Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Kentucky House Bill 370 - Rep. Harmon misrepresents the religious community

By: Jordan Palmer

Lexington, KY -- Kentucky Representative Mike Harmon (R-Danville) disgraces himself with amendments filed to House Bill 370.

What if a male student wishes to bully people for "getting their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, and their beard, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. If this is against a student's personal religious beliefs, does Representative Mike Harmon (R-Danville) sanction this bullying?

"The Old Testament contains 6 admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals." - Lynn Lavner.  Those numbers are accurate according to Rev. Geoff D. Leonard-Robinson of the Metropolitan Community Church.  

Society's biases against those with a same-sex orientation are rooted within the religious community, its lack of accurate biblical interpretation, and its blatant misrepresentation of God’s creation and the message of Jesus Christ.  Representative Mike Harmon (R-Danville) should watch this from CBS about Americans and Religion: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6909300n.

* CBS found that although the majority of Americans may consider themselves to be religious, many are in fact unaware of basic tenets concerning their faith.

Representative Mike Harmon cannot put labels on everything, and we deal with him with understanding, realizing that he doesn't know any better.

This is not simply an attack on the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community, but all citizens of Kentucky. Governments based on religion such as Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. are dangerous to those who do not share their religious beliefs or interpretations of scriptureThis is why Section V of the Commonwealth's Constitution protects us from religious dogma.

Our youth go to school to be taught math, grammar, spelling, biology, chemistry, and things to prepare them to compete for jobs, not to be taught Bible lessons, which should be reserved for a religion of their choosing. School bullying can be reported to Kentucky Equality Federation at (877) KEF-5775.

I am a Christian and a practicing Taoist and I pray for wisdom, and the courage to continue to fight the fanatics who, in the name of God, spread judgment, hate, and fear and I maintain a personal blog to educated LGBTI youth about the Bible and homosexuality: http://www.jordan-palmer.com

Representative Mike Harmon (R-Danville) claims to love God, but 1 John 4:20 disagrees: "If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?"

As Archbishop Desmond Tutu stated: "If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God. When will we learn that human beings are of infinite value because they have been created in the image of God, and that it is a blasphemy to treat them as if they were less than this and to do so ultimately recoils on those who do this? In dehumanizing others, they are themselves dehumanized. Perhaps oppression dehumanizes the oppressor as much as, if not more than, the oppressed. They need each other to become truly free, to become human. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people are part of so many families. They are part of the human family. They are part of God's family. And of course they are part of the African family."

If you are religious, then you know Jesus died for our sins, thereby creating a New Covenant, also known as the New Testament which we are supposed to live by.  Jesus also instituted "The Greatest Commandment," to love God and your neighbors and no Commandments are greater than those two.

I personally thank Senior Representative Mary Lou Marzian (D-Louisville) for her service to the Commonwealth, for attempting to bring it into the 21st Century by making it a place for diversity and tolerance, the building blocks of our entire nation.

Some of these quotes come from a radio talk show I did in 2008. (link)

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