite selective when it comes to which part of the bible we choose to follow yet we are eager to defend the entire book before listening to another group of people and trying to find a way that we can congregate together in harmony.

I think as a human race we have so much to learn from one another and one important lesson we can learn is that we all have a choice of who we engage in conversation with, where to worship,  who to be friends with and whether you choose to listen to a specific message or not, the same way you chose to read this far.  You could have chosen not to read past the first sentence or even chosen not to open the link. What is also important about having choices is that we have responsibilities and one of those responsibilities is to respect other people’s choices. We don’t necessarily have to agree with them, but the least we could do is to respect one another maybe this world will be a better place.