one last word

I was reading back over this post and thinking a little more on the whole Duck Dynasty kerfuffle.  I am not sure I have fully expressed myself upon this matter. My late Mother-in-Law (bless her soul) was a strict Southern Baptist.  For her, dancing and drinking of alcohol were sins. Playing card games was not an option at her home, not even benign games like old maid, crazy eights or euchre. Verboten, prohibito, interdit, zapresennyj, zakazano, jin zhi, forbudt -- in other words for her it was a sin. I did not subscribe to her beliefs. I did abstain from those particular vices while in her home.

I am still not sure why it matters if Robertson thinks homosexuality is a sin. As near as I can tell from the reports of his comments he did not advocate a pink "H" embroidered on the chest and internment in concentration camps. He just said he thinks gay equates to a sin. So what? My MIL thought I was a sinner because I enjoyed a cold beer while playing poker. Sometimes I got drunk and danced with her daughter. I am pretty sure she liked me in spite of my faults. When I was a teenager I was told masturbating was a sin and it would make me go blind. I sinned right up to the point I needed bifocals. 

There are religions all over the world who find my actions and beliefs heretical. I wipe my arse with the toilet paper clenched in my right hand (then I wash thoroughly with strong soap). I eat pork and shellfish. I have no issues consuming a steak on Friday, even during Lent. I munch the day away during Ramadan. I believe I will have to atone for my sins on judgement day. I hope I pass muster. But I do not agree with the notion a game of solitaire will send me to damnation. As such, if you do not agree with the idea that your love life is a sin, who cares?

When the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons show up on my doorstep I do not take affront that they want to convert me. I politely tell them no thanks and they move on, chalking me up to one more lost soul in their book. Unlike the militant gay lobby and the intolerant left, the rest of the world needs not conform to my way of thinking. But we all know if they did the world would be a much better place.